This book is the first comprehensive tutorial on matheuristics. Matheuristics are based on mathematical extensions of previously known heuristics, mainly metaheuristics, and on original, area-specific approaches. This tutorial provides a detailed discussion of both contributions, presenting the pseudocodes of over 40 algorithms, abundant literature references, and for each case a step-by-step description of a sample run on a common Generalized Assignment Problem example. C++ source codes of all algorithms are available in an associated SW repository.

This book opens the door to multiobjective optimization for students in fields such as engineering, management, economics and applied mathematics. It offers a comprehensive introduction to multiobjective optimization, with a primary emphasis on multiobjective linear programming and multiobjective integer/mixed integer programming. A didactic book, it is mainly intended for undergraduate and graduate students, but can also be useful for researchers and practitioners. Further, it is accompanied by an interactive software package - developed by the authors for Windows platforms - which can be used for teaching and decision-making support purposes in multiobjective linear programming problems. Thus, besides the textbook’s coverage of the essential concepts, theory and methods, complemented with illustrative examples and exercises, the computational tool enables students to experiment and enhance their technical skills, as well as to capture the essential characteristics of real-world problems.

This volume chronicles the high impact research career of Harvey Greenberg (1940-2018), and in particular, it reviews historical contributions, presents current research projects, and suggests future pursuits. This volume addresses several of his most distinguished hallmarks, including model analysis, model generation, infeasibility diagnosis, sensitivity analysis, parametric programming, energy modeling, and computational biology. There is also an overview chapter on the emergence of computational OR, and in particular, how literature venues have changed the course of OR research. He developed Computer-Assisted Analysis in the 1970s and 80s, creating an artificially intelligent environment for analyzing mathematical programming models and their results. This earned him the first INFORMS Computing Society (ICS) Prize for "research excellence in the interfaces between operations research and computer science" in 1986, notably for his software system, ANALYZE. In 1993, he wrote the first book in the Springer OR/CS Series entitled A Computer-Assisted Analysis System for Mathematical Programming Models and Solutions: A User’s Guide for ANALYZE. He applied OR methods to CS problems, ranging from using queuing theory for optimal list structure design to using integer programming for bioinformatic database search. He also applied CS to OR problems, ranging from super-sparse information structures to the use of compiler design in ANALYZE. This book can serve as a guide to new researchers, and will report the historical trajectory of OR as it solves current problems and forecasts future applications through the accomplishments of Harvey Greenberg.

This tutorial introduces readers to several variants of routing problems with profits. In these routing problems each node has a certain profit, and not all nodes need to be visited. Since the orienteering problem (OP) is by far the most frequently studied problem in this category of routing problems, the book mainly focuses on the OP. In turn, other problems are presented as variants of the OP, focusing on the similarities and differences. The goal of the OP is to determine a subset of nodes to visit and in which order, so that the total collected profit is maximized and a given time budget is not exceeded.The book provides a comprehensive review of variants of the OP, such as the team OP, the team OP with time windows, the profitable tour problem, and the prize-collecting travelling salesperson problem. In addition, it presents mathematical models and techniques for solving these OP variants and discusses their complexity. Several simple examples and benchmark instances, together with their best-known results, are also included. Finally, the book reviews the latest applications of these problems in the fields of logistics, tourism and others.

The first edition of Search Methodologies: Introductory Tutorials in Optimization and Decision Support Techniques was originally put together to offer a basic introduction to the various search and optimization techniques that students might need to use during their research, and this new edition continues this tradition. Search Methodologies has been expanded and brought completely up to date, including new chapters covering scatter search, GRASP, and very large neighborhood search. The chapter authors are drawn from across Computer Science and Operations Research and include some of the world’s leading authorities in their field. The book provides useful guidelines for implementing the methods and frameworks described and offers valuable tutorials to students and researchers in the field. “As I embarked on the pleasant journey of reading through the chapters of this book, I became convinced that this is one of the best sources of introductory material on the search methodologies topic to be found. The book’s subtitle, “Introductory Tutorials in Optimization and Decision Support Techniques”, aptly describes its aim, and the editors and contributors to this volume have achieved this aim with remarkable success. The chapters in this book are exemplary in giving useful guidelines for implementing the methods and frameworks described.” Fred Glover, Leeds School of Business, University of Colorado Boulder, USA “[The book] aims to present a series of well written tutorials by the leading experts in their fields. Moreover, it does this by covering practically the whole possible range of topics in the discipline. It enables students and practitioners to study and appreciate the beauty and the power of some of the computational search techniques that are able to effectively navigate through search spaces that are sometimes inconceivably large. I am convinced that this second edition will build on the success of the first edition and that it will prove to be just as popular.” Jacek Blazewicz, Institute of Computing Science, Poznan University of Technology and Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences

The 2018 volume of INFORMS TutORials in Operations Research presents a number of chapters that highlight contemporary topics in optimization and the use of data to solve problems. We are delighted to present this exciting set of chapters on a number of leading-edge topics in optimization and their use for the solution of important contemporary real-world problems. We believe that the readers will find that the volume spans a number of important techniques that enable meaningful use of data, and we expect that the chapters will inspire them to consider new research areas and modeling tools.

This book presents solutions to the general problem of single period portfolio optimization. It introduces different linear models, arising from different performance measures, and the mixed integer linear models resulting from the introduction of real features. Other linear models, such as models for portfolio rebalancing and index tracking, are also covered. The book discusses computational issues and provides a theoretical framework, including the concepts of risk-averse preferences, stochastic dominance and coherent risk measures. The material is presented in a style that requires no background in finance or in portfolio optimization; some experience in linear and mixed integer models, however, is required. The book is thoroughly didactic, supplementing the concepts with comments and illustrative examples.

This edited volume is an introduction to diverse methods and applications in operations research focused on local populations and community-based organizations that have the potential to improve the lives of individuals and communities in tangible ways. The book's themes include: space, place and community; disadvantaged, underrepresented or underserved populations; international and transnational applications; multimethod, cross-disciplinary and comparative approaches and appropriate technology; and analytics. The book is comprised of eleven original submissions, a re-print of a 2007 article by Johnson and Smilowitz that introduces CBOR, and an introductory chapter that provides policy motivation, antecedents to CBOR in OR/MS, a theory of CBOR and a comprehensive review of the chapters. It is hoped that this book will provide a resource to academics and practitioners who seek to develop methods and applications that bridge the divide between traditional OR/MS rooted in mathematical models and newer streams in 'soft OR' that emphasize problem structuring methods, critical approaches to OR/MS and community engagement and capacity-building.

A compact, highly-motivated introduction to some of the stochastic models found useful in the study of communications networks.