Dynamic Programming (Dover Books on Computer Science)

This classic book is an introduction to dynamic programming, presented by the scientist who coined the term and developed the theory in its early stages. In Dynamic Programming, Richard E. Bellman introduces his groundbreaking theory and furnishes a new and versatile mathematical tool for the treatment of many complex problems, both within and outside of the discipline. The book is written at a moderate mathematical level, requiring only a basic foundation in mathematics, including calculus. The applications formulated and analyzed in such diverse fields as mathematical economics, logistics, scheduling theory, communication theory, and control processes are as relevant today as they were when Bellman first presented them. A new introduction by Stuart Dreyfus reviews Bellman's later work on dynamic programming and identifies important research areas that have profited from the application of Bellman's theory. An introduction to the mathematical theory of multistage decision processes, this text takes a "functional equation" approach to the discovery of optimum policies. Written by a leading developer of such policies, it presents a series of methods, uniqueness and existence theorems, and examples for solving the relevant equations. The text examines existence and uniqueness theorems, the optimal inventory equation, bottleneck problems in multistage production processes, a new formalism in the calculus of variation, strategies behind multistage games, and Markovian decision processes. Each chapter concludes with a problem set that Eric V. Denardo of Yale University, in his informative new introduction, calls "a rich lode of applications and research topics." 1957 edition. 37 figures. An introduction to the mathematical theory of multistage decision processes, this text takes a "functional equation" approach to the discovery of optimum policies. The text examines existence and uniqueness theorems, the optimal inventory equation, bottleneck problems in multistage production processes, a new formalism in the calculus of variation, multistage games, and more. 1957 edition. Includes 37 figures.