Special issue on mathematical contributions to metaheuristics editorial

Using mathematical models in the framework of heuristic algorithms is no news in applied computer science if we consider, for instance, the development of linear programming to assist with the scheduling of the airlift during the Berlin blockade right after World War II. Similar applications, though possibly not with such grand results, have been developed ever since. So, why this special issue, primarily meant for putting an emphasis on the possibility of embedding sound mathematical techniques into robust algorithmic approaches to optimization? The reason is twofold.