Lecture

Introduction to Optimization

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In course

MGT-483: Optimal decision making

This course introduces the theory and applications of optimization. We develop tools and concepts of optimization and decision analysis that enable managers in manufacturing, service operations, marketing, transportation and finance to transform data into ...

Description

This lecture introduces the fundamentals of optimization, covering linear, discrete, and nonlinear optimization. It includes historical perspectives, mathematical formulations, and practical applications. Topics range from the simplex method to Lagrangian methods and approximation algorithms. The instructor emphasizes the importance of decision variables, objective functions, and constraints in building optimization models. Practical examples such as the Diet Problem, Manufacturing Problem, and Investment Problem are discussed to illustrate real-world applications of optimization techniques.

Instructor

Daniel Kuhn

Official source

Ontological neighbourhood

Theoretical computer science

Algorithms and data structures: Combinatorial optimization

Related concepts (29)

Mathematical optimization

Mathematical optimization (alternatively spelled optimisation) or mathematical programming is the selection of a best element, with regard to some criterion, from some set of available alternatives. It is generally divided into two subfields: discrete optimization and continuous optimization. Optimization problems arise in all quantitative disciplines from computer science and engineering to operations research and economics, and the development of solution methods has been of interest in mathematics for centuries.

Combinatorial optimization

Combinatorial optimization is a subfield of mathematical optimization that consists of finding an optimal object from a finite set of objects, where the set of feasible solutions is discrete or can be reduced to a discrete set. Typical combinatorial optimization problems are the travelling salesman problem ("TSP"), the minimum spanning tree problem ("MST"), and the knapsack problem. In many such problems, such as the ones previously mentioned, exhaustive search is not tractable, and so specialized algorithms that quickly rule out large parts of the search space or approximation algorithms must be resorted to instead.

Convex optimization

Convex optimization is a subfield of mathematical optimization that studies the problem of minimizing convex functions over convex sets (or, equivalently, maximizing concave functions over convex sets). Many classes of convex optimization problems admit polynomial-time algorithms, whereas mathematical optimization is in general NP-hard.

Nonlinear programming

In mathematics, nonlinear programming (NLP) is the process of solving an optimization problem where some of the constraints or the objective function are nonlinear. An optimization problem is one of calculation of the extrema (maxima, minima or stationary points) of an objective function over a set of unknown real variables and conditional to the satisfaction of a system of equalities and inequalities, collectively termed constraints. It is the sub-field of mathematical optimization that deals with problems that are not linear.

Constrained optimization

In mathematical optimization, constrained optimization (in some contexts called constraint optimization) is the process of optimizing an objective function with respect to some variables in the presence of constraints on those variables. The objective function is either a cost function or energy function, which is to be minimized, or a reward function or utility function, which is to be maximized.

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