An Introduction to the Special Issue on Numerical Techniques Meet with OR - Part II

The special issue: “Numerical Techniques Meet with OR” of the Foundations of Computing and Decision Sciences consists of two parts which are of the main theme of numerical techniques and their applications in multi-disciplinary areas. The first part of this special issue was already collected in the FCDS Vol. 46, issue 1. In this second part of our special issue editorial, a description of the special issue presents numerical methods which can be used as alternative techniques for Scientific Computing and led Operational Research applications in many fields for further investigation.

Editorial – Preface to the Special Issue on Numerical Techniques Meet with OR

This special issue of the Foundations of Computing and Decision Sciences, titled ”Numerical Techniques Meet with OR”, is devoted to the numerical techniques and their applications in real-world phenomena. The special issue and its editorial present numerical algorithms as they meet with different research topics such as, e.g., from operational research, supply chain management, geometrical structures and Covid-19 effects on financial applications. Besides, the special issue covers instructional information about numerical techniques which are useful for OR research problems and real-world applications on such issues.

On the Foundations of Computing

This book is a technical, historical, and conceptual investigation into the three main methodological approaches to the computational sciences: mathematical, engineering, and experimental. Part I explores the background behind the formal understanding of computing, originating at the end of the nineteenth century, and it invesitagtes the formal origins and conceptual development of the notions of computation, algorithm, and program.Part II overviews the construction of physical devices to performautomated tasks and it considers associated technical and conceptual issues. It starts with the design and construction of the first generation of computingmachines, explores their evolution and progress in engineering (for both hardware and software), and investigates their theoretical and conceptual problems. Part III analyses the methods and principles of experimental sciences founded on computationalmethods. It studies the use ofmachines to performscientific tasks,with particular reference to computer models and simulations. Each part aims at defining a notion of computational validity according to the corresponding methodological approach.

Introduction

This chapter briefly illustrates the contemporary context in which the foundations of computing need to be understood and explored.