Upcoming IEMS Seminar Announced

The IEMS Department is pleased to announce the first seminar scheduled for Fall 2009. IEMS welcomes Dr. James Orlin, from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who will be giving a seminar entitled "A Faster and Simpler Algorithm for Computing Market Equilibrium."

The seminar will be held on Tuesday, September 22, 2009 at 4:00 p.m. in Tech M228.

Refreshments will be served at 3:30 p.m. in Tech C211.

Abstract:

Devanur, Papadimitriou, Saberi, and Vazirani recently published the first polynomial time algorithm for computing an equilibrium for the linear utilities case of the market model defined by Fisher. Here we provide a much faster and simpler algorithm. In addition, we provide the first strongly polynomial time algorithm for computing the equilibrium. (This latter algorithm is not as simple.) We describe our algorithms from an economic perspective in a way that is accessible to a general audience. This work is joint with Mehdi Ghiyasvand.

Bio:

James Orlin specializes in network and combinatorial optimization. He has helped develop improved solution methodologies in airline scheduling, railroad scheduling, logistics, network design, telecommunications, inventory control, and marketing. Together with MIT Sloan colleague Thomas L. Magnanti and Ravindra K. Ahuja, he has written the award-winning text Network Flows: Theory, Algorithms, and Applications (Prentice Hall, 1993).

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