4 ms·
No, it would give you the approximate shortest (least resistance) path between the source and sink, which is very different from the traveling salesman problem
by teraflop 4y ago
No, it would give you the approximate shortest (least resistance) path between the source and sink, which is very different from the traveling salesman problem (which requires finding the shortest path that touches every node).
I say "approximate" because, as has been discussed in this thread, the current actually follows every possible path to some extent, weighted by their resistance. So when there multiple branching paths with similar costs, they will have similar current flow, and the current along each path is not constant. So in general it can be difficult to find the exact minimum resistance path just by measuring the current.
- px43 4y agoOr.. use non-conductive coated wire to wire up every possible path, with all the wires connected at a start and finish point, and then see which wire gets hot first. It's not going to save you any time, since wiring up every path is basically the same as brute forcing every path anyway, but it would work.