Optimization Techniques for Solving Complex Problems

PREFACE

This book is the result of an ambitious project to bring together various visions of many researchers in both fundamental and applied issues of computational methods, with a main focus on optimization. The large number of such techniques and their wide applicability make it worthwhile (although difficult) to present in a single volume some core ideas leading to the creation of new algorithms and their application to new real-world tasks.

In addition to researchers interested mainly in algorithmic aspects of computational methods, there are many researchers whose daily work is rather application-driven, with the requirement to apply existing techniques efficiently but having neither the time, the resources, nor the interest in algorithmic aspects. This book is intended to serve all of them, since these two points of view are addressed in most of the chapters. Since the book has these two parts (fundamentals and applications), readers may use chapters of either part to enhance their understanding of modern applications and of optimization techniques simultaneously.

Since this is an edited volume, we were able to profit from a large number of researchers as well as from new research lines on related topics that have begun recently; this is an important added value that an authored book would probably not provide to such an extent. This can easily be understood by listing the ...