I have a collection $P \subseteq \mathbb{R}^3$ of $N$ particles and there is a function $f : P^2 \to \mathbb{R}$. I want to find which configuration of the system minimizes the value of $f$. Can this problem (or similar ones) be reduced to TSP? Could you point me to literature on the topic?In my application, $f$ is the atomic van der waals force, which for each pair of particles of atoms is attractive or repulsive depending on some predefined thresholds.In addition, it would be great to have a list of concrete examples of problems that can be reduced to TSP.
Complexity of an optimisation problem in 3D
complexity theory;optimization;search problem