Heuristic dominance
= Heuristic dominance
A <heuristic function> $h_2$ dominates $h_1$ if $h_2(s)\ge h_1(s)$ everywhere. When both are <admissible heuristics>, the larger estimate is at least as informative for <A-star search>: for a fixed accumulated path cost $g$ and optimal solution cost $C^*$, $g+h_2<C^*$ implies $g+h_1<C^*$. This compares the compulsory search region, not arbitrary tie handling at $C^*$, evaluation overhead or wall-clock time.