Mathematical optimization

Mathematical optimization (alternatively spelled

optimisation) or mathematical programming is the selection
of a best element, with regard to some criterion, from some set of
available alternatives.[1] It is generally divided into two subfields:
discrete optimization and continuous optimization. Optimization
problems arise in all quantitative disciplines from computer
science and engineering[2] to operations research and economics,
and the development of solution methods has been of interest in
mathematics for centuries.[3]

In the more general approach, an optimization problem consists Graph of a surface given by z = f(x,
of maximizing or minimizing a real function by systematically y) = −(x² + y²) + 4. The global
choosing input values from within an allowed set and computing maximum at (x, y, z) = (0, 0, 4) is
indicated by a blue dot.
the value of the function. The generalization of optimization
theory and techniques to other formulations constitutes a large
area of applied mathematics. More generally, optimization
includes finding "best available" values of some objective function
given a defined domain (or input), including a variety of different
types of objective functions and different types of domains.

Optimization problems
Optimization problems can be divided into two categories,
depending on whether the variables are continuous or discrete:

An optimization problem with discrete variables is known as a

discrete optimization, in which an object such as an integer,
permutation or graph must be found from a countable set. Nelder-Mead minimum search of
Simionescu's function. Simplex
A problem with continuous variables is known as a continuous
optimization, in which an optimal value from a continuous vertices are ordered by their values,
function must be found. They can include constrained with 1 having the lowest (fx best)
problems and multimodal problems. value.

An optimization problem can be represented in the following way:

Given: a function f : A → from some set A to the real numbers

Sought: an element x0 ∈ A such that f(x0) ≤ f(x) for all x ∈ A ("minimization") or such that
f(x0) ≥ f(x) for all x ∈ A ("maximization").

Such a formulation is called an optimization problem or a mathematical programming

problem (a term not directly related to computer programming, but still in use for example in linear
programming – see History below). Many real-world and theoretical problems may be modeled in
this general framework.

Since the following is valid

it suffices to solve only minimization problems. However, the opposite perspective of considering only
maximization problems would be valid, too.

Problems formulated using this technique in the fields of physics may refer to the technique as energy
minimization, speaking of the value of the function f as representing the energy of the system being
modeled. In machine learning, it is always necessary to continuously evaluate the quality of a data
model by using a cost function where a minimum implies a set of possibly optimal parameters with an
optimal (lowest) error.

Typically, A is some subset of the Euclidean space , often specified by a set of constraints,
equalities or inequalities that the members of A have to satisfy. The domain A of f is called the search
space or the choice set, while the elements of A are called candidate solutions or feasible solutions.

The function f is called, variously, an objective function, a loss function or cost function
(minimization),[4] a utility function or fitness function (maximization), or, in certain fields, an energy
function or energy functional. A feasible solution that minimizes (or maximizes, if that is the goal) the
objective function is called an optimal solution.

In mathematics, conventional optimization problems are usually stated in terms of minimization.

A local minimum x* is defined as an element for which there exists some δ > 0 such that

the expression f(x*) ≤ f(x) holds;

that is to say, on some region around x* all of the function values are greater than or equal to the
value at that element. Local maxima are defined similarly.

While a local minimum is at least as good as any nearby elements, a global minimum is at least as
good as every feasible element. Generally, unless the objective function is convex in a minimization
problem, there may be several local minima. In a convex problem, if there is a local minimum that is
interior (not on the edge of the set of feasible elements), it is also the global minimum, but a
nonconvex problem may have more than one local minimum not all of which need be global minima.

A large number of algorithms proposed for solving the nonconvex problems – including the majority
of commercially available solvers – are not capable of making a distinction between locally optimal
solutions and globally optimal solutions, and will treat the former as actual solutions to the original
problem. Global optimization is the branch of applied mathematics and numerical analysis that is
concerned with the development of deterministic algorithms that are capable of guaranteeing
convergence in finite time to the actual optimal solution of a nonconvex problem.

Notation
Optimization problems are often expressed with special notation. Here are some examples:

Minimum and maximum value of a function

Consider the following notation:

This denotes the minimum value of the objective function x2 + 1, when choosing x from the set of real
numbers . The minimum value in this case is 1, occurring at x = 0.

Similarly, the notation

asks for the maximum value of the objective function 2x, where x may be any real number. In this
case, there is no such maximum as the objective function is unbounded, so the answer is "infinity" or
"undefined".

Optimal input arguments

Consider the following notation:

or equivalently

This represents the value (or values) of the argument x in the interval (−∞,−1] that minimizes (or
minimises) the objective function x2 + 1 (the actual minimum value of that function is not what the
problem asks for). In this case, the answer is x = −1, since x = 0 is infeasible, that is, it does not
belong to the feasible set.

Similarly,

or equivalently

represents the {x, y} pair (or pairs) that maximizes (or maximize) the value of the objective function
x cos y, with the added constraint that x lie in the interval [−5,5] (again, the actual maximum value
of the expression does not matter). In this case, the solutions are the pairs of the form {5, 2kπ} and
{−5, (2k + 1)π}, where k ranges over all integers.
Operators arg min and arg max are sometimes also written as argmin and argmax, and stand for
argument of the minimum and argument of the maximum.

History
Fermat and Lagrange found calculus-based formulae for identifying optima, while Newton and Gauss
proposed iterative methods for moving towards an optimum.

The term "linear programming" for certain optimization cases was due to George B. Dantzig, although
much of the theory had been introduced by Leonid Kantorovich in 1939. (Programming in this
context does not refer to computer programming, but comes from the use of program by the United
States military to refer to proposed training and logistics schedules, which were the problems Dantzig
studied at that time.) Dantzig published the Simplex algorithm in 1947, and John von Neumann
developed the theory of duality in the same year.

Other notable researchers in mathematical optimization include the following:

Richard Bellman Harold Kuhn

Dimitri Bertsekas László Lovász
Michel Bierlaire David Luenberger
Roger Fletcher Arkadi Nemirovski
Ronald A. Howard Yurii Nesterov
Fritz John Lev Pontryagin
Narendra Karmarkar R. Tyrrell Rockafellar
William Karush Naum Z. Shor
Leonid Khachiyan Albert Tucker
Bernard Koopman

Major subfields
Convex programming studies the case when the objective function is convex (minimization) or
concave (maximization) and the constraint set is convex. This can be viewed as a particular case
of nonlinear programming or as generalization of linear or convex quadratic programming.
Linear programming (LP), a type of convex programming, studies the case in which the
objective function f is linear and the constraints are specified using only linear equalities and
inequalities. Such a constraint set is called a polyhedron or a polytope if it is bounded.
Second-order cone programming (SOCP) is a convex program, and includes certain types of
quadratic programs.
Semidefinite programming (SDP) is a subfield of convex optimization where the underlying
variables are semidefinite matrices. It is a generalization of linear and convex quadratic
programming.
Conic programming is a general form of convex programming. LP, SOCP and SDP can all be
viewed as conic programs with the appropriate type of cone.
Geometric programming is a technique whereby objective and inequality constraints
expressed as posynomials and equality constraints as monomials can be transformed into a
convex program.
Integer programming studies linear programs in which some or all variables are constrained to
take on integer values. This is not convex, and in general much more difficult than regular linear
programming.
Quadratic programming allows the objective function to have quadratic terms, while the feasible
set must be specified with linear equalities and inequalities. For specific forms of the quadratic
term, this is a type of convex programming.
 Fractional programming studies optimization of ratios of two nonlinear functions. The special class
of concave fractional programs can be transformed to a convex optimization problem.
Nonlinear programming studies the general case in which the objective function or the constraints
or both contain nonlinear parts. This may or may not be a convex program. In general, whether
the program is convex affects the difficulty of solving it.
Stochastic programming studies the case in which some of the constraints or parameters depend
on random variables.
Robust optimization is, like stochastic programming, an attempt to capture uncertainty in the data
underlying the optimization problem. Robust optimization aims to find solutions that are valid
under all possible realizations of the uncertainties defined by an uncertainty set.
Combinatorial optimization is concerned with problems where the set of feasible solutions is
discrete or can be reduced to a discrete one.
Stochastic optimization is used with random (noisy) function measurements or random inputs in
the search process.
Infinite-dimensional optimization studies the case when the set of feasible solutions is a subset of
an infinite-dimensional space, such as a space of functions.
Heuristics and metaheuristics make few or no assumptions about the problem being optimized.
Usually, heuristics do not guarantee that any optimal solution need be found. On the other hand,
heuristics are used to find approximate solutions for many complicated optimization problems.
Constraint satisfaction studies the case in which the objective function f is constant (this is used in
artificial intelligence, particularly in automated reasoning).
Constraint programming is a programming paradigm wherein relations between variables are
stated in the form of constraints.
Disjunctive programming is used where at least one constraint must be satisfied but not all. It is of
particular use in scheduling.
Space mapping is a concept for modeling and optimization of an engineering system to high-
fidelity (fine) model accuracy exploiting a suitable physically meaningful coarse or surrogate
model.

In a number of subfields, the techniques are designed primarily for optimization in dynamic contexts
(that is, decision making over time):

Calculus of variations Is concerned with finding the best way to achieve some goal, such as
finding a surface whose boundary is a specific curve, but with the least possible area.
Optimal control theory is a generalization of the calculus of variations which introduces control
policies.
Dynamic programming is the approach to solve the stochastic optimization problem with
stochastic, randomness, and unknown model parameters. It studies the case in which the
optimization strategy is based on splitting the problem into smaller subproblems. The equation
that describes the relationship between these subproblems is called the Bellman equation.
Mathematical programming with equilibrium constraints is where the constraints include
variational inequalities or complementarities.

Multi-objective optimization

Adding more than one objective to an optimization problem adds complexity. For example, to
optimize a structural design, one would desire a design that is both light and rigid. When two
objectives conflict, a trade-off must be created. There may be one lightest design, one stiffest design,
and an infinite number of designs that are some compromise of weight and rigidity. The set of trade-
off designs that improve upon one criterion at the expense of another is known as the Pareto set. The
curve created plotting weight against stiffness of the best designs is known as the Pareto frontier.

A design is judged to be "Pareto optimal" (equivalently, "Pareto efficient" or in the Pareto set) if it is
not dominated by any other design: If it is worse than another design in some respects and no better
in any respect, then it is dominated and is not Pareto optimal.

The choice among "Pareto optimal" solutions to determine the "favorite solution" is delegated to the
decision maker. In other words, defining the problem as multi-objective optimization signals that
some information is missing: desirable objectives are given but combinations of them are not rated
relative to each other. In some cases, the missing information can be derived by interactive sessions
with the decision maker.

Multi-objective optimization problems have been generalized further into vector optimization
problems where the (partial) ordering is no longer given by the Pareto ordering.

Multi-modal or global optimization

Optimization problems are often multi-modal; that is, they possess multiple good solutions. They
could all be globally good (same cost function value) or there could be a mix of globally good and
locally good solutions. Obtaining all (or at least some of) the multiple solutions is the goal of a multi-
modal optimizer.

Classical optimization techniques due to their iterative approach do not perform satisfactorily when
they are used to obtain multiple solutions, since it is not guaranteed that different solutions will be
obtained even with different starting points in multiple runs of the algorithm.

Common approaches to global optimization problems, where multiple local extrema may be present
include evolutionary algorithms, Bayesian optimization and simulated annealing.

Classification of critical points and extrema

Feasibility problem

The satisfiability problem, also called the feasibility problem, is just the problem of finding any
feasible solution at all without regard to objective value. This can be regarded as the special case of
mathematical optimization where the objective value is the same for every solution, and thus any
solution is optimal.

Many optimization algorithms need to start from a feasible point. One way to obtain such a point is to
relax the feasibility conditions using a slack variable; with enough slack, any starting point is feasible.
Then, minimize that slack variable until the slack is null or negative.

Existence
The extreme value theorem of Karl Weierstrass states that a continuous real-valued function on a
compact set attains its maximum and minimum value. More generally, a lower semi-continuous
function on a compact set attains its minimum; an upper semi-continuous function on a compact set
attains its maximum point or view.

Necessary conditions for optimality

One of Fermat's theorems states that optima of unconstrained problems are found at stationary
points, where the first derivative or the gradient of the objective function is zero (see first derivative
test). More generally, they may be found at critical points, where the first derivative or gradient of the
objective function is zero or is undefined, or on the boundary of the choice set. An equation (or set of
equations) stating that the first derivative(s) equal(s) zero at an interior optimum is called a 'first-
order condition' or a set of first-order conditions.

Optima of equality-constrained problems can be found by the Lagrange multiplier method. The
optima of problems with equality and/or inequality constraints can be found using the 'Karush–
Kuhn–Tucker conditions'.

Sufficient conditions for optimality

While the first derivative test identifies points that might be extrema, this test does not distinguish a
point that is a minimum from one that is a maximum or one that is neither. When the objective
function is twice differentiable, these cases can be distinguished by checking the second derivative or
the matrix of second derivatives (called the Hessian matrix) in unconstrained problems, or the matrix
of second derivatives of the objective function and the constraints called the bordered Hessian in
constrained problems. The conditions that distinguish maxima, or minima, from other stationary
points are called 'second-order conditions' (see 'Second derivative test'). If a candidate solution
satisfies the first-order conditions, then the satisfaction of the second-order conditions as well is
sufficient to establish at least local optimality.

Sensitivity and continuity of optima

The envelope theorem describes how the value of an optimal solution changes when an underlying
parameter changes. The process of computing this change is called comparative statics.

The maximum theorem of Claude Berge (1963) describes the continuity of an optimal solution as a
function of underlying parameters.

Calculus of optimization

For unconstrained problems with twice-differentiable functions, some critical points can be found by
finding the points where the gradient of the objective function is zero (that is, the stationary points).
More generally, a zero subgradient certifies that a local minimum has been found for minimization
problems with convex functions and other locally Lipschitz functions.

Further, critical points can be classified using the definiteness of the Hessian matrix: If the Hessian is
positive definite at a critical point, then the point is a local minimum; if the Hessian matrix is negative
definite, then the point is a local maximum; finally, if indefinite, then the point is some kind of saddle
point.

Constrained problems can often be transformed into unconstrained problems with the help of
Lagrange multipliers. Lagrangian relaxation can also provide approximate solutions to difficult
constrained problems.

When the objective function is a convex function, then any local minimum will also be a global
minimum. There exist efficient numerical techniques for minimizing convex functions, such as
interior-point methods.

Global convergence

More generally, if the objective function is not a quadratic function, then many optimization methods
use other methods to ensure that some subsequence of iterations converges to an optimal solution.
The first and still popular method for ensuring convergence relies on line searches, which optimize a
function along one dimension. A second and increasingly popular method for ensuring convergence
uses trust regions. Both line searches and trust regions are used in modern methods of non-
differentiable optimization. Usually, a global optimizer is much slower than advanced local optimizers
(such as BFGS), so often an efficient global optimizer can be constructed by starting the local
optimizer from different starting points.

Computational optimization techniques

To solve problems, researchers may use algorithms that terminate in a finite number of steps, or
iterative methods that converge to a solution (on some specified class of problems), or heuristics that
may provide approximate solutions to some problems (although their iterates need not converge).

Optimization algorithms
Simplex algorithm of George Dantzig, designed for linear programming
Extensions of the simplex algorithm, designed for quadratic programming and for linear-fractional
programming
Variants of the simplex algorithm that are especially suited for network optimization
Combinatorial algorithms
Quantum optimization algorithms

Iterative methods

The iterative methods used to solve problems of nonlinear programming differ according to whether
they evaluate Hessians, gradients, or only function values. While evaluating Hessians (H) and
gradients (G) improves the rate of convergence, for functions for which these quantities exist and vary
sufficiently smoothly, such evaluations increase the computational complexity (or computational
cost) of each iteration. In some cases, the computational complexity may be excessively high.

One major criterion for optimizers is just the number of required function evaluations as this often is
already a large computational effort, usually much more effort than within the optimizer itself, which
mainly has to operate over the N variables. The derivatives provide detailed information for such
optimizers, but are even harder to calculate, e.g. approximating the gradient takes at least N+1
function evaluations. For approximations of the 2nd derivatives (collected in the Hessian matrix), the
number of function evaluations is in the order of N². Newton's method requires the 2nd-order
derivatives, so for each iteration, the number of function calls is in the order of N², but for a simpler
pure gradient optimizer it is only N. However, gradient optimizers need usually more iterations than
Newton's algorithm. Which one is best with respect to the number of function calls depends on the
problem itself.

Methods that evaluate Hessians (or approximate Hessians, using finite differences):
Newton's method
Sequential quadratic programming: A Newton-based method for small-medium scale
constrained problems. Some versions can handle large-dimensional problems.
Interior point methods: This is a large class of methods for constrained optimization, some of
which use only (sub)gradient information and others of which require the evaluation of
Hessians.
Methods that evaluate gradients, or approximate gradients in some way (or even subgradients):
Coordinate descent methods: Algorithms which update a single coordinate in each iteration
Conjugate gradient methods: Iterative methods for large problems. (In theory, these methods
terminate in a finite number of steps with quadratic objective functions, but this finite
termination is not observed in practice on finite–precision computers.)
Gradient descent (alternatively, "steepest descent" or "steepest ascent"): A (slow) method of
historical and theoretical interest, which has had renewed interest for finding approximate
solutions of enormous problems.
Subgradient methods: An iterative method for large locally Lipschitz functions using
generalized gradients. Following Boris T. Polyak, subgradient–projection methods are similar
to conjugate–gradient methods.
Bundle method of descent: An iterative method for small–medium-sized problems with locally
Lipschitz functions, particularly for convex minimization problems (similar to conjugate gradient
methods).
Ellipsoid method: An iterative method for small problems with quasiconvex objective functions
and of great theoretical interest, particularly in establishing the polynomial time complexity of
some combinatorial optimization problems. It has similarities with Quasi-Newton methods.
Conditional gradient method (Frank–Wolfe) for approximate minimization of specially
structured problems with linear constraints, especially with traffic networks. For general
unconstrained problems, this method reduces to the gradient method, which is regarded as
obsolete (for almost all problems).
Quasi-Newton methods: Iterative methods for medium-large problems (e.g. N<1000).
Simultaneous perturbation stochastic approximation (SPSA) method for stochastic
optimization; uses random (efficient) gradient approximation.
Methods that evaluate only function values: If a problem is continuously differentiable, then
gradients can be approximated using finite differences, in which case a gradient-based method
can be used.
Interpolation methods
Pattern search methods, which have better convergence properties than the Nelder–Mead
heuristic (with simplices), which is listed below.
 Mirror descent

Heuristics

Besides (finitely terminating) algorithms and (convergent) iterative methods, there are heuristics. A
heuristic is any algorithm which is not guaranteed (mathematically) to find the solution, but which is
nevertheless useful in certain practical situations. List of some well-known heuristics:

Differential evolution
Dynamic relaxation
Evolutionary algorithms
Genetic algorithms
Hill climbing with random restart
Memetic algorithm
Nelder–Mead simplicial heuristic: A popular heuristic for approximate minimization (without calling
gradients)
Particle swarm optimization
Simulated annealing
Stochastic tunneling
Tabu search

Applications

Mechanics

Problems in rigid body dynamics (in particular articulated rigid body dynamics) often require
mathematical programming techniques, since you can view rigid body dynamics as attempting to
solve an ordinary differential equation on a constraint manifold;[5] the constraints are various
nonlinear geometric constraints such as "these two points must always coincide", "this surface must
not penetrate any other", or "this point must always lie somewhere on this curve". Also, the problem
of computing contact forces can be done by solving a linear complementarity problem, which can also
be viewed as a QP (quadratic programming) problem.

Many design problems can also be expressed as optimization programs. This application is called
design optimization. One subset is the engineering optimization, and another recent and growing
subset of this field is multidisciplinary design optimization, which, while useful in many problems,
has in particular been applied to aerospace engineering problems.

This approach may be applied in cosmology and astrophysics.[6]

Economics and finance

Economics is closely enough linked to optimization of agents that an influential definition relatedly
describes economics qua science as the "study of human behavior as a relationship between ends and
scarce means" with alternative uses.[7] Modern optimization theory includes traditional optimization
theory but also overlaps with game theory and the study of economic equilibria. The Journal of
Economic Literature codes classify mathematical programming, optimization techniques, and related
topics under JEL:C61-C63.

In microeconomics, the utility maximization problem and its dual problem, the expenditure
minimization problem, are economic optimization problems. Insofar as they behave consistently,
consumers are assumed to maximize their utility, while firms are usually assumed to maximize their
profit. Also, agents are often modeled as being risk-averse, thereby preferring to avoid risk. Asset
prices are also modeled using optimization theory, though the underlying mathematics relies on
optimizing stochastic processes rather than on static optimization. International trade theory also
uses optimization to explain trade patterns between nations. The optimization of portfolios is an
example of multi-objective optimization in economics.

Since the 1970s, economists have modeled dynamic decisions over time using control theory.[8] For
example, dynamic search models are used to study labor-market behavior.[9] A crucial distinction is
between deterministic and stochastic models.[10] Macroeconomists build dynamic stochastic general
equilibrium (DSGE) models that describe the dynamics of the whole economy as the result of the
interdependent optimizing decisions of workers, consumers, investors, and governments.[11][12]

Electrical engineering

Some common applications of optimization techniques in electrical engineering include active filter
design,[13] stray field reduction in superconducting magnetic energy storage systems, space mapping
design of microwave structures,[14] handset antennas,[15][16][17] electromagnetics-based design.
Electromagnetically validated design optimization of microwave components and antennas has made
extensive use of an appropriate physics-based or empirical surrogate model and space mapping
methodologies since the discovery of space mapping in 1993.[18][19]

Civil engineering

Optimization has been widely used in civil engineering. Construction management and transportation
engineering are among the main branches of civil engineering that heavily rely on optimization. The
most common civil engineering problems that are solved by optimization are cut and fill of roads, life-
cycle analysis of structures and infrastructures,[20] resource leveling,[21][22] water resource allocation,
traffic management[23] and schedule optimization.

Operations research

Another field that uses optimization techniques extensively is operations research.[24] Operations
research also uses stochastic modeling and simulation to support improved decision-making.
Increasingly, operations research uses stochastic programming to model dynamic decisions that
adapt to events; such problems can be solved with large-scale optimization and stochastic
optimization methods.

Control engineering
Mathematical optimization is used in much modern controller design. High-level controllers such as
model predictive control (MPC) or real-time optimization (RTO) employ mathematical optimization.
These algorithms run online and repeatedly determine values for decision variables, such as choke
openings in a process plant, by iteratively solving a mathematical optimization problem including
constraints and a model of the system to be controlled.

Geophysics

Optimization techniques are regularly used in geophysical parameter estimation problems. Given a
set of geophysical measurements, e.g. seismic recordings, it is common to solve for the physical
properties and geometrical shapes of the underlying rocks and fluids. The majority of problems in
geophysics are nonlinear with both deterministic and stochastic methods being widely used.

Molecular modeling

Nonlinear optimization methods are widely used in conformational analysis.

Computational systems biology

Optimization techniques are used in many facets of computational systems biology such as model
building, optimal experimental design, metabolic engineering, and synthetic biology.[25] Linear
programming has been applied to calculate the maximal possible yields of fermentation products,[25]
and to infer gene regulatory networks from multiple microarray datasets[26] as well as transcriptional
regulatory networks from high-throughput data.[27] Nonlinear programming has been used to analyze
energy metabolism[28] and has been applied to metabolic engineering and parameter estimation in
biochemical pathways.[29]

Machine learning

Solvers

See also
Brachistochrone curve Mathematical optimization algorithms
Curve fitting Mathematical optimization software
Deterministic global optimization Process optimization
Goal programming Simulation-based optimization
Important publications in optimization Test functions for optimization
Least squares Variational calculus
Mathematical Optimization Society (formerly Vehicle routing problem
Mathematical Programming Society)

Notes
1. "The Nature of Mathematical Programming (http://glossary.computing.society.informs.org/index.ph
 p?page=nature.html) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20140305080324/http://glossary.comp
uting.society.informs.org/index.php?page=nature.html) 2014-03-05 at the Wayback Machine,"
Mathematical Programming Glossary, INFORMS Computing Society.
2. Martins, Joaquim R. R. A.; Ning, Andrew (2021-10-01). Engineering Design Optimization (https://w
ww.researchgate.net/publication/352413464). Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-
1108833417.
3. Du, D. Z.; Pardalos, P. M.; Wu, W. (2008). "History of Optimization". In Floudas, C.; Pardalos, P.
(eds.). Encyclopedia of Optimization. Boston: Springer. pp. 1538–1542.
4. W. Erwin Diewert (2008). "cost functions," The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics, 2nd
Edition Contents (http://www.dictionaryofeconomics.com/article?id=pde2008_C000390&edition=c
urrent&q=).
5. Vereshchagin, A.F. (1989). "Modelling and control of motion of manipulation robots". Soviet
Journal of Computer and Systems Sciences. 27 (5): 29–38.
6. Haggag, S.; Desokey, F.; Ramadan, M. (2017). "A cosmological inflationary model using optimal
control". Gravitation and Cosmology. 23 (3): 236–239. Bibcode:2017GrCo...23..236H (https://ui.ad
sabs.harvard.edu/abs/2017GrCo...23..236H). doi:10.1134/S0202289317030069 (https://doi.org/1
0.1134%2FS0202289317030069). ISSN 1995-0721 (https://www.worldcat.org/issn/1995-0721).
S2CID 125980981 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:125980981).
7. Lionel Robbins (1935, 2nd ed.) An Essay on the Nature and Significance of Economic Science,
Macmillan, p. 16.
8. Dorfman, Robert (1969). "An Economic Interpretation of Optimal Control Theory". American
Economic Review. 59 (5): 817–831. JSTOR 1810679 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/1810679).
9. Sargent, Thomas J. (1987). "Search" (https://books.google.com/books?id=nVuyXF8ibeIC&pg=PA
57). Dynamic Macroeconomic Theory. Harvard University Press. pp. 57–91.
ISBN 9780674043084.
10. A.G. Malliaris (2008). "stochastic optimal control," The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics,
2nd Edition. Abstract (http://www.dictionaryofeconomics.com/article?id=pde2008_S000269&editio
n=&field=keyword&q=Taylor's%20th&topicid=&result_number=1) Archived (https://web.archive.or
g/web/20171018182459/http://www.dictionaryofeconomics.com/article?id=pde2008_S000269&edi
tion=&field=keyword&q=Taylor's%20th&topicid=&result_number=1) 2017-10-18 at the Wayback
Machine.
11. Rotemberg, Julio; Woodford, Michael (1997). "An Optimization-based Econometric Framework for
the Evaluation of Monetary Policy" (http://www.nber.org/chapters/c11041.pdf) (PDF). NBER
Macroeconomics Annual. 12: 297–346. doi:10.2307/3585236 (https://doi.org/10.2307%2F358523
6). JSTOR 3585236 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/3585236).
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   • "numerical optimization methods in economics (http://www.dictionaryofeconomics.com/article?i
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Further reading
Boyd, Stephen P.; Vandenberghe, Lieven (2004). Convex Optimization (https://web.stanford.edu/~
boyd/cvxbook/). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-83378-7.
Gill, P. E.; Murray, W.; Wright, M. H. (1982). Practical Optimization. London: Academic Press.
ISBN 0-12-283952-8.
Lee, Jon (2004). A First Course in Combinatorial Optimization. Cambridge University Press.
ISBN 0-521-01012-8.
Nocedal, Jorge; Wright, Stephen J. (2006). Numerical Optimization (http://www.ece.northwestern.
edu/~nocedal/book/num-opt.html) (2nd ed.). Berlin: Springer. ISBN 0-387-30303-0.

External links
"Decision Tree for Optimization Software" (http://plato.asu.edu/guide.html). Links to optimization
source codes
"Global optimization" (https://www.mat.univie.ac.at/~neum/glopt.html).
"EE364a: Convex Optimization I" (https://see.stanford.edu/Course/EE364A). Course from
Stanford University.
Varoquaux, Gaël. "Mathematical Optimization: Finding Minima of Functions" (https://scipy-lecture
s.org/advanced/mathematical_optimization/index.html).
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