The document discusses various parallel algorithms for combinatorial optimization problems. It covers topics like branch and bound, backtracking, divide and conquer, and greedy methods. Branch and bound is described as a general algorithm for finding optimal solutions that systematically enumerates candidates and discards subsets that cannot lead to optimal solutions. Backtracking is presented as a systematic way to search a problem space by incrementally building candidates and abandoning partial candidates when they cannot be completed. Divide and conquer is characterized as an approach that breaks problems into subproblems, solves the subproblems, and combines the solutions. Greedy methods are defined as making locally optimal choices at each stage to find a global optimum. Examples like the knapsack problem are provided.