Workshop on Numerical Linear Algebra and Optimization

这笔赠款为美国科学家提供旅费，参加2013年8月8日至10日在加拿大温哥华不列颠哥伦比亚大学举行的为期三天的“数值线性代数和优化研讨会”。研讨会有以下三个目标：(1)将线性代数和优化社区聚集在一起，以促进互动，并探索这两个研究领域交叉点的丰富领域；(2)寻求这些问题在机器学习和控制等领域的应用；以及(3)促进和讨论在科学和工业优化中积极使用大规模数值线性代数工具的问题。本征优化是本次研讨会的主要研究领域之一，最近受到了广泛的关注，两个社区从不同的角度对其进行了研究。优化是一个很大的研究领域，应用范围从经济和工程到国家安全、能源和气候理解。可以借助优化解决的问题的例子包括：在生产受原材料约束的各种商品时实现利润最大化或浪费最小化；基于计算机的学习对物体进行分类(例如，区分坦克和树木)；设计受体积和环境限制的更坚固的建筑物；以及通过避免某些不受欢迎的振动频率使飞机更安全。这种最优化问题的解决需要利用线性代数量(如特征值)，并且必须以最有效的方式仔细地进行这种量的广泛计算。这是数值线性代数的中心任务，其工具已被各种优化社区采用和调整，以适应他们的需要。在优化和数值线性代数这两个领域之间的交界处有非常丰富的研究领域，本次研讨会的组织者旨在看到这两个社区合作解决工业中出现的重要问题。

This grant provides travel support for US scientists to a three-day "Workshop on Numerical Linear Algebra and Optimization", to be held August 8-10, 2013 at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. The workshop has the following three objectives: (1) to bring together the community of linear algebra and optimization in order to foster interaction and explore the rich area at the intersection of these two research fields; (2) to seek application of these problems in fields like machine learning and control; and (3) to promote and discuss the issue of actively using large-scale numerical linear algebra tools in scientific and industrial optimization. One of the main areas the workshop will focus on is eigenvalue optimization, which has received a lot of attention recently and which is studied by the two communities from different perspectives.Optimization is a large field of research, with applications ranging from economics and engineering to national security, energy, and climate understanding. Examples of problems that can be solved with the help of optimization include maximizing profit or minimizing waste when manufacturing a variety of goods under raw material constraints; computer-based learning to classify objects (e.g., distinguishing tanks from trees); designing stronger buildings subject to volume and environmental constraints; and making planes safer by avoiding certain undesirable vibration frequencies. Solutions to such optimization problems need to make use of linear algebra quantities (like eigenvalues), and extensive calculations of such quantities must be done with care and in the most efficient way. This is a central task in numerical linear algebra, the tools of which have been adopted and adapted by various optimization communities to suit their needs. There is a very rich area of research at the interface between these two fields of optimization and numerical linear algebra, and the organizers of this workshop aim to see both communities work together toward addressing the important problems that arise in industry.