Prelude

Optimization technology helps us identify the best predictions and decisions in a wide range of applications. This is made possible by the formulation and subsequent solution of a diverse set of optimization problems. An unconstrained optimization problemProblemunconstrained aims to determine the minimum of a well-behaved multi-variate function without any restrictions and is the main subject of this chapter. In addition to theoretical foundations and algorithms for computing solutions, we’ll cover applications in inventory control, statistical estimation and data analytics. Constrained optimization problems, involvingProblemconstrained also side conditions, as well as more general variational problemsVariationalproblem Problemvariational will be dealt with later on.