A Study of Three Outstanding Problems in Networks

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is not to express any new or original material, but rather, to exercise reading, studying, and digesting old material and to return it in a form in which I believe is clearer and easier to understand than the original source. I found the original sources to often be somewhat unclear and incomplete. In this paper, I have tried to proceed step-by-step through each algorithm, explaining everything as clearly as I can. While the possibility that this paper might help someone learn about the following algorithms is nice, the writing of this paper has been primarily.for my benefit. I know that the process of writing this paper has improved my ability to study this type of material and to write about it. I acquired a feel for how these types of algorithms work· and a sensitivity for how a computer would work with these algorithms. That a computer would be very necessary for problems of large magnitude quickly became obvious.