# Operations research
Operations research applies mathematical modeling, [[Mathematical_optimization|optimization]], simulation, queueing, and decision analysis to improve complex managerial and logistical systems. Linear/integer programming, dynamic programming, stochastic models, and analytics yield optimal or near-optimal policies under resource constraints.
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## Microsims (promoted from legacy — three.js first)
### MicroSim spec
### Parameters (tunable controls)
- `Resource budget` · 0–100 · total capacity to allocate across tasks
- `Demand A` · 0–100 · competing requirement of option A
- `Demand B` · 0–100 · competing requirement of option B
### What animates
Allocation bars shift to maximize an objective as the budget is split across demands.
### Learning objective
Show how a limited resource is optimally allocated across competing demands.
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## Reveal
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*Concept aligned with [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operations_research); adapted text, where present, is licensed [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).*
## Overview
Wartime radar rooms made a discipline of [[Mathematics|mathematics]] applied to operations; peace kept it for logistics, scheduling, and service systems, alongside [[Statistics|statistics]] and the machinery of [[Computer_science|computer science]]. Networks and flows come from [[Graph_theory|graph theory]]; strategy from [[Game_theory|game theory]] and [[Decision_theory|decision theory]]; uncertainty from the [[Monte_Carlo_method|Monte Carlo method]]; dependability from [[Reliability_engineering|reliability engineering]].
The field is one of the working arms of [[Systems_science|systems science]]: sibling to [[Systems_engineering|systems engineering]] and [[Systems_theory|systems theory]], sharing regulation ideas with [[Cybernetics|cybernetics]] and [[Control_theory|control theory]] and behavior-over-time modeling with [[System_dynamics|system dynamics]] in the [[Jay_Wright_Forrester|Forrester]] line, and increasingly braided with [[Artificial_intelligence|artificial intelligence]], the [[Neural_network_(machine_learning)|neural network]], and [[Multi-agent_system|multi-agent]] optimization inside [[Economics|economics]] and industry.
## Wikipedia : Wikitube
**Strict pair:** [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operations_research) : [Wikitube](https://en.wikitube.io/wiki/Operations_research)
## Previous hub tags
Hubs: `Systems`. Portals: [[PORTAL_Systems]], [[PORTAL_Operations_research]].