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.