IEOR E4404 Lecture Schedule

Lectures
Topic
Suggested Readings
Lectures 1-3  General Overview
  • mechanics of the class
  • what, why and how of simulation
  • examples
  • components of a simulator
  • project topics
Law and Kelton: Sections 1.1, 1.2, 1.7, 5.1, 5.2, 5.4, 5.5 
Lecture 4-10  Input generation :
  • Generating independent uniform [0,1] randon variables
  • Tests for uniformity and independence
  • Tests for validity for input assumptions 
  • Generating  independent random variates 
  • Generating correlated random variates
  • Generating some useful variates
  • Generating arrival processes
Law and Kelton: Chapter 7,8
Lecture 10-15  Simulator design :
  • Discrete event approach
  • Continuous-time Markov chain approach
  • Monte Carlo methods
Law and Kelton: Sections 1.3, 1.4, 1.5, 1.6, 1.8
Midterm Up until March 3rd (Wed)
Lecture 16-20 Output Analysis :
  • Transient measures
  • Steady state measure
  • Steady state cyclical measures
Law and Kelton: Chapter 9
Lecture 21-25 Increasing statistical efficiency :
variance reduction methods
  • Antithetic and control variates
  • Conditioning and Stratification
  • Inportance sampling
  • Common random variates
Law and Kelton: Chapter 11
Lecture 26 Conclusion, more advanced materials and classes at Columbia  
Final Exam   
Projects to be handed in