Unlocking the potential for linear and discrete optimisation in knot theory and computational topology. Computational topology is a young, energetic field that uses computers to solve complex geometric problems, such as whether a loop of string is tangled. Such computations are becoming increasingly important in mathematics, and applications span biology, physics and information sciences, however many core problems in the field remain intractable for all but the simplest cases. This project unit ....Unlocking the potential for linear and discrete optimisation in knot theory and computational topology. Computational topology is a young, energetic field that uses computers to solve complex geometric problems, such as whether a loop of string is tangled. Such computations are becoming increasingly important in mathematics, and applications span biology, physics and information sciences, however many core problems in the field remain intractable for all but the simplest cases. This project unites geometric techniques with powerful methods from operations research, such as linear and discrete optimisation, to build fast, powerful tools that can for the first time systematically solve large topological problems. Theoretically, this project has significant impact on the famous open problem of detecting knottedness in fast polynomial time.Read moreRead less
Algorithms for hard graph problems based on auxiliary data. When solving computational problems, algorithms usually access only the data that is absolutely necessary to define the problem. However, much more data is often readily available. Especially for important or slowly evolving data, such as road networks, social graphs, company rankings, or molecules, more and more auxiliary data becomes available through computational processes, sensors, and simple user entries. This auxiliary data can g ....Algorithms for hard graph problems based on auxiliary data. When solving computational problems, algorithms usually access only the data that is absolutely necessary to define the problem. However, much more data is often readily available. Especially for important or slowly evolving data, such as road networks, social graphs, company rankings, or molecules, more and more auxiliary data becomes available through computational processes, sensors, and simple user entries. This auxiliary data can greatly speed up an algorithm and improve its accuracy. This project aims to design improved algorithms that harness auxiliary data to solve selected high-impact NP-hard graph problems, and will build a new empowering theory to discern when auxiliary data can be used to improve algorithms.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE120101761
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$375,000.00
Summary
Solving intractable problems: from practice to theory and back. By analysing how theoretically intractable problems are solved in practice by highly optimised software solvers, this project aims at a better theoretical understanding of these problems. The gained mathematical insights will then be used to stimulate the development of new and improved software solvers.
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE150100240
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$315,000.00
Summary
Geometry and Conditioning in Structured Conic Problems. Conic programming allows one to model and solve large industrial problems via modern optimisation methods, such as interior-point algorithms. These methods are efficient and reliable in solving a vast number of problems, however, they fail on a relatively small but significant set of ill-posed instances, thus affecting the overall reliability of the technique. The reason for such behaviour is profound and constitutes one of the major unsolv ....Geometry and Conditioning in Structured Conic Problems. Conic programming allows one to model and solve large industrial problems via modern optimisation methods, such as interior-point algorithms. These methods are efficient and reliable in solving a vast number of problems, however, they fail on a relatively small but significant set of ill-posed instances, thus affecting the overall reliability of the technique. The reason for such behaviour is profound and constitutes one of the major unsolved problems in real complexity: there is no known algorithm that solves conic problems with real data in polynomial time. The project aims to develop a deep understanding of the geometry of conic problems, aiming for the resolution of this fundamental problem in computational theory.Read moreRead less