Bulletin 104, December 98 

Invited Lecturers :

Vasek Chvatal, Rutgers University, USA

Combinatorial optimization

Robert Fourer, Northwestern University, USA

Design of modeling languages and systems for optimization

Talk Abstracts

Combinatorial optimization, Vasek Chvatal

Despite the all-encompassing title, I will talk mostly about the traveling salesman problem. In fact, I will talk mostly about the computer code for solving TSP instances that David Applegate, Bob Bixby, Bill Cook, and I have written. A preliminary version of this code was made available at the 16th International Symposium on Mathematical Programming in August 1997 and can be downloaded from http://www.caam.rice.edu/~keck/concorde.html.

Design of modeling languages and systems for optimization, Robert Fourer

Although the importance of model formulation in the application of optimization techniques is well appreciated, less is understood about the design of software to help people build and use formulations. These lectures are intended to elucidate the major principles of modeling system design, using systems based upon algebraic modeling languages as a principal example. After an initial survey, the presentation will concentrate on current design challenges in representing complementarity, combinatorial optimization, and stochastic programming. The final lecture will take a broader view of the contexts in which modeling languages are implemented and the relationships between modeling systems and other kinds of software.

Registration

Preliminary Program