Using tabu search and genetic algorithms in mathematics research

Abstract

This paper discusses an ongoing project which uses computational heuristic search techniques such as tabu search and genetic algorithms as a tool for mathematics research. We discuss three ways in which such search techniques can be useful for mathematicians: in nding counterexamples to conjectures, in enumerating examples, and in nding sequences of transformations between two objects which are conjectured to be related. These problem-types are discussed using examples from topology