Quasi-relative interior-type constraint qualifications ensuring strong Lagrange duality for optimization problems with cone and affine constraints

In this article we provide weak sufficient strong duality conditions for a convex optimization problem with cone and affine constraints, stated in infinite dimensional spaces, and its Lagrange dual problem. Our results are given by using the notions of quasi-relative interior and quasi-interior for convex sets. The main strong duality theorem is accompanied by several stronger, yet easier to verify in practice, versions of it. As exemplification we treat a problem which is inspired from network equilibrium. Our results come as corrections and improvements to Daniele and Giuffré (2007) [9].     

Restricted Normal Cones and Sparsity Optimization with Affine Constraints

The problem of finding a vector with the fewest nonzero elements that satisfies an underdetermined system of linear equations is an NP-complete problem that is typically solved numerically via convex heuristics or nicely behaved nonconvex relaxations. In this paper we consider the elementary method of alternating projections (MAP) for solving the sparsity optimization problem without employing convex heuristics. In a parallel paper we recently introduced the restricted normal cone which generalizes the classical Mordukhovich normal cone and reconciles some fundamental gaps in the theory of sufficient conditions for local linear convergence of the MAP algorithm. We use the restricted normal cone together with the notion of superregularity, which is inherently satisfied for the affine sparse optimization problem, to obtain local linear convergence results with estimates for the radius of convergence of the MAP algorithm applied to sparsity optimization with an affine constraint.     

Quadratic factorization heuristics for copositive programming

Copositive optimization problems are particular conic programs: optimize linear forms over the copositive cone subject to linear constraints. Every quadratic program with linear constraints can be formulated as a copositive program, even if some of the variables are binary. So this is an NP-hard problem class. While most methods try to approximate the copositive cone from within, we propose a method which approximates this cone from outside. This is achieved by passing to the dual problem, where the feasible set is an affine subspace intersected with the cone of completely positive matrices, and this cone is approximated from within. We consider feasible descent directions in the completely positive cone, and regularized strictly convex subproblems. In essence, we replace the intractable completely positive cone with a nonnegative cone, at the cost of a series of nonconvex quadratic subproblems. Proper adjustment of the regularization parameter results in short steps for the nonconvex quadratic programs. This suggests to approximate their solution by standard linearization techniques. Preliminary numerical results on three different classes of test problems are quite promising.     

ε-Pareto Optimality Conditions for Convex Multiobjective Programming via Max Function

We consider a nondifferentiable convex multiobjective optimization problem whose feasible set is defined by affine equality constraints, convex inequality constraints, and an abstract convex set constraint. We obtain Fritz John and Kuhn–Tucker necessary and sufficient conditions for ε-Pareto optimality via a max function. We also provide some relations among ε-Pareto solutions for such a problem and approximate solutions for several associated scalar problems.     

Characterizations of the nonemptiness and compactness for solution sets of convex set-valued optimization problems

In this paper, we first derive several characterizations of the nonemptiness and compactness for the solution set of a convex scalar set-valued optimization problem (with or without cone constraints) in which the decision space is finite-dimensional. The characterizations are expressed in terms of the coercivity of some scalar set-valued maps and the well-posedness of the set-valued optimization problem, respectively. Then we investigate characterizations of the nonemptiness and compactness for the weakly efficient solution set of a convex vector set-valued optimization problem (with or without cone constraints) in which the objective space is a normed space ordered by a nontrivial, closed and convex cone with nonempty interior and the decision space is finite-dimensional. We establish that the nonemptiness and compactness for the weakly efficient solution set of a convex vector set-valued optimization problem (with or without cone constraints) can be exactly characterized as those of a family of linearly scalarized convex set-valued optimization problems and the well-posedness of the original problem.     

Affine selections of convex set-valued functions

Summary It is shown that every convex set-valued function defined on a cone with a cone-basis in a real linear space with compact values in a real locally convex space has an affine selection. Similar results can be obtained for midconvex set-valued functions.     

Continuous Selection and Unique Polyhedral Representation of Solutions to Convex Parametric Quadratic Programs

A method for obtaining continuous solutions to convex quadratic and linear programs with parameters in the linear part of the objective function and right-hand side of the constraints is presented. For parameter values for which the problem has nonunique solutions, the optimizer with the least Euclidean norm is selected. The normal cone optimality condition is utilized to obtain a unique polyhedral representation of the piecewise affine minimizer function. This research is part of the Strategic University Program on Computational Methods for Nonlinear Motion Control funded by the Research Council of Norway. We thank Dr. E.C. Kerrigan at the Department of Electrical Engineering, Imperial College, London and Dr. Colin Jones at ETH Zürich for their comments. Finally, we thank the anonymous reviewers for their comments.     

Optimality conditions for weak efficiency to vector optimization problems with composed convex functions

We consider a convex optimization problem with a vector valued function as objective function and convex cone inequality constraints. We suppose that each entry of the objective function is the composition of some convex functions. Our aim is to provide necessary and sufficient conditions for the weakly efficient solutions of this vector problem. Moreover, a multiobjective dual treatment is given and weak and strong duality assertions are proved.      

Maximum principle in the problem of time optimal response with nonsmooth constraints : PMM vol. 40, n 6, 1976, pp. 1014–1023

The problem of optimal response [1, 2] with nonsmooth (generally speaking, nonfunctional) constraints imposed on the state variables is considered. This problem is used to illustrate the method of proving the necessary conditions of optimality in the problems of optimal control with phase constraints, based on constructive approximation of the initial problem with constraints by a sequence of problems of optimal control with constraint-free state variables. The variational analysis of the approximating problems is carried out by means of a purely algebraic method involving the formulas for the incremental growth of a functional [3, 4] and the theorems of separability of convex sets is not used.Using a passage to the limit, the convergence of the approximating problems to the initial problem with constraints is proved, and for general assumptions the necessary conditions of optimality resembling the Pontriagin maximum principle [1] are derived for the generalized solutions of the initial problem. The conditions of transversality are expressed, in the case of nonsmooth (nonfunctional) constraints by a novel concept of a cone conjugate to an arbitrary closed set of a finite-dimensional space. The concept generalizes the usual notions of the normal and the normal cone for the cases of smooth and convex manifolds.     

广义多目标数学规划非支配解的二阶条件

§1.引言在不等式约束规划中,解的二阶条件是十分重要的课题.关于解的二阶条件,在单目标规划中已经得到了一些很重要的结果,如文献[1—4]等,都从各个不同的方面,引进不同的约束规格来讨论单目标数学规划解的二阶条件.在多目标数学规划中,有关“有效解”、“弱有效解”及“真有效解”的性质及一阶条件,已在不少书及文章中出现,如文献[5—9]等.本文试图就广义多目标数学规划相对于一般凸锥及某个多面体锥的局部和整体非支配解的二阶条件进行讨论.     

On the range sets of variational inequalities

This paper investigates the closedness and convexity of the range sets of the variational inequality (VI) problem defined by an affine mappingM and a nonempty closed convex setK. It is proved that the range set is closed ifK is the union of a polyhedron and a compact convex set. Counterexamples are given such that the range set is not closed even ifK is a simple geometrical figure such as a circular cone or a circular cylinder in a three-dimensional space. Several sufficient conditions for closedness and convexity of the range set are presented. Characterization for the convex hull of the range set is established in the case whereK is a cone, while characterization for the closure of the convex hull of the range set is established in general. Finally, some applications to stability of VI problems are derived.This work was supported by the Australian Research Council.We are grateful to Professors M. Seetharama Gowda, Olvi Mangasarian, Jong-Shi Pang, and Steve Robinson for references. We are thankful to Professor Jim Burke for discussions on Theorem 2.1 and Counterexample 3.5.     

Efficient numerical methods for entropy-linear programming problems

Entropy-linear programming (ELP) problems arise in various applications. They are usually written as the maximization of entropy (minimization of minus entropy) under affine constraints. In this work, new numerical methods for solving ELP problems are proposed. Sharp estimates for the convergence rates of the proposed methods are established. The approach described applies to a broader class of minimization problems for strongly convex functionals with affine constraints.     

锥体积泛函与仿射不等式(英文)

本文研究了凸多胞形的锥体积泛函.利用投影体以及Lutwak、杨和张最近所建立的仿射等周不等式,得到了刻划平行四边形特征的一个崭新不等式和用锥体积泛函以及投影体的体积所表达的关于配极体体积的严格下界.     

Convex relaxations for nonconvex quadratically constrained quadratic programming: matrix cone decomposition and polyhedral approximation

We present a decomposition-approximation method for generating convex relaxations for nonconvex quadratically constrained quadratic programming (QCQP). We first develop a general conic program relaxation for QCQP based on a matrix decomposition scheme and polyhedral (piecewise linear) underestimation. By employing suitable matrix cones, we then show that the convex conic relaxation can be reduced to a semidefinite programming (SDP) problem. In particular, we investigate polyhedral underestimations for several classes of matrix cones, including the cones of rank-1 and rank-2 matrices, the cone generated by the coefficient matrices, the cone of positive semidefinite matrices and the cones induced by rank-2 semidefinite inequalities. We demonstrate that in general the new SDP relaxations can generate lower bounds at least as tight as the best known SDP relaxations for QCQP. Moreover, we give examples for which tighter lower bounds can be generated by the new SDP relaxations. We also report comparison results of different convex relaxation schemes for nonconvex QCQP with convex quadratic/linear constraints, nonconvex quadratic constraints and 0–1 constraints.     

On Distributionally Robust Chance-Constrained Linear Programs

In this paper, we discuss linear programs in which the data that specify the constraints are subject to random uncertainty. A usual approach in this setting is to enforce the constraints up to a given level of probability. We show that, for a wide class of probability distributions (namely, radial distributions) on the data, the probability constraints can be converted explicitly into convex second-order cone constraints; hence, the probability-constrained linear program can be solved exactly with great efficiency. Next, we analyze the situation where the probability distribution of the data is not completely specified, but is only known to belong to a given class of distributions. In this case, we provide explicit convex conditions that guarantee the satisfaction of the probability constraints for any possible distribution belonging to the given class.Communicated by B. T. PolyakThis work was supported by FIRB funds from the Italian Ministry of University and Research.     

Lagrange Duality and Partitioning Techniques in Nonconvex Global Optimization

It is shown that, for very general classes of nonconvex global optimization problems, the duality gap obtained by solving a corresponding Lagrangian dual in reduced to zero in the limit when combined with suitably refined partitioning of the feasible set. A similar result holds for partly convex problems where exhaustive partitioning is applied only in the space of nonconvex variables. Applications include branch-and-bound approaches for linearly constrained problems where convex envelopes can be computed, certain generalized bilinear problems, linearly constrained optimization of the sum of ratios of affine functions, and concave minimization under reverse convex constraints.     

Lagrange Multipliers and mixed formulations for some inequality constrained variational inequalities and some nonsmooth unilateral problems

Abstract

This paper addresses a class of inequality constrained variational inequalities and nonsmooth unilateral variational problems. We present mixed formulations arising from Lagrange multipliers. First we treat in a reflexive Banach space setting the canonical case of a variational inequality that has as essential ingredients a bilinear form and a non-differentiable sublinear, hence convex functional and linear inequality constraints defined by a convex cone. We extend the famous Brezzi splitting theorem that originally covers saddle point problems with equality constraints, only, to these nonsmooth problems and obtain independent Lagrange multipliers in the subdifferential of the convex functional and in the ordering cone of the inequality constraints. For illustration of the theory we provide and investigate an example of a scalar nonsmooth boundary value problem that models frictional unilateral contact problems in linear elastostatics. Finally we discuss how this approach to mixed formulations can be further extended to variational problems with nonlinear operators and equilibrium problems, and moreover, to hemivariational inequalities.     

Centers of sets with symmetry or cyclicity properties

We introduce an axiomatic formalism for the concept of the center of a set in a Euclidean space. Then we explain how to exploit possible symmetries and possible cyclicities in the set in order to localize its center. Special attention is paid to the determination of centers in cones of matrices. Despite its highly abstract flavor, our work has a strong connection with convex optimization theory. In fact, computing the so-called “incenter” of a solid closed convex cone is a matter of solving a nonsmooth convex optimization program. On the other hand, the concept of the incenter of a solid closed convex cone has a bearing on the complexity analysis and design of algorithms for convex optimization programs under conic constraints.     

An entropy-like proximal algorithm and the exponential multiplier method for convex symmetric cone programming

We introduce an entropy-like proximal algorithm for the problem of minimizing a closed proper convex function subject to symmetric cone constraints. The algorithm is based on a distance-like function that is an extension of the Kullback-Leiber relative entropy to the setting of symmetric cones. Like the proximal algorithms for convex programming with nonnegative orthant cone constraints, we show that, under some mild assumptions, the sequence generated by the proposed algorithm is bounded and every accumulation point is a solution of the considered problem. In addition, we also present a dual application of the proposed algorithm to the symmetric cone linear program, leading to a multiplier method which is shown to possess similar properties as the exponential multiplier method (Tseng and Bertsekas in Math. Program. 60:1–19, 1993) holds.     

Euclidean Jordan Algebras and Interior-point Algorithms

We provide an introduction to the theory of interior-point algorithms of optimization based on the theory of Euclidean Jordan algebras. A short-step path-following algorithm for the convex quadratic problem on the domain, obtained as the intersection of a symmetric cone with an affine subspace, is considered. Connections with the Linear monotone complementarity problem are discussed. Complexity estimates in terms of the rank of the corresponding Jordan algebra are obtained. Necessary results from the theory of Euclidean Jordan algebras are presented.