In the last decades, algorithmic advances as well as hardware and software improvements have provided an excellent environment to create and develop solving methods to hard optimization problems. Modern exact and heuristic techniques are dramatically enhancing our ability to solve significant practical problems. This monograph sets out state-of-the-art methodologies for solving combinatorial optimization problems, illustrating them with two well-known problems. This second edition of the book extends the first one by adding to the 'linear ordering problem' (LOP), included in the first edition, the 'maximum diversity problem' (MDP). In this way, we provide the reader with the background, elements and strategies to tackle a wide range of different combinatorial optimization problems. The exact and heuristic techniques outlined in these pages can be put to use in any number of combinatorial optimization problems. While the authors employ the LOP and the MDP to illustrate cutting-edge optimization technologies, the book is also a tutorial on how to design effective and successful implementations of exact and heuristic procedures alike. This monograph provides the basic principles and fundamental ideas that will enable students and practitioners to create valuable applications based on both exact and heuristic technologies. Specifically, it is aimed at engineers, scientists, operations researchers, and other applications specialists who are looking for the most appropriate and recent optimization tools to solve particular problems. The book provides a broad spectrum of advances in search strategies with a focus on its algorithmic and computational aspects.

Martin Grotschel is one of the most influential mathematicians of our time. He has received numerous honors and holds a number of key positions in the international mathematical community. He celebrated his 65th birthday on September 10, 2013. Martin Grotschel s doctoral descendant tree 1983 2012, i.e., the first 30 years, features 39 children, 74 grandchildren, 24 great-grandchildren and 2 great-great-grandchildren, a total of 139 doctoral descendants.

This book starts with a personal tribute to Martin Grotschel by the editors (Part I), a contribution by his very special predecessor Manfred Padberg on Facets and Rank of Integer Polyhedra (Part II), and the doctoral descendant tree 1983 2012 (Part III). The core of this book (Part IV) contains 16 contributions, each of which is coauthored by at least one doctoral descendant.

The sequence of the articles starts with contributions to the theory of mathematical optimization, including polyhedral combinatorics, extended formulations, mixed-integer convex optimization, super classes of perfect graphs, efficient algorithms for subtree-telecenters, junctions in acyclic graphs and preemptive restricted strip covering, as well as efficient approximation of non-preemptive restricted strip covering.

Combinations of new theoretical insights with algorithms and experiments deal with network design problems, combinatorial optimization problems with submodular objective functions and more general mixed-integer nonlinear optimization problems. Applications include VLSI layout design, systems biology, wireless network design, mean-risk optimization and gas network optimization.

Computational studies include a semidefinite branch and cut approach for the max k-cut problem, mixed-integer nonlinear optimal control, and mixed-integer linear optimization for scheduling and routing of fly-in safari planes.

The two closing articles are devoted to computational advances in general mixed integer linear optimization, the first by scientists working in industry, the second by scientists working in academia.

These articles reflect the scientific facets of Martin Grotschel who has set standards in theory, computation and applications.

In 1958, Ralph E. Gomory transformed the field of integer programming when he published a paper that described a cutting-plane algorithm for pure integer programs and announced that the method could be refined to give a finite algorithm for integer programming. In 2008, to commemorate the anniversary of this seminal paper, a special workshop celebrating fifty years of integer programming was held in Aussois, France, as part of the 12th Combinatorial Optimization Workshop. It contains reprints of key historical articles and written versions of survey lectures on six of the hottest topics in the field by distinguished members of the integer programming community. Useful for anyone in mathematics, computer science and operations research, this book exposes mathematical optimization, specifically integer programming and combinatorial optimization, to a broad audience.

Martin Groetschel is one of the most influential mathematicians of our time. He has received numerous honors and holds a number of key positions in the international mathematical community. He celebrated his 65th birthday on September 10, 2013. Martin Groetschel's doctoral descendant tree 1983-2012, i.e., the first 30 years, features 39 children, 74 grandchildren, 24 great-grandchildren and 2 great-great-grandchildren, a total of 139 doctoral descendants. This book starts with a personal tribute to Martin Groetschel by the editors (Part I), a contribution by his very special "predecessor" Manfred Padberg on "Facets and Rank of Integer Polyhedra" (Part II), and the doctoral descendant tree 1983-2012 (Part III). The core of this book (Part IV) contains 16 contributions, each of which is coauthored by at least one doctoral descendant. The sequence of the articles starts with contributions to the theory of mathematical optimization, including polyhedral combinatorics, extended formulations, mixed-integer convex optimization, super classes of perfect graphs, efficient algorithms for subtree-telecenters, junctions in acyclic graphs and preemptive restricted strip covering, as well as efficient approximation of non-preemptive restricted strip covering. Combinations of new theoretical insights with algorithms and experiments deal with network design problems, combinatorial optimization problems with submodular objective functions and more general mixed-integer nonlinear optimization problems. Applications include VLSI layout design, systems biology, wireless network design, mean-risk optimization and gas network optimization. Computational studies include a semidefinite branch and cut approach for the max k-cut problem, mixed-integer nonlinear optimal control, and mixed-integer linear optimization for scheduling and routing of fly-in safari planes. The two closing articles are devoted to computational advances in general mixed integer linear optimization, the first by scientists working in industry, the second by scientists working in academia. These articles reflect the "scientific facets" of Martin Groetschel who has set standards in theory, computation and applications.

Faced with the challenge of solving the hard optimization problems that abound in the real world, existing methods often encounter great difficulties. Important applications in business, engineering or economics cannot be tackled by the techniques that have formed the predominant focus of academic research throughout the past three decades. Exact and heuristic approaches are dramatically changing our ability to solve problems of practical significance and are extending the frontier of problems that can be handled effectively. This monograph details state-of-the-art optimization methods, both exact and heuristic, for the LOP. The authors employ the LOP to illustrate contemporary optimization technologies as well as how to design successful implementations of exact and heuristic procedures. Therefore, they do not limit the scope of this book to the LOP, but on the contrary, provide the reader with the background and practical strategies in optimization to tackle different combinatorial problems.

This volume contains a selection of papers referring to lectures presented at the symposium "Operations Research 2003" (OR03) held at the Ruprecht- Karls-Universitiit Heidelberg, September 3 - 5, 2003. This international con- ference took place under the auspices of the German Operations Research So- ciety (GOR) and of Dr. Erwin Teufel, prime minister of Baden-Wurttemberg. The symposium had about 500 participants from countries all over the world. It attracted academians and practitioners working in various field of Opera- tions Research and provided them with the most recent advances in Opera- tions Research and related areas in Economics, Mathematics, and Computer Science. The program consisted of 4 plenary and 13 semi-plenary talks and more than 300 contributed papers selected by the program committee to be presented in 17 sections. Due to a limited number of pages available for the proceedings volume, the length of each article as well as the total number of accepted contributions had to be restricted. Submitted manuscripts have therefore been reviewed and 62 of them have been selected for publication. This refereeing procedure has been strongly supported by the section chairmen and we would like to express our gratitude to them. Finally, we also would like to thank Dr. Werner Muller from Springer-Verlag for his support in publishing this proceedings volume.

This book is dedicated to Jack Edmonds in appreciation of his ground breaking work that laid the foundations for a broad variety of subsequent results achieved in combinatorial optimization. The main part consists of 13 revised full papers on current topics in combinatorial optimization, presented at Aussois 2001, the Fifth Aussois Workshop on Combinatorial Optimization, March 5-9, 2001, and dedicated to Jack Edmonds. Additional highlights in this book are an account of an Aussois 2001 special session dedicated to Jack Edmonds including a speech given by William R. Pulleyblank as well as newly typeset versions of three up-to-now hardly accessible classical papers: - Submodular Functions, Matroids, and Certain Polyhedra   by Jack Edmonds - Matching: A Well-Solved Class of Integer Linear Programs   by Jack Edmonds and Ellis L. Johnson - Theoretical Improvements in Algorithmic Efficiency for Network Flow Problems   by Jack Edmonds and Richard M. Karp.

Still today I am receiving requests for reprints of the book, but unfortunately it is out of print. Therefore, since the book still seems to receive some attention, I p- posed to Springer Verlag to provide a free online edition. I am very happy that Springer agreed. Except for the correction of some typographical errors, the online edition is just a copy of the printed version, no updates have been made. In particular, Table 13.1 gives the status of TSPLIB at the time of publishing the book. For accessing TSPLIB the link http://www.iwr.uni-heidelberg.de/iwr/comopt/software/TSPLIB95/ should be used instead of following the procedure described in Chapter 13. Heidelberg, January 2001 Gerhard Reinelt Preface More than ?fteen years ago, I was faced with the following problem in an assignment for a class in computer science. A brewery had to deliver beer to ?ve stores, and the task was to write a computer program for determining the shortest route for the truck driver to visit all stores and return to the brewery. All my attemps to ?nd a reasonable algorithm failed, I could not help enumerating all possible routes and then select the best one.