Progress in Combinatorial Optimization provides information pertinent to the fundamental aspects of combinatorial optimization. This book discusses how to determine whether or not a particular structure exists. Organized into 21 chapters, this book begins with an overview of a polar characterization of facets of polyhedra obtained by lifting facets of lower dimensional polyhedra. This text then discusses how to obtain bounds on the value of the objective in a graph partitioning problem in terms of spectral information about the graph. Other chapters consider the notion of a triangulation of an oriented matroid and show that oriented matroid triangulation yield triangulations of the underlying polytopes. This book discusses as well the selected results and problems on perfect ad imperfect graphs. The final chapter deals with the weighted parity problem for gammoids, which can be reduced to the weighted graphic matching problem. This book is a valuable resource for mathematicians and research workers.

Incorporating a number of the author’s recent ideas and examples, Dynamic Programming: Foundations and Principles, Second Edition presents a comprehensive and rigorous treatment of dynamic programming. The author emphasizes the crucial role that modeling plays in understanding this area. He also shows how Dijkstra’s algorithm is an excellent example of a dynamic programming algorithm, despite the impression given by the computer science literature. New to the Second Edition Expanded discussions of sequential decision models and the role of the state variable in modeling A new chapter on forward dynamic programming models A new chapter on the Push method that gives a dynamic programming perspective on Dijkstra’s algorithm for the shortest path problem A new appendix on the Corridor method Taking into account recent developments in dynamic programming, this edition continues to provide a systematic, formal outline of Bellman’s approach to dynamic programming. It looks at dynamic programming as a problem-solving methodology, identifying its constituent components and explaining its theoretical basis for tackling problems.