This book contains selected papers presented at the "International Annual Conference of the German Operations Research Society (OR2012)" which was held September 4 -7, 2012 at the Leibniz Universität Hannover, Germany. The international conference, which also serves as the annual meeting of the German Operations Research Society (GOR), attracted more than 500 participants from more than 39 countries. Special attention at the conference was given to the three topics "Energy, Markets and Mob...

This book offers a first course in analysis for scientists and engineers. It can be used at the advanced undergraduate level or as part of the curriculum in a graduate program. The book is built around metric spaces. In the first three chapters, the authors lay the foundational material and cover the all-important “four-C’s”: convergence, completeness, compactness, and continuity. In subsequent chapters, the basic tools of analysis are used to give brief introductions to differential and i...

Finite-dimensional optimization problems occur throughout the mathematical sciences. The majority of these problems cannot be solved analytically. This introduction to optimization attempts to strike a balance between presentation of mathematical theory and development of numerical algorithms. Building on students’ skills in calculus and linear algebra, the text provides a rigorous exposition without undue abstraction. Its stress on statistical applications will be especially appealing to ...

This volume contains two types of papers—a selection of contributions from the “Second International Conference in Network Analysis” held in Nizhny Novgorod on May 7–9, 2012, and papers submitted to an "open call for papers" reflecting the activities of LATNA at the Higher School for Economics.This volume contains many new results in modeling and powerful algorithmic solutions applied to problems in• vehicle routing• single machine scheduling• modern financial...

This volume covers recent developments in the design, operation, and management of telecommunication and computer network systems in performance engineering and addresses issues of uncertainty, robustness, and risk. Uncertainty regarding loading and system parameters leads to challenging optimization and robustness issues. Stochastic modeling combined with optimization theory ensures the optimum end-to-end performance of telecommunication or computer network systems. In view of the diverse...

This volume provides a general overview of discrete- and continuous-time Markov control processes and stochastic games, along with a look at the range of applications of stochastic control and some of its recent theoretical developments. These topics include various aspects of dynamic programming, approximation algorithms, and infinite-dimensional linear programming. In all, the work comprises 18 carefully selected papers written by experts in their respective fields.Optimizati...

This book introduces the reader to the field of multiobjective optimization through problems with simple structures, namely those in which the objective function and constraints are linear. Fundamental notions as well as state-of-the-art advances are presented in a comprehensive way and illustrated with the help of numerous examples. Three of the most popular methods for solving multiobjective linear problems are explained, and exercises are provided at the end of each chapter, helping stu...

Analysis, assessment, and data management are core tools required for operation research analysts. The April 2011 conference held at the Helenic Military Academy addressed these issues with efforts to collect valuable recommendations for improving analysts’ capabilities to assess and communicate the necessary qualitative data to military leaders. This unique volume is an outgrowth of the April conference and comprises of contributions from the fields of science, mathematics, and the milita...

Metaheuristics exhibit desirable properties like simplicity, easy parallelizability, and ready applicability to different types of optimization problems. After a comprehensive introduction to the field, the contributed chapters in this book include explanations of the main metaheuristics techniques, including simulated annealing, tabu search, evolutionary algorithms, artificial ants, and particle swarms, followed by chapters that demonstrate their applications to problems such as multiobje...

Semidefinite and conic optimization is a major and thriving research area within the optimization community. Although semidefinite optimization has been studied (under different names) since at least the 1940s, its importance grew immensely during the 1990s after polynomial-time interior-point methods for linear optimization were extended to solve semidefinite optimization problems.Since the beginning of the 21st century, not only has research into semidefinite and conic optimizati...

The introductory chapter consists of four sections. In Sect. 1. 1 we reveal the c- rent situation in hospitals that is faced by the management. We address the general issue of personnel scheduling in the service industry in Sect. 1. 2. Then we motivate our research by considering physicians as the scheduling object. In particular, we show the complex nature of physician scheduling in a hospital environment. The focus of the research is presented in Sect. 1. 3. Finally, we conclude the chap...

Whether different types of costs are to be reduced, benefits to be maximized or scarce resources to be managed, scheduling theory provides intelligent methods for practitioners and scientists. The just-in-time (JIT) production philosophy has enriched the classical scheduling theory with models that consider characteristics such as inventory costs, set-up times, lot sizing, or maintenance.This edited volume considers the specifics of just-in-time systems. It provides knowledge and i...