In Matrix Chain Multiplication Problem, we are given some matrices and are asked
to multiply them in such a way that the total number of multiplication is minimum.
Let’s breakdown the problem.
Two matrices can only be multiplied if the number of columns of the first matrix
is equal to the number of rows of the second one.
And the number of multiplications required to multiply two matrices is the product
of their order.
In the case of more than two matrices, the total number of multiplication depends
on the sequence of multiplication. E.g. see the diagram below.
Therefore, we need to find a sequence of multiplication of matrices which results
into minimum number of multiplication.
Example: We are given the sequence {4, 10, 3, 12, 20, and 7}. The matrices have size 4 x
10, 10 x 3, 3 x 12, 12 x 20, 20 x 7. We need to compute M [i,j], 0 ≤ i, j≤ 5. We know M [i, i]
= 0 for all i.
Let us proceed with working away from the diagonal. We compute the optimal solution
for the product of 2 matrices.
Here P0 to P5 are Position and M1 to M5 are matrix of size (pi to pi-1)
On the basis of sequence, we make a formula
33.2M
660
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In Dynamic Programming, initialization of every method done by '0'.So we initialize it by
'0'.It will sort out diagonally.
We have to sort out all the combination but the minimum output combination is
taken into consideration.
Calculation of Product of 2 matrices:
1. m (1,2) = m1 x m2
= 4 x 10 x 10 x 3
= 4 x 10 x 3 = 120
2. m (2, 3) = m2 x m3
= 10 x 3 x 3 x 12
= 10 x 3 x 12 = 360
3. m (3, 4) = m3 x m4
= 3 x 12 x 12 x 20
= 3 x 12 x 20 = 720
4. m (4,5) = m4 x m5
= 12 x 20 x 20 x 7
= 12 x 20 x 7 = 1680
o We initialize the diagonal element with equal i,j value with '0'.
o After that second diagonal is sorted out and we get all the values
corresponded to it
Now the third diagonal will be solved out in the same way.
Now product of 3 matrices:
M [1, 3] = M1 M2 M3
1. There are two cases by which we can solve this multiplication: ( M 1 x M2) +
M3, M1+ (M2x M3)
2. After solving both cases we choose the case in which minimum output is
there.
M [1, 3] =264
As Comparing both output 264 is minimum in both cases so we insert 264 in table
and ( M1 x M2) + M3 this combination is chosen for the output making.
M [2, 4] = M2 M3 M4
1. There are two cases by which we can solve this multiplication: (M 2x
M3)+M4, M2+(M3 x M4)
2. After solving both cases we choose the case in which minimum output is
there.
M [2, 4] = 1320
As Comparing both output 1320 is minimum in both cases so we insert 1320 in
table and M2+(M3 x M4) this combination is chosen for the output making.
M [3, 5] = M3 M4 M5
1. There are two cases by which we can solve this multiplication: ( M 3 x M4) +
M5, M3+ ( M4xM5)
2. After solving both cases we choose the case in which minimum output is
there.
M [3, 5] = 1140
As Comparing both output 1140 is minimum in both cases so we insert 1140 in
table and ( M3 x M4) + M5this combination is chosen for the output making.
Now Product of 4 matrices:
M [1, 4] = M1 M2 M3 M4
There are three cases by which we can solve this multiplication:
1. ( M1 x M2 x M3) M4
2. M1 x(M2 x M3 x M4)
3. (M1 xM2) x ( M3 x M4)
After solving these cases we choose the case in which minimum output is there
M [1, 4] =1080
As comparing the output of different cases then '1080' is minimum output, so we
insert 1080 in the table and (M1 xM2) x (M3 x M4) combination is taken out in
output making,
M [2, 5] = M2 M3 M4 M5
There are three cases by which we can solve this multiplication:
1. (M2 x M3 x M4)x M5
2. M2 x( M3 x M4 x M5)
3. (M2 x M3)x ( M4 x M5)
After solving these cases we choose the case in which minimum output is there
M [2, 5] = 1350
As comparing the output of different cases then '1350' is minimum output, so we
insert 1350 in the table and M2 x( M3 x M4 xM5)combination is taken out in output
making.
Now Product of 5 matrices:
M [1, 5] = M1 M2 M3 M4 M5
There are five cases by which we can solve this multiplication:
1. (M1 x M2 xM3 x M4 )x M5
2. M1 x( M2 xM3 x M4 xM5)
3. (M1 x M2 xM3)x M4 xM5
4. M1 x M2x(M3 x M4 xM5)
After solving these cases we choose the case in which minimum output is there
M [1, 5] = 1344
As comparing the output of different cases then '1344' is minimum output, so we
insert 1344 in the table and M1 x M2 x(M3 x M4 x M5)combination is taken out in
output making.
Final Output is:
Step 3: Computing Optimal Costs: let us assume that matrix Ai has dimension pi-
1x pi for i=1, 2, 3....n. The input is a sequence (p 0,p1,......pn) where length [p] = n+1.
The procedure uses an auxiliary table m [1....n, 1.....n] for storing m [i, j] costs an
auxiliary table s [1.....n, 1.....n] that record which index of k achieved the optimal
costs in computing m [i, j].
The algorithm first computes m [i, j] ← 0 for i=1, 2, 3.....n, the minimum costs for
the chain of length 1.
