Optimization Group


Oral exams after the winter semester

All information regarding oral exams, in particular the dates for exams, can be found at the bottom of this page.

General Information

This page provides an overview of the courses offered by our working group:

Under Lectures you will find the lectures for mathematics students offered by our working group in the current or upcoming semester. If you would like to participate in a seminar, proseminar or reading course during the semester, please register with the respective supervisor or in the URM. Dates will then be set in consultation with the participants. Additionally, we offer introductory courses for new students and math lectures designed for students from other disciplines.

Several times a semester, the working group meets for the Oberseminar. All interested people are invited to attend the talks, students in particular.

If you are interested in doing your bachelor's or master's thesis in optimization, please contact Prof. Schöbel, Prof. Krumke or Prof. Ruzika.

Important links

  • KIS: dates and lectures
  • URM: registration for exercises (The URM is only available at the beginning of the semester)
  • OpenOLAT: further information and materials

Pre-courses

Our working group offers the following pre-courses for new students:

Introductory course to mathematics for students of mathematics and computer science

Content

  • Support of new students of mathematics and computer science within the transition from school to university
  • Matching different educational backgrounds and refreshing some of the important fundamentals of the school subject
  • Introduction to the initially unfamiliar mathematical thinking and working methods as well as the abstract language and form of presentation of mathematics lectures at the university
  • Familiarization with the usual form of lecture and group exercise

Lecturer

Dr. Florentine Kämmerer

Dates

April 8th - April 19th, 2024

Materials

OpenOLAT

Further Information

You can find the latest information regarding the course, in particular concerning the registration, on its website.

This course is only offered in German.

Lectures

Following lectures are offered during summer term 2024 by our working group:

Applied mathematics: linear and network programming

Content

Problems in linear optimisation deal with the optimisation of linear objective functions in a polyhedral set. The methods make it possible to model and solve a large number of practical problems (e.g. in production planning or telecommunications). In particular, this part of the lecture delves into the following topics:

  • modelling with linear programs,
  • the fundamental theorem of linear programming,
  • duality, and
  • solving linear programs using the simplex and interior point methods.

Questions in the area of network optimisation work with a network or graph. An abundance of real-world problems (like route planning) can be modelled with the help of graphs. In this part of the lecture, classical questions on graphs will be introduced and theoretical concepts and algorithms for their resolution will be presented. In particular, the following topics shall be discussed:

  • spanning tree problems,
  • shortest path problems,
  • maximum flow problems, and
  • minimum cost flow problems.

Lecturers and staff

Prof. Dr. Sven Krumke
Prof. Dr. Stefan Ruzika
Daniel Eichhorn, M.Sc.

Dates

Tuesday, 8:15-9:45 (48-208)
Thursday, 13:45-15:15 (48-208)

Tutorials

Registration and group assignments for the tutorials are handled by the URM.

Materials

OpenOLAT

Further Information

This course is only offered in German.

Nonlinear Optimization

Content

Nonlinear optimization problems are optimization problems where the objective function and / or constraints are nonlinear. Such problems that arise in a variety of applications can not be solved by methods known from linear optimization. This lecture covers theoretical background and algorithmic approaches to solve nonlinear optimization problems, both with and without constraints.
Among other things, the following topics are covered:

  • one-dimensional and multi-dimensional search,
  • Newton and Quasi-Newton procedures,
  • convex analysis and separation theorems,
  • optimality conditions for convex problems,
  • optimality conditions for general problems,
  • penalty- and barrier-methods, and
  • the SQP-method.

Lecturer and staff

Prof. Dr. Sven Krumke
Fabian Chlumsky-Harttmann, M.Sc.

Date

Monday, 08:15-09:45 (48-208)
Wednesday, 10:00-11:30 (48-208)

Tutorials

Registration and group assignments for the tutorials are handled by the URM.

Materials

OpenOLAT (standard access code)

Multicriteria Optimization

Content

  • Mathematical Modelling with several objective functions
  • Orderings and notations of optimality
  • Characterization of efficient solutions and nondominated points
  • Scalarization methods and approximation algorithms
  • Multicriteria linear programs
  • Multicriteria combinatorial optimization problems

Lecturer and staff

Prof. Dr. Stefan Ruzika
Nils Hausbrandt, M.Sc.
Kathrin Prinz, M.Sc.

Dates

Monday, 10:00 - 11:30 (48-210)
Thursday, 11:45 - 13:15 (48-208)

Tutorials

Registration and group assignments for the tutorials are handled by the URM.

Content requirements

Students should have knowledge of

Further information and materials

OpenOLAT

Geometry (for Students of Teacher Training Programs)

Content

In this course, which is specific to the teaching profession, a deeper understanding of geometric content that goes beyond school education is to be developed. The relevance to school mathematics should be recognisable, but we want to approach the various topics from a slightly different perspective.

We will deal with different subject areas and selected questions from the large field of geometry. Key points on the contents: Euclid and the "elements", axiomatic structure of geometry according to Hilbert, axiom systems and models, finite incidence geometries, symmetry, congruence maps, geometric aspects of linear maps (rotations, reflections, ... ), polyhedra, Platonic solids, Euler's polyhedron formula, geometry in linear and integer optimisation, Voronoi diagrams, location problems, special points and lines in triangles (Fermat point, nine-point circle, ...), Pythagorean triples, conic sections, insights into basic ideas and overview of other sub-areas of geometry (projective geometry, algebraic geometry, non-Euclidean geometries).

Lecturer

Dr. Florentine Kämmerer

Date

Friday, 10:00-11:30 (46-268)

Tutorials

Registration and group assignments for the tutorials are handled by the URM

Materials

OpenOLAT

Further Information

This course is only offered in German.

Introduction to Didactics of Mathematics

Content

The course "Introduction to the Didactics of Mathematics" is the first course in the field of didactics of mathematics and forms the basis for all further mathematics didactics courses. Among other things, the following topics are covered: Curriculum and educational standards, lesson planning, mathematical learning objectives, didactic analysis, teaching methods, learning phases and motivation, teaching and learning concepts and rules, practicing in mathematics lessons, open forms of teaching, problem solving in mathematics lessons, reasoning and proving, modeling, computer use.

 

Lecturer

Dr. Florentine Kämmerer

Date

Monday, 8:15 - 9:45 (48-582)

Materials

OpenOLAT

Further Information

Registration is handled by the URM.

Modern Mathematics (for Students of Teacher Training Programs)

Content

Student should gain insights into current mathematical areas from applied and pure mathematics and become familiar with their practical relevance as well as current developments and applications. The aim is to establish links to their future work as teachers.
With this semester's chosen topic of "Artificial Intelligence", we cover a highly topical subject that is also being discussed in schools, the media and the general public.
We will shed light on the mathematical foundations of algorithms in the field of artificial intelligence, show the wide range of applications of such algorithms and discuss how the topic can be addressed in the classroom on the one hand and how the broad access to intelligent systems and their ease of use will change teaching in the future on the other.

 

Lecturer and staff

Prof. Dr. Stefan Ruzika
Simon Busam, M.Sc.

Dates

Monday, 15:30 - 17:00 (48-208)
Tuesday, 15:30 - 17:00 (11-205)
Wednesday, 15:30-17:00 (48-208)

Materialien

OpenOLAT

Further Information

Registration is handled by the URM.

Reading courses, seminars und proseminars

The following supplementing courses are offered during summer term 2024 by our working group:

Reading Course

Content

The aim is to gain a basic overview of current research topics. In this respect, the Reading Course prepares for a master's thesis in these subject areas.

Lecturer

Prof. Dr. Sven O. Krumke

Date

By arrangement.

If you are interested please send an e-mail to sven.krumke(at)math.rptu.de.

Reading Course

Content

The aim is to gain a basic overview of current research topics. In this respect, the Reading Course prepares for a master's thesis in these subject areas.

Lecturer

Prof. Dr. Stefan Ruzika

Date

By arrangement.

If you are interested please send an e-mail to stefan.ruzika(at)math.rptu.de.

Seminar Algorithmic Game Theory

Inhalt

In this seminar we will study topics from algorithmic game theory. There will be presentation topics that build upon the content from one of the lectures Advanced Network Flows and Selfish Routing and Algorithmic Game Theory, as well as presentation topics that do not require this knowledge.

Lecturer

Dr. Sven Jäger

Date

The seminar will take place in the summer semester 2024; a preparatory meeting on February 7th at 11:45 in room 14-420.

Proseminar Elementary Mathematics from a Higher Perspective

Content

  • Development of a deeper understanding of elementary mathematics, partly school mathematics, beyond school education, as a solid foundation for further teacher training studies.
  • Independent development and preparation of a mathematical topic given by the respective literature and turning it into a presentation.
  • Addressing of different questions from the areas of geometry, numbers, combinatorics, probability theory, graph theory, linear algebra and analysis.

Lecturer

Dr. Florentine Kämmerer

Date

Wednesday, 11:45-13:15 (48-538)

Material

OpenOLAT

Further Information

Registration is handled by the URM.

Advanced Seminar

Content

In the Oberseminar (advanced seminar), members and guests of the working group will give talks on various topics of mathematical optimization. Guests are welcome at any time - even without prior registration. An announcement of each talk will be made in the news section of the website. (Look for entries starting with "Oberseminar".)

Information on exam registration

Please note the following information when registering for oral examinations:

Examination dates in the winter semester

  • February 22, 2024
  • March 21st, 2024
  • April 17th, 2024
  • March 7th, 2024 (with Dr. Kämmerer and Prof. Dr. Fieker)
  • April 23rd, 2024 (with Dr. Kämmerer and Jun.-Prof. Dr. Lassueur)

Registration for these exam dates takes place at the Dean's Office.

  • February 15th, 2024
  • February 16th, 2024
  • February 19th, 2024
  • February 20th, 2024
  • March 21st, 2024
  • March 22nd, 2024
  • April 15th, 2024
  • April 16th, 2024
  • February 15th, 2024
  • Februar 27th, 2024
  • March 6th, 2024
  • March 21st, 2024
  • April 4th, 2024
  • April 17th, 2024
  • February 13th, 2024
  • March 27th, 2024
  • April 4th, 2024

General information

To register for examinations, please come to Julia Rheinheimer in the office of the Optimization group (building 14, room 455). Please bring your student ID with you.

On the left you will find a list of available examination dates.

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