Combinatorial Optimization Methods

Primes about algorithmic techniques for finding good solutions in large search spaces, including branch and bound, dynamic programming's subproblem reuse, integer and network-flow formulations, multiobjective trade-offs, Markov decision processes, and simulated annealing's escape from local optima.

7 primes in this family — primes that sit near one another in abstraction space (k-means over structural-signature embeddings). Each is shown with its short description.

• Branch and Bound — Systematic search with pruning.
• Dynamic Programming — Solve via subproblem reuse.
• Integer Linear Programming (ILP) — Discrete optimization with integer variables.
• Markov Decision Processes (MDPs) — Sequential decision-making under uncertainty.
• Multiobjective Optimization — Balance competing objectives.
• Network Flow Models — Optimize flow across networks.
• Simulated Annealing — Probabilistic search escaping local optima.