  In this paper, we are interested in parallel identical machine scheduling
problems with preemption and release dates in case of a regular criterion to be
minimized. We show that solutions having a permutation flow shop structure are
dominant if there exists an optimal solution with completion times scheduled in
the same order as the release dates, or if there is no release date. We also
prove that, for a subclass of these problems, the completion times of all jobs
can be ordered in an optimal solution. Using these two results, we provide new
results on polynomially solvable problems and hence refine the boundary between
P and NP for these problems.

Discrete Mathematics