This book collects up-to-date papers from world experts in a broad variety of relevant applications of approximation theory, including dynamical systems, multiscale modelling of fluid flow, metrology, and geometric modelling to mention a few. The 14 papers in this volume document modern trends in approximation through recent theoretical developments, important computational aspects and multidisciplinary applications. The book is arranged in seven invited surveys, followed by seven contributed research papers. The surveys of the first seven chapters are addressing the following relevant topics: emergent behaviour in large electrical networks, algorithms for multivariate piecewise constant approximation, anisotropic triangulation methods in adaptive image approximation, form assessment in coordinate metrology, discontinuous Galerkin methods for linear problems, a numerical analyst's view of the lattice Boltzmann method, approximation of probability measures on manifolds. Moreover, the diverse contributed papers of the remaining seven chapters reflect recent developments in approximation theory, approximation practice and their applications. Graduate students who wish to discover the state of the art in a number of important directions of approximation algorithms will find this a valuable volume. Established researchers from statisticians through to fluid modellers will find interesting new approaches to solving familiar but challenging problems. This book grew out of the sixth in the conference series on "Algorithms for Approximation", which took place from 31st August to September 4th 2009 in Ambleside in the Lake District of the United Kingdom.

Covering the basic techniques used in the latest research work, the author consolidates progress made so far, including some very recent and promising results, and conveys the beauty and excitement of work in the field. He gives clear, lucid explanations of key results and ideas, with intuitive proofs, and provides critical examples and numerous illustrations to help elucidate the algorithms. Many of the results presented have been simplified and new insights provided. Of interest to theoretical computer scientists, operations researchers, and discrete mathematicians.

Discrete optimization problems are everywhere, from traditional operations research planning problems, such as scheduling, facility location, and network design; to computer science problems in databases; to advertising issues in viral marketing. Yet most such problems are NP-hard. Thus unless P = NP, there are no efficient algorithms to find optimal solutions to such problems. This book shows how to design approximation algorithms: efficient algorithms that find provably near-optimal solutions. The book is organized around central algorithmic techniques for designing approximation algorithms, including greedy and local search algorithms, dynamic programming, linear and semidefinite programming, and randomization. Each chapter in the first part of the book is devoted to a single algorithmic technique, which is then applied to several different problems. The second part revisits the techniques but offers more sophisticated treatments of them. The book also covers methods for proving that optimization problems are hard to approximate. Designed as a textbook for graduate-level algorithms courses, the book will also serve as a reference for researchers interested in the heuristic solution of discrete optimization problems.

New and classical results in computational complexity, including interactive proofs, PCP, derandomization, and quantum computation. Ideal for graduate students.

This book contains 112 papers selected from about 250 submissions to the 6th World Congress on Global Optimization (WCGO 2019) which takes place on July 8–10, 2019 at University of Lorraine, Metz, France. The book covers both theoretical and algorithmic aspects of Nonconvex Optimization, as well as its applications to modeling and solving decision problems in various domains. It is composed of 10 parts, each of them deals with either the theory and/or methods in a branch of optimization such as Continuous optimization, DC Programming and DCA, Discrete optimization & Network optimization, Multiobjective programming, Optimization under uncertainty, or models and optimization methods in a specific application area including Data science, Economics & Finance, Energy & Water management, Engineering systems, Transportation, Logistics, Resource allocation & Production management. The researchers and practitioners working in Nonconvex Optimization and several application areas can find here many inspiring ideas and useful tools & techniques for their works.

Many physical, chemical, biomedical, and technical processes can be described by partial differential equations or dynamical systems. In spite of increasing computational capacities, many problems are of such high complexity that they are solvable only with severe simplifications, and the design of efficient numerical schemes remains a central research challenge. This book presents a tutorial introduction to recent developments in mathematical methods for model reduction and approximation of complex systems. Model Reduction and Approximation: Theory and Algorithms contains three parts that cover (I) sampling-based methods, such as the reduced basis method and proper orthogonal decomposition, (II) approximation of high-dimensional problems by low-rank tensor techniques, and (III) system-theoretic methods, such as balanced truncation, interpolatory methods, and the Loewner framework. It is tutorial in nature, giving an accessible introduction to state-of-the-art model reduction and approximation methods. It also covers a wide range of methods drawn from typically distinct communities (sampling based, tensor based, system-theoretic).?? This book is intended for researchers interested in model reduction and approximation, particularly graduate students and young researchers.

One common characteristics of a complex system is its ability to withstand major disturbances and the capacity to rebuild itself. Understanding how such systems demonstrate resilience by absorbing or recovering from major external perturbations requires both quantitative foundations and a multidisciplinary view on the topic. This book demonstrates how new methods can be used to identify the actions favouring the recovery from perturbations. Examples discussed include bacterial biofilms resisting detachment, grassland savannahs recovering from fire, the dynamics of language competition and Internet social networking sites overcoming vandalism. The reader is taken through an introduction to the idea of resilience and viability and shown the mathematical basis of the techniques used to analyse systems. The idea of individual or agent-based modelling of complex systems is introduced and related to analytically tractable approximations of such models. A set of case studies illustrates the use of the techniques in real applications, and the final section describes how one can use new and elaborate software tools for carrying out the necessary calculations. The book is intended for a general scientific audience of readers from the natural and social sciences, yet requires some mathematics to gain a full understanding of the more theoretical chapters. It is an essential point of reference for those interested in the practical application of the concepts of resilience and viability

Discusses algorithm development, structure, and behavior Presents comprehensive coverage of algorithms useful for complex systems modeling Includes recent studies on clusterization and recognition problems Provides listings of algorithms in FORTRAN that can be run directly on IBM-compatible PCs

The 2nd Workshop on Approximation and Online Algorithms (WAOA 2004) focused on the design and analysis of algorithms for online and computationally hard problems. Both kinds of problems have a large number of applications arising from a variety of ?elds. WAOA 2004 took place in Bergen, Norway, from September 14 to September 16, 2004. The workshop was part of the ALGO 2004 event which also hosted ESA, WABI, IWPEC, and ATMOS. TopicsofinterestsforWAOA2004were:applicationstogametheory,appr- imation classes, coloring and partitioning, competitive analysis, computational ?nance, cuts and connectivity, geometric problems, inapproximability results, mechanism design, network design, routing, packing and covering, paradigms, randomization techniques, and scheduling problems. In response to our call we received 47 submissions. Each submission was reviewed by at least 3 referees, who judged the paper on originality, quality, and consistency with the topics of the conference. Based on the reviews, the Program Committee selected 21 papers. This volume contains the 21 selected papers and the two invited talks given by Yossi Azar and Klaus Jansen. We thank all the authors who submitted papers to the workshop and we also kindly thank the local organizers of ALGO 2004.

Delineating the tremendous growth in this area, the Handbook of Approximation Algorithms and Metaheuristics covers fundamental, theoretical topics as well as advanced, practical applications. It is the first book to comprehensively study both approximation algorithms and metaheuristics. Starting with basic approaches, the handbook presents the methodologies to design and analyze efficient approximation algorithms for a large class of problems, and to establish inapproximability results for another class of problems. It also discusses local search, neural networks, and metaheuristics, as well as multiobjective problems, sensitivity analysis, and stability. After laying this foundation, the book applies the methodologies to classical problems in combinatorial optimization, computational geometry, and graph problems. In addition, it explores large-scale and emerging applications in networks, bioinformatics, VLSI, game theory, and data analysis. Undoubtedly sparking further developments in the field, this handbook provides the essential techniques to apply approximation algorithms and metaheuristics to a wide range of problems in computer science, operations research, computer engineering, and economics. Armed with this information, researchers can design and analyze efficient algorithms to generate near-optimal solutions for a wide range of computational intractable problems.