A simplified test for optimality

A simplification of recent characterizations of optimality in convex programming involving the cones of decrease and constancy of the objective and constraint functions is presented. In the original characterization due to Ben-Israelet al., optimality was verified or a feasible direction of decrease was determined by considering a number of sets equal to the number of subsets of the set of binding constraints. By first finding the set of constraints which is binding at every feasible point, it is possible to verify optimality or determine a feasible direction of decrease by considering a single set. In the case of faithfully convex functions, this set can be found by solving at mostp systems of linear equations and inequalities, wherep is the number of constraints.This work was partly supported by NSF Grant No. Eng 76-10260.     

Hidden convexity in some nonconvex quadratically constrained quadratic programming

We consider the problem of minimizing an indefinite quadratic objective function subject to twosided indefinite quadratic constraints. Under a suitable simultaneous diagonalization assumption (which trivially holds for trust region type problems), we prove that the original problem is equivalent to a convex minimization problem with simple linear constraints. We then consider a special problem of minimizing a concave quadratic function subject to finitely many convex quadratic constraints, which is also shown to be equivalent to a minimax convex problem. In both cases we derive the explicit nonlinear transformations which allow for recovering the optimal solution of the nonconvex problems via their equivalent convex counterparts. Special cases and applications are also discussed. We outline interior-point polynomial-time algorithms for the solution of the equivalent convex programs. This author's work was partially supported by GIF, the German-Israeli Foundation for Scientific Research and Development and by the Binational Science Foundation. This author's work was partially supported by National Science Foundation Grants DMS-9201297 and DMS-9401871.     

IDEA (Imprecise Data Envelopment Analysis) with CMDs (Column Maximum Decision Making Units)

IDEA (Imprecise Data Envelopment Analysis) extends DEA so it can simultaneously treat exact and imprecise data where the latter are known only to obey ordinal relations or to lie within prescribed bounds. AR-IDEA extends this further to include AR (Assurance Region) and the like approaches to constraints on the variables. In order to provide one unified approach, a further extension also includes cone-ratio envelopment approaches to simultaneous transformations of the data and constraints on the variables. The present paper removes a limitation of IDEA and AR-IDEA which requires access to actually attained maximum values in the data. This is accomplished by introducing a dummy variable that supplies needed normalizations on maximal values and this is done in a way that continues to provide linear programming equivalents to the original problems. This dummy variable can be regarded as a new DMU (Decision Making Unit), referred to as a CMD (Column Maximum DMU).     

解线性约束凸规划的次最优化方法和改进

1.引 言 关于线性约束下的非线性规划,很多人进行了研究,Zangwill[3] 于1967年提出了次最优化方法,该方法的原理是将原规划问题化为一系列只含有等式约束的子问题求解,最后找到最优解所在的流形,在此流形上使用无约束规划的各种方法求解原问题即可.薛声家[2]1983     

Partial Augmented Lagrangian Method and Mathematical Programs with Complementarity Constraints

In this paper, we apply a partial augmented Lagrangian method to mathematical programs with complementarity constraints (MPCC). Specifically, only the complementarity constraints are incorporated into the objective function of the augmented Lagrangian problem while the other constraints of the original MPCC are retained as constraints in the augmented Lagrangian problem. We show that the limit point of a sequence of points that satisfy second-order necessary conditions of the partial augmented Lagrangian problems is a strongly stationary point (hence a B-stationary point) of the original MPCC if the limit point is feasible to MPCC, the linear independence constraint qualification for MPCC and the upper level strict complementarity condition hold at the limit point. Furthermore, this limit point also satisfies a second-order necessary optimality condition of MPCC. Numerical experiments are done to test the computational performances of several methods for MPCC proposed in the literature. This research was partially supported by the Research Grants Council (BQ654) of Hong Kong and the Postdoctoral Fellowship of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Dedicated to Alex Rubinov on the occassion of his 65th birthday.     

Finding Symmetry Groups of Some Quadratic Programming Problems

Solution and analysis of mathematical programming problems may be simplified when these problems are symmetric under appropriate linear transformations. In particular, a knowledge of the symmetries may help decrease the problem dimension, reduce the size of the search space by means of linear cuts. While the previous studies of symmetries in the mathematical programming usually dealt with permutations of coordinates of the solutions space, the present paper considers a larger group of invertible linear transformations. We study a special case of the quadratic programming problem, where the objective function and constraints are given by quadratic forms. We formulate conditions, which allow us to transform the original problem to a new system of coordinates, such that the symmetries may be sought only among orthogonal transformations. In particular, these conditions are satisfied if the sum of all matrices of quadratic forms, involved in the constraints, is a positive definite matrix. We describe the structure and some useful properties of the group of symmetries of the problem. Besides that, the methods of detection of such symmetries are outlined for different special cases as well as for the general case.     

A Dual Simplex Implementation of a Constraint Selection Algorithm for Linear Programming

The constraint selection approach to linear programming begins by solving a relaxed version of the problem using only a few of the original constraints. If the solution obtained to this relaxation satisfies the remaining constraints it is optimal for the original LP. Otherwise, additional constraints must be incorporated in a larger relaxation. The procedure successively generates larger subproblems until an optimal solution is obtained which satisfies all of the original constraints. Computational results for a dual simplex implementation of this technique indicate that solving several small subproblems in this manner is more computationally efficient than solving the original LP using the revised simplex method.     

One modification of the logarithmic barrier function method in linear and convex programming

A novel modification of the logarithmic barrier function method is introduced for solving problems of linear and convex programming. The modification is based on a parametric shifting of the constraints of the original problem, similarly to what was done in the method of Wierzbicki-Hestenes-Powell multipliers for the usual quadratic penalty function (this method is also known as the method of modified Lagrange functions). The new method is described, its convergence is proved, and results of numerical experiments are given.     

对合变换和薄板弯曲问题的多变量变分原理

本文利用拉氏乘子法把薄板弯曲问题的最小位能原理和最小余能原理的变分约束条件解除.从而导出了常见的广义变分原理.为了降低泛函中变量导数的阶次.我们用对合变换引进新的正则变量.于是,我们可以进一步利用拉氏乘子法,把这些对合变换当作变分约束而予以消除,从而导出了各种多变量的薄板弯曲广义变分原理.事实证明,使用上述拉氏乘子法,并不能消除一切变分约束;为此,我们进一步引用高阶拉氏乘子法消除这些剩下来的约束条件,从而导得了薄板弯曲问题的更一般的广义变分原理.     

Solving linear ordinary differential equations by exponentials of iterated commutators

Summary A sequence of transformations of a linear system of ordinary differential equations is investigated. It is shown that these transformations produce new systems which represent progressively smaller perturbations of the original set of equations.The transformations are implemented as a basis of a numerical method. Order, stability and error control of this method are analyzed. Numerical examples demonstrate the potential of this approach.     

A patient assignment algorithm for home care services

We consider the problem of assigning patients to nurses for home care services. The aim is to balance the workload of the nurses while avoiding long travels to visit the patients. We analyse the case of the CSSS Côte-des-Neiges, Métro and Parc Extension for which a previous analysis has shown that demand fluctuations may create work overload for the nursing staff. We propose a mixed integer programming model with some non-linear constraints and a non-linear objective which we solve using a Tabu Search algorithm. A simplification of the workload measure leads to a linear mixed integer program which we optimize using CPLEX.     

An efficient deterministic optimization approach for rectangular packing problems

The rectangular packing problem aims to seek the best way of placing a given set of rectangular pieces within a large rectangle of minimal area. Such a problem is often constructed as a quadratic mixed-integer program. To find the global optimum of a rectangular packing problem, this study transforms the original problem as a mixed-integer linear programming problem by logarithmic transformations and an efficient piecewise linearization approach that uses a number of binary variables and constraints logarithmic in the number of piecewise line segments. The reformulated problem can be solved to obtain an optimal solution within a tolerable error. Numerical examples demonstrate the computational efficiency of the proposed method in globally solving rectangular packing problems.     

The Least-squares Fitting of Cubic Spline Surfaces to General Data Sets

This paper presents a computational method, with several variants,for fitting bicubic splines by least squares to data given atarbitrary points. Products of B-splines are used in the representationof the bicubic splines. The resulting observation equationsare solved by means of Householder transformations. A stablemethod for imposing linear equality constraints is also described.The methods take account of rank-deficiency and are readilyextended to more dimensions.     

Iterative Solution of SPARK Methods Applied to DAEs

In this article a broad class of systems of implicit differential–algebraic equations (DAEs) is considered, including the equations of mechanical systems with holonomic and nonholonomic constraints. Solutions to these DAEs can be approximated numerically by applying a class of super partitioned additive Runge–Kutta (SPARK) methods. Several properties of the SPARK coefficients, satisfied by the family of Lobatto IIIA-B-C-C^*-D coefficients, are crucial to deal properly with the presence of constraints and algebraic variables. A main difficulty for an efficient implementation of these methods lies in the numerical solution of the resulting systems of nonlinear equations. Inexact modified Newton iterations can be used to solve these systems. Linear systems of the modified Newton method can be solved approximately with a preconditioned linear iterative method. Preconditioners can be obtained after certain transformations to the systems of nonlinear and linear equations. These transformations rely heavily on specific properties of the SPARK coefficients. A new truly parallelizable preconditioner is presented.     

An Eulerian–Lagrangian method for optimization problems governed by multidimensional nonlinear hyperbolic PDEs

We present a numerical method for solving tracking-type optimal control problems subject to scalar nonlinear hyperbolic balance laws in one and two space dimensions. Our approach is based on the formal optimality system and requires numerical solutions of the hyperbolic balance law forward in time and its nonconservative adjoint equation backward in time. To this end, we develop a hybrid method, which utilizes advantages of both the Eulerian finite-volume central-upwind scheme (for solving the balance law) and the Lagrangian discrete characteristics method (for solving the adjoint transport equation). Experimental convergence rates as well as numerical results for optimization problems with both linear and nonlinear constraints and a duct design problem are presented.     

Spline smoothing under constraints on derivatives

An efficient algorithm for computing a smoothing polynomial splines under inequality constraints on derivatives is introduced where both order and breakpoints ofs can be prescribed arbitrarily. By using the B-spline representation ofs, the original semi-infinite constraints are replaced by stronger finite ones, leading to a least squares problem with linear inequality constraints. Then these constraints are transformed into simple box constraints by an appropriate substitution of variables so that efficient standard techniques for solving such problems can be applied. Moreover, the smoothing term commonly used is replaced by a cheaply computable approximation. All matrix transformations are realized by numerically stable Givens rotations, and the band structure of the problem is exploited as far as possible.     

Efficient approximate linear programming for factored MDPs

Factored Markov Decision Processes (MDPs) provide a compact representation for modeling sequential decision making problems with many variables. Approximate linear programming (LP) is a prominent method for solving factored MDPs. However, it cannot be applied to models with large treewidth due to the exponential number of constraints. This paper proposes a novel and efficient approximate method to represent the exponentially many constraints. We construct an augmented junction graph from the factored MDP, and represent the constraints using a set of cluster constraints and separator constraints, where the cluster constraints play the role of reducing the number of constraints, and the separator constraints enforce the consistency of neighboring clusters so as to improve the accuracy. In the case where the junction graph is tree-structured, our method provides an equivalent representation to the original constraints. In other cases, our method provides a good trade-off between computation and accuracy. Experimental results on different models show that our algorithm performs better than other approximate linear programming algorithms on computational cost or expected reward.     

Multi-phase dynamic constraint aggregation for set partitioning type problems

Dynamic constraint aggregation is an iterative method that was recently introduced to speed up the linear relaxation solution process of set partitioning type problems. This speed up is mostly due to the use, at each iteration, of an aggregated problem defined by aggregating disjoint subsets of constraints from the set partitioning model. This aggregation is updated when needed to ensure the exactness of the overall approach. In this paper, we propose a new version of this method, called the multi-phase dynamic constraint aggregation method, which essentially adds to the original method a partial pricing strategy that involves multiple phases. This strategy helps keeping the size of the aggregated problem as small as possible, yielding a faster average computation time per iteration and fewer iterations. We also establish theoretical results that provide some insights explaining the success of the proposed method. Tests on the linear relaxation of simultaneous bus and driver scheduling problems involving up to 2,000 set partitioning constraints show that the partial pricing strategy speeds up the original method by an average factor of 4.5.     

Conservation properties of higher order time stepping schemes based on variational integrators

This paper deals with higher order accurate variational integrators for finite element systems. The variational integrator (VI) is based on higher order LAGRANGE polynomials as shape functions and a higher order GAUSSIAN quadrature rule. The goals of this paper are to implement a discrete gradient to preserve the balance of total energy and fulfill the constraints with the LAGRANGE multiplier method and a NEWTON-COTÊS quadrature rule. We show the calculation of bearing forces from the LAGRANGE multipliers, which are essential for the balance of total linear momentum and the balance of total angular momentum. (© 2016 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

A continuous approach to combinatorial optimization: application of water system pump operations

In this paper, we have suggested a penalty method to modify the combinatorial optimization problem with the linear constraints to a global optimization problem with linear constraints. It also deals with a topic of vital significance of pump operation optimization in a water system. In this connection we have done a lot of work to formulate a model based on a simplified flow volume balance to resolve the problem of optimal pump operation settings of switching “ON” and “OFF” with the reduced gradient method. This global solution approach incorporates some benefits for practical application to a real system as is shown in the case study.