Assoc. Professor Petrica Pop
North University of Baia Mare,
ROMANIA

Email: pop_petrica@yahoo.com

Abstract: Classical combinatorial optimization problems can be generalized in a natural way by considering a related problem relative to a given partition of the nodes of the graph into node sets. In the literature one finds generalized problems such as the generalized minimum spanning tree problem, the generalized travelling salesman problem, the generalized Steiner tree problem, the generalized (subset) assignment problem, etc. These generalized problems typically belong to the class of NP-complete problems, are harder than the classical ones and nowadays are intensively studied due to the interesting properties and applications in the real world.
We will focus on the generalized minimum spanning tree problem and the generalized travelling salesman problem. Several aspects will be considered: exact algorithms, heuristics and metaheuristics algorithms, integer programming formulations, LP-relaxations, polyhedral analysis and approximability, etc.
We will present some of my recent work and results in this area and we will discuss some of the key questions posed by the research in this field.



Brief Biography of the Speaker:
Petrica Pop graduated the Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science, Babes-Bolyai University of Cluj-Napoca, Romania in 1995. He received his PhD in mathematics (with the specialization in Operations Research, Combinatorial Optimization) from the Twente University, the Netherlands in 2002. Nowadays, he is Associate Professor and Chair Head of Informatics and Applied Mathematics Chair, North University of Baia Mare. He visited numerous universities with frequent and/or longer stays in Delft, Twente (the Netherlands), Hamilton (Canada), Vienna, Linz (Austria), Paris (France), Rome, Bari (Italy), Patras (Greece), Valencia (Spain), Zurich (Switzerland), etc.
His main research area are combinatorial optimization and its applications, complexity theory, mathematical modeling, heuristic and metaheuristic algorithms, approximation algorithms.
He has published over 45 research papers and has lectured at over 15 universities. He is member of the editorial boards of Carpathian Journal of Mathematics and Creative Mathematics and Informatics and he was involved in the program/organizing committees for many recognized conferences and workshops.