Mathematical modeling for real problems is not easy. You need certain competences that can be
learnt, but first of all you need power of endurance and perseverance.
More then any other intellectual
occupation, modeling is a highly creative activity, and nothing is
more rewarding than having found a good model for a real problem.
This site of MatMod
offers a lot of mostly free material to learn modeling. Dive into it and enjoy!
Regardless of whether you have some knowledge in the subject, it is recommended to begin with the
two introductional papers:
What is modeling? and How to model?. You should at least retain the definition of what a mathematical
model is, respectively, and how I define this subject. In the second paper try to solve (by any method) some
problems before you look up the solution.
It is relatively easy to create models with a few variables and constraints. The difficulties begin
when you must build large models with a lot of data. This is mostly the case in practical applications. You need
concepts to break the many elements of your model down into categories and groups. In mathemaics, we use a
brilliant concept for that, it is indexing. Learning well this concepts is of abolute importance
to be able to create relevant models. I wrote an introductory paper on indexing:
Index Notation that includes also some exercises.
There are many different model types used in practice. A selection of them is described in the paper Model Types an it contains executable models for
illustartion.
Now you are ready for some real exercises. My modeling book Puzzles and Games contains 120 problems. They range from easy once like math01 to more complicated like Social Golfers. The modeling of every
problem is explained step by step in the textbook and can be executed directly through the Internet, no need to
install any software. Alternatively, you can download Williams'
Models
or others, free of charge.
The short introductory text to the LPL Language or the Reference Manual may help to understand the syntax of LPL.
Simultaneously, you may also look through some Tutorial Examples.
You did actively something on every step above? You begin to be a pro! I have collected many classical models of the operations research (shortest path, traveling salesman (TSP), covering location, cutting, production planning, scheduling, etc.) in my two Case Studies books. Many problems in this realm are difficult to solve, hence, for some models several modeling approaches are exposed.
You do not want to model with LPL? That's fine! You have the basics now. Very popular today are (free) Python or Julia packages, or commercial software like AMPL, GAMS, Matlab, AIMMS, Mosel, Hexaly and many others. The paper Modeling Tools gives you a first list and a short flavor of a number of tools and software.
Do you have questions? Please email to: info@matmod.ch