There has been much recent progress in global optimization algo rithms for nonconvex continuous and discrete problems from both a theoretical and a practical perspective. Convex analysis plays a fun damental role in the analysis and development of global optimization algorithms. This is due essentially to the fact that virtually all noncon vex optimization problems can be described using differences of convex functions and differences of convex sets. A conference on Convex Analysis and Global Optimization was held during June 5 -9, 2000 at Pythagorion, Samos, Greece. The conference was honoring the memory of C. Caratheodory (1873-1950) and was en dorsed by the Mathematical Programming Society (MPS) and by the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) Activity Group in Optimization. The conference was sponsored by the European Union (through the EPEAEK program), the Department of Mathematics of the Aegean University and the Center for Applied Optimization of the University of Florida, by the General Secretariat of Research and Tech nology of Greece, by the Ministry of Education of Greece, and several local Greek government agencies and companies. This volume contains a selective collection of refereed papers based on invited and contribut ing talks presented at this conference. The two themes of convexity and global optimization pervade this book. The conference provided a forum for researchers working on different aspects of convexity and global opti mization to present their recent discoveries, and to interact with people working on complementary aspects of mathematical programming."

In recent years there is a growing interest in generalized convex fu- tions and generalized monotone mappings among the researchers of - plied mathematics and other sciences. This is due to the fact that mathematical models with these functions are more suitable to describe problems of the real world than models using conventional convex and monotone functions. Generalized convexity and monotonicity are now considered as an independent branch of applied mathematics with a wide range of applications in mechanics, economics, engineering, finance and many others. The present volume contains 20 full length papers which reflect c- rent theoretical studies of generalized convexity and monotonicity, and numerous applications in optimization, variational inequalities, equil- rium problems etc. All these papers were refereed and carefully selected from invited talks and contributed talks that were presented at the 7th International Symposium on Generalized Convexity/Monotonicity held in Hanoi, Vietnam, August 27-31, 2002. This series of Symposia is or- nized by the Working Group on Generalized Convexity (WGGC) every 3 years and aims to promote and disseminate research on the field. The WGGC (http: //www.genconv.org) consists of more than 300 researchers coming from 36 countries

In recent years there is a growing interest in generalized convex fu- tions and generalized monotone mappings among the researchers of - plied mathematics and other sciences. This is due to the fact that mathematical models with these functions are more suitable to describe problems of the real world than models using conventional convex and monotone functions. Generalized convexity and monotonicity are now considered as an independent branch of applied mathematics with a wide range of applications in mechanics, economics, engineering, finance and many others. The present volume contains 20 full length papers which reflect c- rent theoretical studies of generalized convexity and monotonicity, and numerous applications in optimization, variational inequalities, equil- rium problems etc. All these papers were refereed and carefully selected from invited talks and contributed talks that were presented at the 7th International Symposium on Generalized Convexity/Monotonicity held in Hanoi, Vietnam, August 27-31, 2002. This series of Symposia is or- nized by the Working Group on Generalized Convexity (WGGC) every 3 years and aims to promote and disseminate research on the field. The WGGC (http: //www.genconv.org) consists of more than 300 researchers coming from 36 countries

Studies in generalized convexity and generalized monotonicity have significantly increased during the last two decades. Researchers with very diverse backgrounds such as mathematical programming, optimization theory, convex analysis, nonlinear analysis, nonsmooth analysis, linear algebra, probability theory, variational inequalities, game theory, economic theory, engineering, management science, equilibrium analysis, for example are attracted to this fast growing field of study. Such enormous research activity is partially due to the discovery of a rich, elegant and deep theory which provides a basis for interesting existing and potential applications in different disciplines. The handbook offers an advanced and broad overview of the current state of the field. It contains fourteen chapters written by the leading experts on the respective subject; eight on generalized convexity and the remaining six on generalized monotonicity.

There has been much recent progress in global optimization algo rithms for nonconvex continuous and discrete problems from both a theoretical and a practical perspective. Convex analysis plays a fun damental role in the analysis and development of global optimization algorithms. This is due essentially to the fact that virtually all noncon vex optimization problems can be described using differences of convex functions and differences of convex sets. A conference on Convex Analysis and Global Optimization was held during June 5 -9, 2000 at Pythagorion, Samos, Greece. The conference was honoring the memory of C. Caratheodory (1873-1950) and was en dorsed by the Mathematical Programming Society (MPS) and by the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) Activity Group in Optimization. The conference was sponsored by the European Union (through the EPEAEK program), the Department of Mathematics of the Aegean University and the Center for Applied Optimization of the University of Florida, by the General Secretariat of Research and Tech nology of Greece, by the Ministry of Education of Greece, and several local Greek government agencies and companies. This volume contains a selective collection of refereed papers based on invited and contribut ing talks presented at this conference. The two themes of convexity and global optimization pervade this book. The conference provided a forum for researchers working on different aspects of convexity and global opti mization to present their recent discoveries, and to interact with people working on complementary aspects of mathematical programming."

A famous saying (due toHerriot)definescultureas "what remainswhen everythingisforgotten ." One couldparaphrase thisdefinitionin statingthat generalizedconvexity iswhat remainswhen convexity has been dropped . Of course, oneexpectsthatsome convexityfeaturesremain.For functions, convexity ofepigraphs(what is above thegraph) is a simplebut strong assumption.It leads tobeautifulpropertiesand to a field initselfcalled convex analysis. In several models, convexity is not presentandintroducing genuine convexityassumptionswouldnotberealistic. A simple extensionof thenotionof convexity consists in requiringthatthe sublevel sets ofthe functionsare convex (recall thata sublevel set offunction a is theportionof thesourcespaceon which thefunctiontakesvalues below a certainlevel).Its first use is usuallyattributed to deFinetti, in 1949. This propertydefinesthe class ofquasiconvexfunctions, which is much larger thanthe class of convex functions: a non decreasingor nonincreasingone variablefunctionis quasiconvex, as well asanyone-variable functionwhich is nonincreasingon someinterval(-00, a] or(-00, a) and nondecreasingon its complement.Many otherclasses ofgeneralizedconvexfunctionshave been introduced, often fortheneeds ofvariousapplications: algorithms, economics, engineering, management science, multicriteria optimization, optimalcontrol, statistics .Thus, theyplay animportantrole in severalappliedsciences . A monotonemappingF from aHilbertspace to itself is a mappingfor which the angle between F(x) - F(y) and x- y isacutefor anyx, y. It is well-known thatthegradientof a differentiable convexfunctionis monotone.The class of monotonemappings(and theclass ofmultivaluedmonotoneoperators) has remarkableproperties.This class has beengeneralizedin various direc tions, withapplicationsto partialdifferentialequations, variationalinequal ities, complementarity problemsand more generally, equilibriumproblems. The classes ofgeneralizedmonotonemappingsare more or lessrelatedto the classes ofgeneralizedfunctionsvia differentiation or subdifferentiation procedures.They are also link edvia severalothermeans."