The exact same problem appears over and over, e.g.:
- transportaion: the last mile of the trip when everyone leaves the train and goes to their different respective offices is the most expensive
- telecommunications: the last mile of wire linking local hubs to actual homes is the most expensive
- electrical grid: same as telecommunications
Ciro Santilli also identified knowledge version of this problem: the missing link between basic and advanced.
The function being maximized in a optimization problem.
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An optimization problem is a mathematical problem that seeks to find the best solution from a set of feasible solutions. The objective is to maximize or minimize a certain function, called the objective function, while satisfying a set of constraints that define the feasible region.