Skip to main content

Compact Preference Representation via Fuzzy Constraints in Stable Matching Problems: Theoretical and Experimental Studies

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:
AI*IA 2018 – Advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI*IA 2018)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNAI,volume 11298))

  • 925 Accesses

Abstract

The stable matching problem has many practical applications in two-sided markets, like those that assign doctors to hospitals or students to schools. Usually it is assumed that all agents in each side explicitly express a preference ordering over those in the other side. This can be unfeasible and impractical when the set of agents is very big. However, usually this set has a combinatorial structure, since each agent is often described by some features. To tackle these scenarios, we define a framework for stable matching problems where agents are allowed to express their preferences over those of the other group in a compact way, via soft constraints over the features describing these agents. We focus on a special kind of soft constraints, namely fuzzy constraints. We provide a solving engine for this new kind of stable matching problems that does not increase the time complexity of the classical Gale-Shapley algorithm, while maintaining stability of the matching returned. We then evaluate the approach experimentally.

F. Rossi—On leave from University of Padova.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Abdulkadiroglu: Generalized matching for school choice. Working paper, Duke University (2011)

    Google Scholar 

  2. Bistarelli, S., Foley, S., O’Sullivan, B., Santini, F.: From marriages to coalitions: a soft CSP approach. In: Oddi, A., Fages, F., Rossi, F. (eds.) CSCLP 2008. LNCS (LNAI), vol. 5655, pp. 1–15. Springer, Heidelberg (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-03251-6_1

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  3. Bodlaender, H.L.: A partial k-arboretum of graphs with bounded treewidth. Theor. Comput. Sci. 209(1–2), 1–45 (1998)

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  4. Boutilier, C., Brafman, R.I., Domshlak, C., Hoos, H.H., Poole, D.: CP-nets: a tool for representing and reasoning with conditional ceteris paribus preference statements. JAIR 21, 135–191 (2004)

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  5. Brafman, R.I., Rossi, F., Salvagnin, D., Venable, K.B., Walsh, T.: Finding the next solution in constraint- and preference-based knowledge representation formalisms. In: Proceedings of KR 2010 (2010)

    Google Scholar 

  6. Dechter, R.: Tractable structures for CSPs. In: Rossi, F., Van Beek, P., Walsh, T. (eds.) Handbook of Constraint Programming. Elsevier, Amsterdam (2005)

    Google Scholar 

  7. Dechter, R., Flerova, N., Marinescu, R.: Search algorithms for M best solutions for graphical models. In: Proceedings of AAAI 2012. AAAI Press (2012)

    Google Scholar 

  8. Dechter, R.: Constraint Processing. Morgan Kaufmann, Burlington (2003)

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  9. Gale, D., Shapley, L.S.: College admissions and the stability of marriage. Amer. Math. Monthly 69, 9–14 (1962)

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  10. Gent, I.P., Irving, R.W., Manlove, D.F., Prosser, P., Smith, B.M.: A constraint programming approach to the stable marriage problem. In: Walsh, T. (ed.) CP 2001. LNCS, vol. 2239, pp. 225–239. Springer, Heidelberg (2001). https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-45578-7_16

    Chapter  MATH  Google Scholar 

  11. Gusfield, D., Irving, R.W.: The Stable Marriage Problem: Structure and Algorithms. MIT Press, Boston (1989)

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  12. Iwama, K., Miyazaki, S., Morita, Y., Manlove, D.: Stable marriage with incomplete lists and ties. In: Wiedermann, J., van Emde Boas, P., Nielsen, M. (eds.) ICALP 1999. LNCS, vol. 1644, pp. 443–452. Springer, Heidelberg (1999). https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-48523-6_41

    Chapter  MATH  Google Scholar 

  13. Manlove, D.F., O’Malley, G., Prosser, P., Unsworth, C.: A constraint programming approach to the hospitals/residents problem. In: Van Hentenryck, P., Wolsey, L. (eds.) CPAIOR 2007. LNCS, vol. 4510, pp. 155–170. Springer, Heidelberg (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-72397-4_12

    Chapter  MATH  Google Scholar 

  14. Manlove, D.F.: Algorithmics of Matching Under Preferences. World Scientific Publishing, Singapore (2013)

    Book  Google Scholar 

  15. Meseguer, P., Rossi, F., Schiex, T.: Soft constraints. In: Rossi, F., Van Beek, P., Walsh, T. (eds.) Handbook of Constraint Programming. Elsevier, Amsterdam (2005)

    Google Scholar 

  16. Pilotto, E., Rossi, F., Venable, K.B., Walsh, T.: Compact preference representation in stable marriage problems. In: Rossi, F., Tsoukias, A. (eds.) ADT 2009. LNCS (LNAI), vol. 5783, pp. 390–401. Springer, Heidelberg (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-04428-1_34

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  17. Pini, M.S., Rossi, F., Venable, K.B.: Stable matching problems with soft constraints. In: Proceedings of AAMAS 2014 - Extended Abstract, pp. 1511–1512 (2014)

    Google Scholar 

  18. Pini, M.S., Rossi, F., Venable, K.B.: Compact preference representation via fuzzy constraints in stable matching problems. In: Rothe, J. (ed.) ADT 2017. LNCS (LNAI), vol. 10576, pp. 333–338. Springer, Cham (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-67504-6_23

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  19. Pini, M.S., Rossi, F., Venable, K.B., Walsh, T.: Manipulation complexity and gender neutrality in stable marriage procedures. Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems 22, 183–199 (2011)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Pini, M.S., Rossi, F., Venable, K.B., Walsh, T.: Stability, optimality and manipulation in matching problems with weighted preferences. Algorithms 6, 782–804 (2013)

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  21. Roth, A.E.: The evolution of the labor market for medical interns and residents: a case study in game theory. J. Polit. Econ. 92, 991–1016 (1984)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Teo, C.-P., Sethuraman, J., Tan, W.-P.: Gale-shapley stable marriage problem revisited: strategic issues and applications. Manag. Sci. 47(9), 1252–1267 (2001)

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Maria Silvia Pini .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2018 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this paper

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this paper

Pini, M.S., Rossi, F., Venable, K.B. (2018). Compact Preference Representation via Fuzzy Constraints in Stable Matching Problems: Theoretical and Experimental Studies. In: Ghidini, C., Magnini, B., Passerini, A., Traverso, P. (eds) AI*IA 2018 – Advances in Artificial Intelligence. AI*IA 2018. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 11298. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-03840-3_16

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-03840-3_16

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-03839-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-03840-3

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics