Editing Global optimization (section)

===Branch and bound methods===
{{main|Branch and bound}}
'''Branch and bound''' ('''BB''' or '''B&B''') is an [[algorithm]] design paradigm for [[discrete optimization|discrete]] and [[combinatorial optimization]] problems. A branch-and-bound algorithm consists of a systematic enumeration of candidate solutions by means of [[state space search]]: the set of candidate solutions is thought of as forming a [[Tree (graph theory)|rooted tree]] with the full set at the root. The algorithm explores ''branches'' of this tree, which represent subsets of the solution set. Before enumerating the candidate solutions of a branch, the branch is checked against upper and lower estimated ''bounds'' on the optimal solution, and is discarded if it cannot produce a better solution than the best one found so far by the algorithm.