| Spring 2006 UMASS
Amherst Operations Research / Management Science Seminar Series |
Date: Friday, April 7, 2006 Time: 11:00 AM Location: Isenberg School of Management, Room 112 |
| Speaker: Professor Dietrich
Braess Faculty of Mathematics Ruhr University Bochum Bochum, Germany |
| Biography: Dietrich Braess was
born in Hamburg in 1938. He studied mathematics and physics in
Hamburg and Munich and graduated in 1964 with a PhD thesis on physics
of elementary particles. In 1967 he moved to the Institute of
Mathematics at the University of Muenster where he was promoted to
associate professor in 1971. After being visiting professor in the
University of Texas-Austin in the fall of 1973, he received the
position of a full professor (for Numerical Mathematics) at the
Ruhr-University of Bochum. In the 60's and 70's his research was
focused on nonlinear approximation theory. In 1980 he got interested in
multigrid methods for the solution of partial differential equations
and finite elements. There are a lot of counterintuitive effects; in
particular, in applications in solid mechanics that are challenging.
His
book on Finite Elements is often used in lectures for graduate
students. Professor Braess is the discoverer of the famous paradox
named after him. |
| TITLE: A Paradox of Traffic
Planning |
| Abstract: The equilibrium in a traffic
network can differ substantially from the distribution that a system
optimizer can create. In some special situations a new road can
deteriorate the equilibrium and imply larger travel times for all cars.
This is a mathematical statement. Psychological effects make us
experience counterintuitive deteriorations of traffic more frequently.
In
principle, similar effects occur also in the world wide web, but there
the deteriorations are bounded and more easily tolerated. |
| This series is organized by the
UMASS Amherst INFORMS Student Chapter. Support for this series is
provided by the Isenberg School of Management, the Department of
Finance and Operations Management, INFORMS, and the John F. Smith
Memorial Fund. The Chapter wishes to thank Professor Anna Nagurney, its
Faculty Advisor, for her help and support of this series. For questions, please contact the INFORMS Student Chapter Represnetative, Ms. Tina Wakolbinger, wakolbinger@som.umass.edu |