Solving the assignment problem with statistical physics

Proposes a novel method for solving the assignment problem using techniques adapted from statistical physics. The authors derive a convex effective energy function whose unique minimum corresponds to the optimal assignment. Steepest descent results in a continuous time dynamical system which is guaranteed to converge arbitrarily close to the optimal solution. This algorithm has an appealing economic interpretation and interesting connections to the discrete auction algorithm proposed by D.P. Bertsekas (1990)