Penalized complementarity functions on symmetric cones

We show that penalized functions of the Fischer–Burmeister and the natural residual functions defined on symmetric cones are complementarity functions. Boundedness of the solution set of a symmetric cone complementarity problem, based on the penalized natural residual function, is proved under monotonicity and strict feasibility. The proof relies on a trace inequality on Euclidean Jordan algebras.     

A New Class of Complementarity Function and the Boundedness of Its Merit Function for Symmetric Cone Complementarity Problem

In this paper, we introduce a new class of two-parametric penalized function, which includes the penalized minimum function and the penalized Fischer-Burmeister flmc- tion over symmetric cone complementarity problems. We propose that this class of function is a class of complementarity functions（C-function）. Moreover, its merit function has bounded level set under a weak condition.     

The penalized Fischer-Burmeister SOC complementarity function

In this paper, we study the properties of the penalized Fischer-Burmeister (FB) second-order cone (SOC) complementarity function. We show that the function possesses similar desirable properties of the FB SOC complementarity function for local convergence; for example, with the function the second-order cone complementarity problem (SOCCP) can be reformulated as a (strongly) semismooth system of equations, and the corresponding nonsmooth Newton method has local quadratic convergence without strict complementarity of solutions. In addition, the penalized FB merit function has bounded level sets under a rather weak condition which can be satisfied by strictly feasible monotone SOCCPs or SOCCPs with the Cartesian R ₀₁-property, although it is not continuously differentiable. Numerical results are included to illustrate the theoretical considerations.     

A new class of smoothing complementarity functions over symmetric cones

A popular approach to solving the complementarity problem is to reformulate it as an equivalent system of smooth equations via a smoothing complementarity function. In this paper, first we propose a new class of smoothing complementarity functions, which contains the natural residual smoothing function and the Fischer–Burmeister smoothing function for symmetric cone complementarity problems. Then we give some unified formulae of the Fréchet derivatives associated with Jordan product. Finally, the derivative of the new proposed class of smoothing complementarity functions is deduced over symmetric cones.     

A new class of smoothing functions and a smoothing Newton method for complementarity problems

In this paper, we introduce a new class of smoothing functions, which include some popular smoothing complementarity functions. We show that the new smoothing functions possess a system of favorite properties. The existence and continuity of a smooth path for solving the nonlinear complementarity problem (NCP) with a P ₀ function are discussed. The Jacobian consistency of this class of smoothing functions is analyzed. Based on the new smoothing functions, we investigate a smoothing Newton algorithm for the NCP and discuss its global and local superlinear convergence. Some preliminary numerical results are reported.     

Existence of optimal solutions for general stochastic linear complementarity problems

In this paper we show the solvability of the expected residual minimization (ERM) formulation for the general stochastic linear complementarity problem (SLCP) under mild assumptions. The properties of the ERM formulation are dependent on the choice of NCP functions. We focus on the ERM formulations defined by the “min” NCP function and the penalized FB function, both of which are nonconvex programs on the nonnegative orthant.     

An algorithm for a class of nonlinear complementarity problems with non-Lipschitzian functions

In this paper, we focus on solving a class of nonlinear complementarity problems with non-Lipschitzian functions. We first introduce a generalized class of smoothing functions for the plus function. By combining it with Robinson's normal equation, we reformulate the complementarity problem as a family of parameterized smoothing equations. Then, a smoothing Newton method combined with a new nonmonotone line search scheme is employed to compute a solution of the smoothing equations. The global and local superlinear convergence of the proposed method is proved under mild assumptions. Preliminary numerical results obtained applying the proposed approach to nonlinear complementarity problems arising in free boundary problems are reported. They show that the smoothing function and the nonmonotone line search scheme proposed in this paper are effective.     

Improved smoothing Newton methods for symmetric cone complementarity problems

There recently has been much interest in smoothing Newton method for solving nonlinear complementarity problems. We extend such method to symmetric cone complementarity problems (SCCP). In this paper, we first investigate a one-parametric class of smoothing functions in the context of symmetric cones, which contains the Fischer–Burmeister smoothing function and the CHKS smoothing function as special cases. Then we propose a smoothing Newton method for the SCCP based on the one-parametric class of smoothing functions. For the proposed method, besides the classical step length, we provide a new step length and the global convergence is obtained. Finally, preliminary numerical results are reported, which show the effectiveness of the two step lengthes in the algorithm and provide efficient domains of the parameter for the complementarity problems.     

A one-parametric class of merit functions for the symmetric cone complementarity problem

In this paper, we extend the one-parametric class of merit functions proposed by Kanzow and Kleinmichel [C. Kanzow, H. Kleinmichel, A new class of semismooth Newton-type methods for nonlinear complementarity problems, Comput. Optim. Appl. 11 (1998) 227-251] for the nonnegative orthant complementarity problem to the general symmetric cone complementarity problem (SCCP). We show that the class of merit functions is continuously differentiable everywhere and has a globally Lipschitz continuous gradient mapping. From this, we particularly obtain the smoothness of the Fischer-Burmeister merit function associated with symmetric cones and the Lipschitz continuity of its gradient. In addition, we also consider a regularized formulation for the class of merit functions which is actually an extension of one of the NCP function classes studied by [C. Kanzow, Y. Yamashita, M. Fukushima, New NCP functions and their properties, J. Optim. Theory Appl. 97 (1997) 115-135] to the SCCP. By exploiting the Cartesian P-properties for a nonlinear transformation, we show that the class of regularized merit functions provides a global error bound for the solution of the SCCP, and moreover, has bounded level sets under a rather weak condition which can be satisfied by the monotone SCCP with a strictly feasible point or the SCCP with the joint Cartesian R₀₂-property. All of these results generalize some recent important works in [J.-S. Chen, P. Tseng, An unconstrained smooth minimization reformulation of the second-order cone complementarity problem, Math. Program. 104 (2005) 293-327; C.-K. Sim, J. Sun, D. Ralph, A note on the Lipschitz continuity of the gradient of the squared norm of the matrix-valued Fischer-Burmeister function, Math. Program. 107 (2006) 547-553; P. Tseng, Merit function for semidefinite complementarity problems, Math. Program. 83 (1998) 159-185] under a unified framework.     

A smoothing inexact Newton method for P 0 nonlinear complementarity problem

We first propose a new class of smoothing functions for the nonlinear complementarity function which contains the well-known Chen-Harker-Kanzow-Smale smoothing function and Huang-Han-Chen smoothing function as special cases, and then present a smoothing inexact Newton algorithm for the P ₀ nonlinear complementarity problem. The global convergence and local superlinear convergence are established. Preliminary numerical results indicate the feasibility and efficiency of the algorithm.     

CVaR-constrained stochastic programming reformulation for stochastic nonlinear complementarity problems

We reformulate a stochastic nonlinear complementarity problem as a stochastic programming problem which minimizes an expected residual defined by a restricted NCP function with nonnegative constraints and CVaR constraints which guarantee the stochastic nonlinear function being nonnegative with a high probability. By applying smoothing technique and penalty method, we propose a penalized smoothing sample average approximation algorithm to solve the CVaR-constrained stochastic programming. We show that the optimal solution of the penalized smoothing sample average approximation problem converges to the solution of the corresponding nonsmooth CVaR-constrained stochastic programming problem almost surely. Finally, we report some preliminary numerical test results.     

A smoothing Newton method for NCPs with the P0-property

In this paper, we first investigate a two-parametric class of smoothing functions which contains the penalized smoothing Fischer-Burmeister function and the penalized smoothing CHKS function as special cases. Then we present a smoothing Newton method for the nonlinear complementarity problem based on the class of smoothing functions. Issues such as line search rule, boundedness of the level set, global and quadratic convergence are studied. In particular, we give a line search rule containing the common used Armijo-type line search rule as a special case. Also without requiring strict complementarity assumption at the P₀-NCP solution or the nonemptyness and boundedness of the solution set, the proposed algorithm is proved to be globally convergent. Preliminary numerical results show the efficiency of the algorithm and provide efficient domains of the two parameters for the complementarity problems.     

On merit functions for <Emphasis Type="Italic">p</Emphasis>-order cone complementarity problem

Merit function approach is a popular method to deal with complementarity problems, in which the complementarity problem is recast as an unconstrained minimization via merit function or complementarity function. In this paper, for the complementarity problem associated with p-order cone, which is a type of nonsymmetric cone complementarity problem, we show the readers how to construct merit functions for solving p-order cone complementarity problem. In addition, we study the conditions under which the level sets of the corresponding merit functions are bounded, and we also assert that these merit functions provide an error bound for the p-order cone complementarity problem. These results build up a theoretical basis for the merit method for solving p-order cone complementarity problem.     

Coercivity and Strong Semismoothness of the Penalized Fischer-Burmeister Function for the Symmetric Cone Complementarity Problem

For the nonlinear complementarity problem (NCP), Chen et al. (Math. Program., 88:211–216, 2000) proposed a penalized Fischer-Burmeister (FB) function that has most desirable properties among complementarity functions (C-functions). Motivated by their work, the authors showed (Kum and Lim in Penalized Complementarity Functions on Symmetric Cones, submitted, 2009) that this function naturally extends to a C-function for the symmetric cone complementarity problem (SCCP). In this note, we show that the main coercivity property of this function for NCP also extends to the SCCP. The proof uses a new trace inequality on Euclidean Jordan algebras. We also show that the penalized FB function is strongly semismooth in the case of a semidefinite cone and a second-order cone. This work was supported by the Korea Research Foundation Grant KRF-2008-314-C00039.     

Smooth methods of multipliers for complementarity problems

This paper describes several methods for solving nonlinear complementarity problems. A general duality framework for pairs of monotone operators is developed and then applied to the monotone complementarity problem, obtaining primal, dual, and primal-dual formulations. We derive Bregman-function-based generalized proximal algorithms for each of these formulations, generating three classes of complementarity algorithms. The primal class is well-known. The dual class is new and constitutes a general collection of methods of multipliers, or augmented Lagrangian methods, for complementarity problems. In a special case, it corresponds to a class of variational inequality algorithms proposed by Gabay. By appropriate choice of Bregman function, the augmented Lagrangian subproblem in these methods can be made continuously differentiable. The primal-dual class of methods is entirely new and combines the best theoretical features of the primal and dual methods. Some preliminary computation shows that this class of algorithms is effective at solving many of the standard complementarity test problems. Received February 21, 1997 / Revised version received December 11, 1998? Published online May 12, 1999     

Two classes of merit functions for the second-order cone complementarity problem

Recently Tseng (Math Program 83:159–185, 1998) extended a class of merit functions, proposed by Luo and Tseng (A new class of merit functions for the nonlinear complementarity problem, in Complementarity and Variational Problems: State of the Art, pp. 204–225, 1997), for the nonlinear complementarity problem (NCP) to the semidefinite complementarity problem (SDCP) and showed several related properties. In this paper, we extend this class of merit functions to the second-order cone complementarity problem (SOCCP) and show analogous properties as in NCP and SDCP cases. In addition, we study another class of merit functions which are based on a slight modification of the aforementioned class of merit functions. Both classes of merit functions provide an error bound for the SOCCP and have bounded level sets.Member of Mathematics Division, National Center for Theoretical Sciences, Taipei Office. The author’s work is partially supported by National Science Council of Taiwan.     

On the coerciveness of some merit functions for complementarity problems over symmetric cones

One of the popular solution methods for the complementarity problem over symmetric cones is to reformulate it as the global minimization of a certain merit function. An important question to be answered for this class of methods is under what conditions the level sets of the merit function are bounded (the coerciveness of the merit function). In this paper, we introduce the generalized weak-coerciveness of a continuous transformation. Under this condition, we prove the coerciveness of some merit functions, such as the natural residual function, the normal map, and the Fukushima-Yamashita function for complementarity problems over symmetric cones. We note that this is a much milder condition than strong monotonicity, used in the current literature.     

Continuation method for nonlinear complementarity problems via normal maps

In a recent paper by Chen and Mangasarian (C. Chen, O.L. Mangasarian, A class of smoothing functions for nonlinear and mixed complementarity problems, Computational Optimization and Applications 2 (1996), 97–138) a class of parametric smoothing functions has been proposed to approximate the plus function present in many optimization and complementarity related problems. This paper uses these smoothing functions to approximate the normal map formulation of nonlinear complementarity problems (NCP). Properties of the smoothing function are investigated based on the density functions that defines the smooth approximations. A continuation method is then proposed to solve the NCPs arising from the approximations. Sufficient conditions are provided to guarantee the boundedness of the solution trajectory. Furthermore, the structure of the subproblems arising in the proposed continuation method is analyzed for different choices of smoothing functions. Computational results of the continuation method are reported.     

A new hybrid method for nonlinear complementarity problems

In this paper, a new hybrid method is proposed for solving nonlinear complementarity problems (NCP) with P ₀ function. In the new method, we combine a smoothing nonmonotone trust region method based on a conic model and line search techniques. We reformulate the NCP as a system of semismooth equations using the Fischer-Burmeister function. Using Kanzow’s smooth approximation function to construct the smooth operator, we propose a smoothing nonmonotone trust region algorithm of a conic model for solving the NCP with P ₀ functions. This is different from the classical trust region methods, in that when a trial step is not accepted, the method does not resolve the trust region subproblem but generates an iterative point whose steplength is defined by a line search. We prove that every accumulation point of the sequence generated by the algorithm is a solution of the NCP. Under a nonsingularity condition, the superlinear convergence of the algorithm is established without a strict complementarity condition.     

The generalized linear complementarity problem revisited

Given a vertical block matrixA, we consider in this paper the generalized linear complementarity problem VLCP(q, A) introduced by Cottle and Dantzig. We formulate this problem as a linear complementarity problem with a square matrixM, a formulation which is different from a similar formulation given earlier by Lemke. Our formulation helps in extending many well-known results in linear complementarity to the generalized linear complementarity problem. We also show that the class of vertical block matrices which Cottle and Dantzig's algorithm can process is the same as the class of equivalent square matrices which Lemke's algorithm can process. We also present some degree-theoretic results on a vertical block matrix.