From Computational Certification to Exact Coordinates: Heilbronn’s Triangle Problem on the Unit Square Using Mixed-Integer Optimization

We develop an optimize-then-refine framework for the classical Heilbronn triangle problem that integrates global mixed-integer nonlinear programming with exact symbolic computation. A novel symmetry-breaking strategy, together with the exploitation of structural properties of determinants, yields a substantially stronger optimization model: for n=9, the problem can be solved to certified global optimality in 15 minutes on … Read more