Stephen Vavasis

Research Interests

As computer hardware technology becomes more powerful, there is a corresponding growth in the demand for more efficient algorithms to solve large-scale numerical problems. My research is on the design and analysis of such algorithms. One area of interest is algorithms and complexity issues for nonlinear optimization. or example, some recent work focuseson approximation algorithms, that is, algorithms that are guaranteed to solve an optimization problem to within some factor of optimal. Other results on optimization are contained in a recent book on the subject publised by Oxford University Press. I am also interested in computational aspects of differential equations. New recent work shows that traditional algorithms for a class of problems arising in differential equations and electrical networks can be unstable, ut a new method gives the correct answer. With Scott Mitchell of Cornell I have worked on the problem of generating meshes for finite element analysis. The goal of this research is on meshes for which various bounds may! be established. With Gary Mille

Selected Publications