small orders. Here" binary matrix" means a matrix whose elements are drawn from $\{0, 1\} $
or $\{-1, 1\} $. We describe efficient parallel algorithms for the search, using Duval's
algorithm for generation of necklaces and the well-known representation of the determinant
of a circulant in terms of roots of unity. Tables of maximal determinants are given for orders
$\le 53$. Our computations extend earlier results and disprove two plausible conjectures.