The Floyd-Warshall algorithm is a dynamic programming method used to find the shortest paths between all pairs of vertices in a weighted graph. This algorithm is particularly effective for dense graphs and can handle both positive and negative weights, although it does not work with graphs containing negative weight cycles. The algorithm operates by iteratively updating the distance matrix, where the distance between any two vertices and is compared to the distance through an intermediate vertex . The fundamental update rule can be expressed as:
where is the current shortest distance from vertex to vertex . The time complexity of the Floyd-Warshall algorithm is , making it less efficient for very large graphs, but its ability to compute all-pairs shortest paths is invaluable in various applications, such as network routing and urban transportation modeling.
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