Networks in Action: Text and Computer Exercises in Network Optimization

This title is printed to order. This book may have been self-published. If so, we cannot guarantee the quality of the content. In the main most books will have gone through the editing process however some may not. We therefore suggest that you be aware of this before ordering this book. If in doubt check either the author or publisher’s details as we are unable to accept any returns unless they are faulty. Please contact us if you have any questions.

One of the most well-known of all network optimization problems is the shortest path problem, where a shortest connection between two locations in a road network is to be found. This problem is the basis of route planners in vehicles and on the Internet. Networks are very common structures; they consist primarily of a ?nite number of locations (points, nodes), together with a number of links (edges, arcs, connections) between the locations. Very often a certain number is attached to the links, expressing the distance or the cost between the end points of that connection. Networks occur in an extremely wide range of applications, among them are: road networks; cable networks; human relations networks; project scheduling networks; production networks; distribution networks; neural networks; networks of atoms in molecules. In all these cases there are objects and relations between the objects. A n- work optimization problem is actually nothing else than the problem of ?nding a subset of the objects and the relations, such that a certain optimization objective is satis?ed.