Applications of Variational Analysis to a Generalized Fermat-Torricelli Problem

In this paper we develop new applications of variational analysis and generalized differentiation to the following optimization problem and its specifications: given n closed subsets of a Banach space, find such a point for which the sum of its distances to these sets is minimal. This problem can be viewed as an extension of the celebrated Fermat-Torricelli problem: given three points on the plane, find another point that minimizes the sum of its distances to the designated points. The generalized Fermat-Torricelli problem formulated and studied in this paper is of undoubted mathematical interest and is promising for various applications including those frequently arising in location science, optimal networks, etc. Based on advanced tools and recent results of variational analysis and generalized differentiation, we derive necessary as well as necessary and sufficient optimality conditions for the extended version of the Fermat-Torricelli problem under consideration, which allow us to completely solve it in some important settings. Furthermore, we develop and justify a numerical algorithm of the subgradient type to find optimal solutions in convex settings and provide its numerical implementations.     

解可分离结构变分不等式的一种新的交替方向法

交替方向法是求解可分离结构变分不等式问题的经典方法之一, 它将一个大型的变分不等式问题分解成若干个小规模的变分不等式问题进行迭代求解. 但每步迭代过程中求解的子问题仍然摆脱不了求解变分不等式子问题的瓶颈. 从数值计算上来说, 求解一个变分不等式并不是一件容易的事情.因此, 本文提出一种新的交替方向法, 每步迭代只需要求解一个变分不等式子问题和一个强单调的非线性方程组子问题. 相对变分不等式问题而言, 我们更容易、且有更多的有效算法求解一个非线性方程组问题. 在与经典的交替方向法相同的假设条件下, 我们证明了新算法的全局收敛性. 进一步的数值试验也验证了新算法的有效性.     

对应不同类型变分原理的旋转薄壳轴对称单元

本文在一定范围内,统一考察基于不同变分原理建立的有限元模型中,泛函约束条件的不同对单元性态的影响.文中以旋转薄壳轴对称单元(简称TSR单元)为例,采用相同的曲边单元几何描述,推导了七种TSR杂交单元和二种TSR位移协调元,它们分别对应于三类杂交变分原理及最小势能原理.通过单刚列式分析和波纹壳等数值算例比较,分析了不同模型的性态异同和应用上的适应性与局限性;讨论了两类模型间的相互关系;指出了TSR杂交位移元的—个发散条件,并推荐了二种性态较理想的TSR单元.     

An operator splitting method for monotone variational inequalities with a new perturbation strategy

In variational inequalities arising from applications such as engineering, economics and transportation, partial mappings are usually unknown, e.g., the demand function in traffic assignment problem. As a consequence, classical methods can not deal with this class of problems. On the other hand, the recently developed methods require restrictive conditions such as strong monotonicity of some mappings, which excludes many interesting applications. In this paper, we propose an operator splitting method with a new perturbation strategy for solving variational inequality problems with partially unknown mappings. Under the mild condition that the underlying mapping is monotone, we prove the global convergence of the method. We also report some preliminary numerical results which show that the new algorithm is also interesting from the numerical point of view.     

Inexact proximal point method for general variational inequalities

In this paper, we suggest and analyze a new inexact proximal point method for solving general variational inequalities, which can be considered as an implicit predictor-corrector method. An easily measurable error term is proposed with further relaxed error bound and an optimal step length is obtained by maximizing the profit-function and is dependent on the previous points. Our results include several known and new techniques for solving variational inequalities and related optimization problems. Results obtained in this paper can be viewed as an important improvement and refinement of the previously known results. Preliminary numerical experiments are included to illustrate the advantage and efficiency of the proposed method.     

Generalized solutions of quasi variational inequalities

This paper deals with multivalued quasi variational inequalities with pseudo-monotone and monotone maps. The primary objective of this work is to show that the notion of generalized solutions can be employed to investigate multivalued pseudo-monotone quasi variational inequalities. It is a well-known fact that a quasi variational inequality can conveniently be posed as a fixed point problem through the so-called variational selection. For pseudo-monotone maps, the associated variational selection is a nonconvex map, and the fixed point theorems can only be applied under restrictive assumptions on the data of quasi variational inequalities. On the other hand, the generalized solutions are defined by posing a minimization problem which can be solved by a variant of classical Weierstrass theorem. It turns out that far less restrictive assumptions on the data are needed in this case. To emphasis on the strong difference between a classical solution and a generalized solution, we also give a new existence theorem for quasi variational inequalities with monotone maps. The main existence result is proved under a milder coercivity condition. We also relax a few other conditions from the monotone map. Due to its flexibility, it seems that the notion of generalized solutions can be employed to study quasi variational inequalities for other classes of maps as well.     

非均匀Reissner板弯曲的精确元法

本文在阶梯折算法和精确解析法的基础上,提出构造有限元的新方法——精确元法.该方法不用变分原理,可适用于任意变系数正定和非正定偏微分方程.利用该方法,得到Reissuer板弯曲的一个非协调单元,它具有十五个自由度.由于节点位移参数仅含有挠度和转角,因此处理任意边界条件非常容易.文中给出证明,位移和内力均收敛于精确解.由精确元法所得到的单元不仅能用于厚板,也可用于薄板.文末给出四个算例.算例表明,利用本文的方法,可获得满意的结果,并有较高的数值精度.     

箱式约束变分不等式的一类新光滑gap函数

针对箱式约束变分不等式问题,利用一类积分型全局最优性条件,提出了一个新光滑gap函数．该光滑gap函数形式简单且具有较好的性质．利用该gap函数,箱式约束变分不等式可转化为等价光滑优化问题进行求解．进一步地,讨论了可保证等价光滑优化问题的任意聚点为箱式约束变分不等式问题解的条件．以一个简单的摩擦接触问题为例阐释了该方法的应用．最后,利用标准的变分不等式考题验证了方法的有效性．     

Parallel algorithms for variational inequalities over the Cartesian product of the intersections of the fixed point sets of nonexpansive mappings

This paper presents a framework of iterative algorithms for the variational inequality problem over the Cartesian product of the intersections of the fixed point sets of nonexpansive mappings in real Hilbert spaces. Strong convergence theorems are established under a certain contraction assumption with respect to the weighted maximum norm. The proposed framework produces as a simplest example the hybrid steepest descent method, which has been developed for solving the monotone variational inequality problem over the intersection of the fixed point sets of nonexpansive mappings. An application to a generalized power control problem and numerical examples are demonstrated.     

Boundary augmented Lagrangian method for the Signorini problem

An augmented Lagrangian method, based on boundary variational formulations and fixed point method, is designed and analyzed for the Signorini problem of the Laplacian. Using the equivalence between Signorini boundary conditions and a fixed-point problem, we develop a new iterative algorithm that formulates the Signorini problem as a sequence of corresponding variational equations with the Steklov-Poincaré operator. Both theoretical results and numerical experiments show that the method presented is efficient.     

Dynamical systems and variational inequalities

The variational inequality problem has been utilized to formulate and study a plethora of competitive equilibrium problems in different disciplines, ranging from oligopolistic market equilibrium problems to traffic network equilibrium problems. In this paper we consider for a given variational inequality a naturally related ordinary differential equation. The ordinary differential equations that arise are nonstandard because of discontinuities that appear in the dynamics. These discontinuities are due to the constraints associated with the feasible region of the variational inequality problem. The goals of the paper are two-fold. The first goal is to demonstrate that although non-standard, many of the important quantitative and qualitative properties of ordinary differential equations that hold under the standard conditions, such as Lipschitz continuity type conditions, apply here as well. This is important from the point of view of modeling, since it suggests (at least under some appropriate conditions) that these ordinary differential equations may serve as dynamical models. The second goal is to prove convergence for a class of numerical schemes designed to approximate solutions to a given variational inequality. This is done by exploiting the equivalence between the stationary points of the associated ordinary differential equation and the solutions of the variational inequality problem. It can be expected that the techniques described in this paper will be useful for more elaborate dynamical models, such as stochastic models, and that the connection between such dynamical models and the solutions to the variational inequalities will provide a deeper understanding of equilibrium problems.     

基于微分变分不等式的多商品流网络动态模型

针对由多个制造商和多个零售商构成并且具有多商品流的供应链网络,建立了制造商、零售商之间从事微分Nash博弈的供应链网络动态模型.首先,在介绍微分变分不等式定义的基础上,利用微分变分不等式的方法建立了制造商、零售商以及供应链网络的均衡条件.然后,在正则条件下分析了供应链网络动态模型解的存在性条件.最后,利用数值算例验证了模型的合理性.     

OPTIMAL MIXED H-P FINITE ELEMENT METHODS FOR STOKES AND NON-NEWTONIAN FLOW

1. IntroductionMOtivated,,by some advalltages of h -- p FEM over the classic FEM uncovered by recelltcomputation works(see-[19]), Schwab and Sari [11] have considered the ~d h--p lhate elementmethod for Non-Newtonian flow based upon a three-field Stokes formulation emallating fromMarization of some dmerellt models of Non-Newtoulan flow, in which, stress, velocity andPressure are coupled. Theoretical analysis and tailored numerical expert~8 show that theabed h -- p finite elemellt method …     

A class of Dantzig–Wolfe type decomposition methods for variational inequality problems

We consider a class of decomposition methods for variational inequalities, which is related to the classical Dantzig–Wolfe decomposition of linear programs. Our approach is rather general, in that it can be used with certain types of set-valued or nonmonotone operators, as well as with various kinds of approximations in the subproblems of the functions and derivatives in the single-valued case. Also, subproblems may be solved approximately. Convergence is established under reasonable assumptions. We also report numerical experiments for computing variational equilibria of the game-theoretic models of electricity markets. Our numerical results illustrate that the decomposition approach allows to solve large-scale problem instances otherwise intractable if the widely used PATH solver is applied directly, without decomposition.     

A non-interior-point smoothing method for variational inequality problem

In this paper, we focus on the variational inequality problem. Based on the Fischer-Burmeister function with smoothing parameters, the variational inequality problem can be reformulated as a system of parameterized smooth equations, a non-interior-point smoothing method is presented for solving the problem. The proposed algorithm not only has no restriction on the initial point, but also has global convergence and local quadratic convergence, moreover, the local quadratic convergence is established without a strict complementarity condition. Preliminary numerical results show that the algorithm is promising.     

Bifurcation problems for discrete variational inequalities

The buckling of a beam or a plate which is subject to obstacles is typical for the variational inequalities that are considered here. Birfurcation is known to occur from the first eigenvalue of the linearized problem. For a discretization the bifurcation point and the bifurcating branches may be obtained by solving a constrained optimization problem. An algorithm is proposed and its convergence is proved. The buckling of a clamped beam subject to point obstacles is considered in the continuous case and some numerical results for this problem are presented.     

Iterative algorithms for solving fixed point problems and variational inequalities with uniformly continuous monotone operators

Using the double projection and Halpern methods, we prove two strong convergence results for finding a solution of a variational inequality problem involving uniformly continuous monotone operator which is also a fixed point of a quasi-nonexpansive mapping in a real Hilbert space. In our proposed methods, only two projections onto the feasible set in each iteration are performed, rather than one projection for each tentative step during the Armijo-type search, which represents a considerable saving especially when the projection is computationally expensive. We also give some numerical results which show that our proposed algorithms are efficient and implementable from the numerical point of view.     

On the Determination of a Density Function by Its Autoconvolution Coefficient

We investigate eigenvalues and eigenvectors of certain linear variational eigenvalue inequalities where the constraints are defined by a convex cone as in [4], [7], [8], [10]-[12], [17]. The eigenvalues of those eigenvalue problems are of interest in connection with bifurcation from the trivial solution of nonlinear variational inequalities. A rather far reaching theory is presented for the case that the cone is given by a finite number of linear inequalities, where an eigensolution corresponds to a (+)-Kuhn-Tucker point of the Rayleigh quotient. Application to an unlaterally supported beam are discussed and numerical results are given.     

A Dynamic Frictional Contact Problem with Normal Damped Response

We consider a mathematical model which describes the frictional contact between a viscoelastic body and a reactive foundation. The process is assumed to be dynamic and the contact is modeled with a general normal damped response condition and a local friction law. We present a variational formulation of the problem and prove the existence and uniqueness of the weak solution, using results on evolution equations with monotone operators and a fixed point argument. We then introduce and study a fully discrete numerical approximation scheme of the variational problem, in terms of the velocity variable. The numerical scheme has a unique solution. We derive error estimates under additional regularity assumptions on the data and the solution.     

The solution of three-dimensional friction contact problems

A variational method is developed for solving friction contact problems, in which the friction obeys Coulomb's of friction law in velocities, and numerical solutions of three-dimensional problems of the contact of a sphere, a cylinder of finite length and a cube with an elastic half-space are constructed. It is established that the maximum frictional forces correspond to a boundary point of the regions of adhesion and slippage. When the number of steps,increase this maximum decreases, and the distribution of the frictional forces becomes smoother. Certain undesirable effects that can arise during numerical implementation of the method – numerical artefacts – are described. These effects can occur in the numerical solution of problems with a different physical content, the mathematical structure of which is similar to the structure of the contact problems investigated, as the artefacts are caused by the presence of unilateral constraints and by the dependence on external effects of the region in which unilateral constraints with an equally sign occur. This problem is solved by an appropriate choice of the load-step zero approximations.