Mathematics of Computing -- General.

Optimization is used to determine the most appropriate value of variables under given conditions. The primary focus of using optimisation techniques is to measure the maximum or minimum value of a function depending on the circumstances. This book discusses problem formulation and problem solving with the help of algorithms such as secant method, quasi-Newton method, linear programming and dynamic programming. It also explains important chemical processes such as fluid flow systems, heat exchangers, chemical reactors and distillation systems using solved examples. The book begins by explaining the fundamental concepts followed by an elucidation of various modern techniques including trust-region methods, Levenberg–Marquardt algorithms, stochastic optimization, simulated annealing and statistical optimization. It studies the multi-objective optimization technique and its applications in chemical engineering and also discusses the theory and applications of various optimization software tools including LINGO, MATLAB, MINITAB and GAMS.

In the late forties, Mathematical Programming became a scientific discipline in its own right. Since then it has experienced a tremendous growth. Beginning with economic and military applications, it is now among the most important fields of applied mathematics with extensive use in engineering, natural sciences, economics, and biological sciences. The lively activity in this area is demonstrated by the fact that as early as 1949 the first "Symposium on Mathe matical Programming" took place in Chicago. Since then mathematical programmers from all over the world have gath ered at the intfrnational symposia of the Mathematical Programming Society roughly every three years to present their recent research, to exchange ideas with their colleagues and to learn about the latest developments in their own and related fields. In 1982, the XI. International Symposium on Mathematical Programming was held at the University of Bonn, W. Germany, from August 23 to 27. It was organized by the Institut fUr Okonometrie und Operations Re search of the University of Bonn in collaboration with the Sonderforschungs bereich 21 of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft. This volume constitutes part of the outgrowth of this symposium and docu ments its scientific activities. Part I of the book contains information about the symposium, welcoming addresses, lists of committees and sponsors and a brief review about the Ful kerson Prize and the Dantzig Prize which were awarded during the opening ceremony.

The first contemporary comprehensive treatment of optimization without derivatives. This text explains how sampling and model techniques are used in derivative-free methods and how they are designed to solve optimization problems. It is designed to be readily accessible to both researchers and those with a modest background in computational mathematics.

This volume provides a broad and uniform introduction of PDE-constrained optimization as well as to document a number of interesting and challenging applications. Many science and engineering applications necessitate the solution of optimization problems constrained by physical laws that are described by systems of partial differential equations (PDEs)​. As a result, PDE-constrained optimization problems arise in a variety of disciplines including geophysics, earth and climate science, material science, chemical and mechanical engineering, medical imaging and physics. This volume is divided into two parts. The first part provides a comprehensive treatment of PDE-constrained optimization including discussions of problems constrained by PDEs with uncertain inputs and problems constrained by variational inequalities. Special emphasis is placed on algorithm development and numerical computation. In addition, a comprehensive treatment of inverse problems arising in the oil and gas industry is provided. The second part of this volume focuses on the application of PDE-constrained optimization, including problems in optimal control, optimal design, and inverse problems, among other topics.

Optimization is an important tool used in decision science and for the analysis of physical systems used in engineering. One can trace its roots to the Calculus of Variations and the work of Euler and Lagrange. This natural and reasonable approach to mathematical programming covers numerical methods for finite-dimensional optimization problems. It begins with very simple ideas progressing through more complicated concepts, concentrating on methods for both unconstrained and constrained optimization.

Many engineering, operations, and scientific applications include a mixture of discrete and continuous decision variables and nonlinear relationships involving the decision variables that have a pronounced effect on the set of feasible and optimal solutions. Mixed-integer nonlinear programming (MINLP) problems combine the numerical difficulties of handling nonlinear functions with the challenge of optimizing in the context of nonconvex functions and discrete variables. MINLP is one of the most flexible modeling paradigms available for optimization; but because its scope is so broad, in the most general cases it is hopelessly intractable. Nonetheless, an expanding body of researchers and practitioners — including chemical engineers, operations researchers, industrial engineers, mechanical engineers, economists, statisticians, computer scientists, operations managers, and mathematical programmers — are interested in solving large-scale MINLP instances.