This self-contained text provides a solid introduction to global and nonlinear optimization, providing students of mathematics and interdisciplinary sciences with a strong foundation in applied optimization techniques. The book offers a unique hands-on and critical approach to applied optimization which includes the presentation of numerous algorithms, examples, and illustrations, designed to improve the reader’s intuition and develop the analytical skills needed to identify optimization problems, classify the structure of a model, and determine whether a solution fulfills optimality conditions.

Interest in constrained optimization originated with the simple linear pro gramming model since it was practical and perhaps the only computationally tractable model at the time. Constrained linear optimization models were soon adopted in numerous application areas and are perhaps the most widely used mathematical models in operations research and management science at the time of this writing. Modelers have, however, found the assumption of linearity to be overly restrictive in expressing the real-world phenomena and problems in economics, finance, business, communication, engineering design, computational biology, and other areas that frequently demand the use of nonlinear expressions and discrete variables in optimization models. Both of these extensions of the linear programming model are NP-hard, thus representing very challenging problems. On the brighter side, recent advances in algorithmic and computing technology make it possible to re visit these problems with the hope of solving practically relevant problems in reasonable amounts of computational time. Initial attempts at solving nonlinear programs concentrated on the de velopment of local optimization methods guaranteeing globality under the assumption of convexity. On the other hand, the integer programming liter ature has concentrated on the development of methods that ensure global optima. The aim of this book is to marry the advancements in solving nonlinear and integer programming models and to develop new results in the more general framework of mixed-integer nonlinear programs (MINLPs) with the goal of devising practically efficient global optimization algorithms for MINLPs.

This book provides the foundations of the theory of nonlinear optimization as well as some related algorithms and presents a variety of applications from diverse areas of applied sciences. The author combines three pillars of optimization?theoretical and algorithmic foundation, familiarity with various applications, and the ability to apply the theory and algorithms on actual problems?and rigorously and gradually builds the connection between theory, algorithms, applications, and implementation. Readers will find more than 170 theoretical, algorithmic, and numerical exercises that deepen and enhance the reader's understanding of the topics. The author includes offers several subjects not typically found in optimization books?for example, optimality conditions in sparsity-constrained optimization, hidden convexity, and total least squares. The book also offers a large number of applications discussed theoretically and algorithmically, such as circle fitting, Chebyshev center, the Fermat?Weber problem, denoising, clustering, total least squares, and orthogonal regression and theoretical and algorithmic topics demonstrated by the MATLAB? toolbox CVX and a package of m-files that is posted on the book?s web site.

A textbook for an undergraduate course in mathematical programming for students with a knowledge of elementary real analysis, linear algebra, and classical linear programming (simple techniques). Focuses on the computation and characterization of global optima of nonlinear functions, rather than the locally optimal solutions addressed by most books on optimization. Incorporates the theoretical, algorithmic, and computational advances of the past three decades that help solve globally multi-extreme problems in the mathematical modeling of real world systems. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

This book is an introduction to nonlinear programming. It deals with the theoretical foundations and solution methods, beginning with the classical procedures and reaching up to “modern” methods like trust region methods or procedures for nonlinear and global optimization. A comprehensive bibliography including diverse web sites with information about nonlinear programming, in particular software, is presented. Without sacrificing the necessary mathematical rigor, excessive formalisms are avoided. Several examples, exercises with detailed solutions, and applications are provided, making the text adequate for individual studies. The book is written for students from the fields of applied mathematics, engineering, economy, and computation.

This text presents a multi-disciplined view of optimization, providing students and researchers with a thorough examination of algorithms, methods, and tools from diverse areas of optimization without introducing excessive theoretical detail. This second edition includes additional topics, including global optimization and a real-world case study using important concepts from each chapter. Introduction to Applied Optimization is intended for advanced undergraduate and graduate students and will benefit scientists from diverse areas, including engineers.

This volume contains a thorough overview of the rapidly growing field of global optimization, with chapters on key topics such as complexity, heuristic methods, derivation of lower bounds for minimization problems, and branch-and-bound methods and convergence. The final chapter offers both benchmark test problems and applications of global optimization, such as finding the conformation of a molecule or planning an optimal trajectory for interplanetary space travel. An appendix provides fundamental information on convex and concave functions. Intended for Ph.D. students, researchers, and practitioners looking for advanced solution methods to difficult optimization problems. It can be used as a supplementary text in an advanced graduate-level seminar.