Optimal vs. Optimum

Optimal

In mathematics, computer science and operations research, mathematical optimization or mathematical programming, alternatively spelled optimisation, is the selection of a best element (with regard to some criterion) from some set of available alternatives.In the simplest case, an optimization problem consists of maximizing or minimizing a real function by systematically choosing input values from within an allowed set and computing the value of the function. The generalization of optimization theory and techniques to other formulations constitutes a large area of applied mathematics. More generally, optimization includes finding “best available” values of some objective function given a defined domain (or input), including a variety of different types of objective functions and different types of domains.

Optimum

In mathematics, computer science and operations research, mathematical optimization or mathematical programming, alternatively spelled optimisation, is the selection of a best element (with regard to some criterion) from some set of available alternatives.In the simplest case, an optimization problem consists of maximizing or minimizing a real function by systematically choosing input values from within an allowed set and computing the value of the function. The generalization of optimization theory and techniques to other formulations constitutes a large area of applied mathematics. More generally, optimization includes finding “best available” values of some objective function given a defined domain (or input), including a variety of different types of objective functions and different types of domains.