William J. Cook

Before Our House Fell into the Ocean

What is the shortest possible route for a traveling salesman seeking to visit each city on a list exactly once and return to his city of origin? It sounds simple enough, yet the traveling salesman problem is one of the most intensely studied puzzles in applied mathematics—and it has defied solution to this day. In this book, William Cook takes readers on a mathematical excursion, picking up the salesman's trail in the 1800s when Irish mathematician W. R. Hamilton first defined the problem, and venturing to the furthest limits of today’s state-of-the-art attempts to solve it. He also explores its many important applications, from genome sequencing and designing computer processors to arranging music and hunting for planets. In Pursuit of the Traveling Salesman travels to the very threshold of our understanding about the nature of complexity, and challenges you yourself to discover the solution to this captivating mathematical problem.

Mathematics at the Limits of Computation

In Pursuit of the Traveling Salesman

Vašek Chvátal

David L. Applegate

Robert E. Bixby

This book presents the latest findings on one of the most intensely investigated subjects in computational mathematics--the traveling salesman problem. It sounds simple enough: given a set of cities and the cost of travel between each pair of them, the problem challenges you to find the cheapest route by which to visit all the cities and return home to where you began. Though seemingly modest, this exercise has inspired studies by mathematicians, chemists, and physicists. Teachers use it in the classroom. It has practical applications in genetics, telecommunications, and neuroscience. The authors of this book are the same pioneers who for nearly two decades have led the investigation into the traveling salesman problem. They have derived solutions to almost eighty-six thousand cities, yet a general solution to the problem has yet to be discovered. Here they describe the method and computer code they used to solve a broad range of large-scale problems, and along the way they demonstrate the interplay of applied mathematics with increasingly powerful computing platforms. They also give the fascinating history of the problem--how it developed, and why it continues to intrigue us.

A Computational Study

The Traveling Salesman Problem

Alexander Schrijver

William H. Cunningham

William R. Pulleyblank

A complete, highly accessible introduction to one of today's mostexciting areas of applied mathematics One of the youngest, most vital areas of applied mathematics,combinatorial optimization integrates techniques fromcombinatorics, linear programming, and the theory of algorithms.Because of its success in solving difficult problems in areas fromtelecommunications to VLSI, from product distribution to airlinecrew scheduling, the field has seen a ground swell of activity overthe past decade. Combinatorial Optimization is an ideal introduction to thismathematical discipline for advanced undergraduates and graduatestudents of discrete mathematics, computer science, and operationsresearch. Written by a team of recognized experts, the text offersa thorough, highly accessible treatment of both classical conceptsand recent results. The topics include: * Network flow problems * Optimal matching * Integrality of polyhedra * Matroids * NP-completeness Featuring logical and consistent exposition, clear explanations ofbasic and advanced concepts, many real-world examples, and helpful,skill-building exercises, Combinatorial Optimization is certain tobecome the standard text in the field for many years to come.

Combinatorial Optimization

Leadership that plans strategically can initiate the changes most likely to improve public education. The first section of this book is an introduction focusing on the need for leadership and a statement of philosophy on educational change. The next section discusses the four kinds of change affecting public education: (1) the upheaval in the demographics of this country; (2) implications of the transition in the economic base of the United States; (3) the transformation of mainstream values; and (4) competition in the free market worldwide. The third section defines strategic planning as the total concentration of the organization's resources on mutually predetermined measurable outcomes. In the fourth section the stretegic planning discipline model is described. Lastly, an analysis of the methods and the sequence of planning activities is provided. Appended is a list of roles people play, a cost-benefit analysis guide, a job performance standards chart, and an author profile. (SI)

Bill Cook's Strategic Planning for America's Schools

Jens Vygen

László Lovász

The editors and authors dedicate this book to Bernhard Korte on the occasion of his seventieth birthday. We, the editors, are happy about the overwhelming feedback to our initiative to honor him with this book and with a workshop in Bonn on November 3–7,2008.Althoughthiswouldbeareasontolookback,wewouldratherliketolook forward and see what are the interesting research directions today. This book is written by leading experts in combinatorial optimization. All - pers were carefully reviewed, and eventually twenty-three of the invited papers were accepted for this book. The breadth of topics is typical for the eld: combinatorial optimization builds bridges between areas like combinatorics and graph theory, submodular functions and matroids, network ows and connectivity, approximation algorithms and mat- matical programming, computational geometry and polyhedral combinatorics. All these topics are related, and they are all addressed in this book. Combi- torial optimization is also known for its numerous applications. To limit the scope, however, this book is not primarily about applications, although some are mentioned at various places. Most papers in this volume are surveys that provide an excellent overview of an activeresearcharea,butthisbookalsocontainsmanynewresults.Highlightingmany of the currently most interesting research directions in combinatorial optimization, we hope that this book constitutes a good basis for future research in these areas.

Bonn 2008

Research Trends in Combinatorial Optimization

Studies the evolution of Waugh's novels by concentrating on three areas of his art--narrator, tone, and theme--and the single technique that binds all of these together: the uniquely contrived relationship between the narrator-persona and the character-persona.

William J. Cook

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