Speakers   Dr. Yeung Chi Ho Bill
Date and Time   8 March 2017 (Wednesday) 12:30nn – 1:00pm
Venue   D3-G-05, Tai Po Campus
Language   English

Abstract
Optimization problems correspond to the tasks to optimize a set of variables to extremize an objective function. They are at the center of a wide range of applications ranging from timetable scheduling and delivery of goods to sophisticated optimization processes in industry and commerce. Computer scientists and mathematicians have long been deriving algorithms to identify the optimal solution for specific problems, but their conventional methodologies do not allow them to understand why some optimization problems are more difficult to solve than the others. In the past decades, physicists have started to apply tools developed in statistical physics to study optimization problems in various fields including computer science, social science, economics and biology. In this seminar, I will briefly describe the connection between physics and optimization problems, the breakthrough Physicists made, and illustrate some examples in applying physical tools on optimization problems.

About the Speaker
Dr. Yeung, Chi Ho Bill received his BSc in Physics and Mathematics, and his MPhil and PhD degree in Physics from HKUST. He then worked in the University of Fribourg in Switzerland and Aston University in the United Kingdom as a postdoctoral research fellow. He is currently an Assistant Professor of the Department of Science and Environmental Studies at EdUHK. His major research interests include statistical physics, disordered systems, optimization, transportation network, recommendation algorithms, complex and social networks, and the application of information technology in education.