Infeasible/feasible search trajectories and directional rounding in integer programming

The notion that strategies in non-linear and combinatorial optimization can benefit by purposefully and systematically navigating between feasible and infeasible space has been around for many years, but still is sometimes dismissed as having little relevance for creating more effective methods. To reinforce the case on behalf of approaches that endorse infeasible/feasible search trajectories, it is possible to formulate simple theorems disclosing useful properties of such trajectories in the context of integer programming. These results motivate a closer examination of integer programming search processes based on directional rounding processes, including a special variant called conditional directional rounding. From these foundations a variety of new strategies emerge for exploiting connections between feasible and infeasible space.