Stochastic Optimization

Our purpose in writing this book was to provide a compendium of stochastic optimizationtechniques,someguidesto wheneachisappropriateinpractical situations, and a few useful ways of thinking about optimization as a p- cess of search in some very rich con?guration spaces. Each of us has come to optimization, traditionally a subject studied in applied mathematics, from a background in physics, especially the statistical physics of random m- tures or materials. One of us (SK) has used ideas develope