This contributed volume discusses aspects of nonlinear analysis in which optimization plays an important role, as well as topics which are applied to the study of optimization problems. Topics include set-valued analysis, mixed concave-convex sub-superlinear Schroedinger equation, Schroedinger equations in nonlinear optics, exponentially convex functions, optimal lot size under the occurrence of imperfect quality items, generalized equilibrium problems, artificial topologies on a relativistic spacetime, equilibrium points in the restricted three-body problem, optimization models for networks of organ transplants, network curvature measures, error analysis through energy minimization and stability problems, Ekeland variational principles in 2-local Branciari metric spaces, frictional dynamic problems, norm estimates for composite operators, operator factorization and solution of second-order nonlinear difference equations, degenerate Kirchhoff-type inclusion problems, and more.

Many of our daily-life problems can be written in the form of an optimization problem. Therefore, solution methods are needed to solve such problems. Due to the complexity of the problems, it is not always easy to find the exact solution. However, approximate solutions can be found. The theory of the best approximation is applicable in a variety of problems arising in nonlinear functional analysis and optimization. This book highlights interesting aspects of nonlinear analysis and optimization together with many applications in the areas of physical and social sciences including engineering. It is immensely helpful for young graduates and researchers who are pursuing research in this field, as it provides abundant research resources for researchers and post-doctoral fellows. This will be a valuable addition to the library of anyone who works in the field of applied mathematics, economics and engineering.

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 focuses on recent advances in nonlinear analysis and optimization with important applications drawn from various fields, such as artificial intelligence, genetic algorithms, optimization problems under uncertainty, and fuzzy logic. Specifically, it is devoted to nonlinear problems associated with optimization which have some connection with applications. The ideas and techniques developed here will serve to stimulate further research in this dynamic field, and, in this way, the book will become a valuable reference for researchers, engineers and students in the field of mathematics, management science, operations research, optimal control science and economics.

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.

This book will present the papers delivered at the first U.S. conference devoted exclusively to global optimization and will thus provide valuable insights into the significant research on the topic that has been emerging during recent years. Held at Princeton University in May 1991, the conference brought together an interdisciplinary group of the most active developers of algorithms for global optimization in order to focus the attention of the mathematical programming community on the unsolved problems and diverse applications of this field. The main subjects addressed at the conference were advances in deterministic and stochastic methods for global optimization, parallel algorithms for global optimization problems, and applications of global optimization. Although global optimization is primarily a mathematical problem, it is relevant to several other disciplines, including computer science, applied mathematics, physical chemistry, molecular biology, statistics, physics, engineering, operations research, communication theory, and economics. Global optimization problems originate from a wide variety of mathematical models of real-world systems. Some of its applications are allocation and location problems and VLSI and data-base design problems. Originally published in 1991. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.