Bøger af William J. Cook

This volume contains the papers selected for presentation at IPCO 2002, the NinthInternationalConferenceonIntegerProgrammingandCombinatorial- timization, Cambridge, MA (USA), May 27-29, 2002. The IPCO series of c- ferences highlights recent developments in theory, computation, and application of integer programming and combinatorial optimization. IPCO was established in 1988 when the ?rst IPCO program committee was formed. IPCO is held every year in which no International Symposium on Ma- ematical Programming (ISMP) takes places. The ISMP is triennial, so IPCO conferences are held twice in every three-year period. The eight previous IPCO conferences were held in Waterloo (Canada) 1990, Pittsburgh (USA) 1992, Erice (Italy) 1993, Copenhagen (Denmark) 1995, Vancouver (Canada) 1996, Houston (USA) 1998, Graz (Austria) 1999, and Utrecht (The Netherlands) 2001. In response to the call for papers for IPCO 2002, the program committee received 110 submissions, a record number for IPCO. The program committee met on January 7 and 8, 2002, in Aussois (France), and selected 33 papers for inclusion in the scienti?c program of IPCO 2002. The selection was based on originality and quality, and re?ects many of the current directions in integer programming and combinatorial optimization research.

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.

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.Some images inside the book are unavailable due to digital copyright restrictions.

Most of what passes for strategic planning is not strategic at all. Cook maintains that even to attempt strategy there must first be a strategic system, a system that deals with strategic issues, decision-making, and strategic action, which is preceded by strategic thinking.

This work traces the historical and philosophical development of the modern corporation through Hellensitic, Judaeo-Christian theologies, with particular emphasis on the social, political and economic impact of rationalistic science.

A complete, highly accessible introduction to one of today's most exciting areas of applied mathematics One of the youngest, most vital areas of applied mathematics, combinatorial optimization integrates techniques from combinatorics, linear programming, and the theory of algorithms.