Shortest path search from a physical perspective

  • Authors:
  • Takeshi Shirabe

  • Affiliations:
  • Institute for Geoinformation and Cartography, Technical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria

  • Venue:
  • COSIT'05 Proceedings of the 2005 international conference on Spatial Information Theory
  • Year:
  • 2005

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Abstract

Shortest path problems are simple yet rich in applications in many areas including spatial information theory and geographic information science. Though they explicitly or implicitly involve some object that travels in a given network, existing algorithms and applications tend to focus only on geometric properties of the network (e.g. arc length and connectivity), and overlook physical properties of the object (e.g. velocity and acceleration) which may not be constant during a trip. This paper introduces a physical perspective to shortest path search by enforcing laws of motion, to enhance the estimation of travel times and the search for optimal paths with respect to physical quantities rather than socio-economic values.