Mathematical proofs for questions arising in the synthesis and   
reconstruction  of complex processes<BR>

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Robert Weismantel, Magdeburg University<BR>

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Abstract:<BR>
The first part of the talk is dedicated to the synthesis of 
chemical and, more specifically, chromatographic processes. 
In this context we study the problem of designing an 
ideal separation of a binary mixture. 
Interesting questions in this context are to detect the 
minimal number of stages per zone for given purity requirements etc. 
In order to answer questions of this kind, we develop 
proofs for the infeasibility of nonlinear mixed integer optimization models.
Recent developments for the latter topic are discussed. 

<p>The second part of the talk deals with the question of 
reconstructing the set of all possible explanations for 
a given series of observed experimental molecular data.  
We present an exact algorithm for solving this problem 
that is based on combinatorial arguments.