Algorithms that zero in on solutions to optimization problems are the beating heart of machine reasoning. New results reveal surprising limits. Our lives are a succession of optimization problems.

The algorithm relies on the Kac-Ward formalism, a mathematical method that allows exact computation of partition functions for planar spin glass systems in polynomial time, making it possible to ...

Computer scientists at ETH Zurich have written a network flow algorithm that computes almost as fast as is mathematically possible. This algorithm computes the maximum traffic flow with minimum ...