Averaged Subgradient Methods for Constrained Convex Optimization and Nash Equilibria Computation

We consider the problem of finding minima of convex functions under convex inequality constraints as well as the problem of finding Nash equilibria in n -person constant sum games. We prove that both problems can be solved by algorithms whose basic principles consist of representing the original problems as infinite systems of convex inequalities which, in turn, can be approached by outer projection techniques. Experiments showing how one of these algorithms behaves in test cases are presented and, in context, we describe a numerical method for computing subgradients of convex functions.     

On the extreme inequalities of infinite group problems

Infinite group relaxations of integer programs (IP) were introduced by Gomory and Johnson (Math Program 3:23–85, 1972) to generate cutting planes for general IPs. These valid inequalities correspond to real-valued functions defined over an appropriate infinite group. Among all the valid inequalities of the infinite group relaxation, extreme inequalities are most important since they are the strongest cutting planes that can be obtained within the group-theoretic framework. However, very few properties of extreme inequalities of infinite group relaxations are known. In particular, it is not known if all extreme inequalities are continuous and what their relations are to extreme inequalities of finite group problems. In this paper, we describe new properties of extreme functions of infinite group problems. In particular, we study the behavior of the pointwise limit of a converging sequence of extreme functions as well as the relations between extreme functions of finite and infinite group problems. Using these results, we prove for the first time that a large class of discontinuous functions is extreme for infinite group problems. This class of extreme functions is the generalization of the functions given by Letchford and Lodi (Oper Res Lett 30(2):74–82, 2002), Dash and Günlük (Proceedings 10th conference on integer programming and combinatorial optimization. Springer, Heidelberg, pp 33–45 (2004), Math Program 106:29–53, 2006) and Richard et al. (Math Program 2008, to appear). We also present several other new classes of discontinuous extreme functions. Surprisingly, we prove that the functions defining extreme inequalities for infinite group relaxations of mixed integer programs are continuous. S.S. Dey and J.-P.P. Richard was supported by NSF Grant DMI-03-48611.     

Optimality conditions and duality for a class of nondifferentiable multiobjective generalized fractional programming problems

This paper studies a class of multiobjective generalized fractional programming problems, where the numerators of objective functions are the sum of differentiable function and convex function, while the denominators are the difference of differentiable function and convex function. Under the assumption of Calmness Constraint Qualification the Kuhn-Tucker type necessary conditions for efficient solution are given, and the Kuhn-Tucker type sufficient conditions for efficient solution are presented under the assumptions of （F, α, ρ, d）-V-convexity. Subsequently, the optimality conditions for two kinds of duality models are formulated and duality theorems are proved.     

Analyzing linear systems containing strict inequalities via evenly convex hulls

The evenly convex hull of a given set is the intersection of all the open halfspaces which contain such set (hence the convex hull is contained in the evenly convex hull). This paper deals with finite dimensional linear systems containing strict inequalities and (possibly) weak inequalities as well as equalities. The number of inequalities and equalities in these systems is arbitrary (possibly infinite). For such kind of systems a consistency theorem is provided and those strict inequalities (weak inequalities, equalities) which are satisfied for every solution of a given system are characterized. Such results are formulated in terms of the evenly convex hull of certain sets which depend on the coefficients of the system.     

Regularized parametric Kuhn-Tucker theorem in a Hilbert space

For a parametric convex programming problem in a Hilbert space with a strongly convex objective functional, a regularized Kuhn-Tucker theorem in nondifferential form is proved by the dual regularization method. The theorem states (in terms of minimizing sequences) that the solution to the convex programming problem can be approximated by minimizers of its regular Lagrangian (which means that the Lagrange multiplier for the objective functional is unity) with no assumptions made about the regularity of the optimization problem. Points approximating the solution are constructively specified. They are stable with respect to the errors in the initial data, which makes it possible to effectively use the regularized Kuhn-Tucker theorem for solving a broad class of inverse, optimization, and optimal control problems. The relation between this assertion and the differential properties of the value function (S-function) is established. The classical Kuhn-Tucker theorem in nondifferential form is contained in the above theorem as a particular case. A version of the regularized Kuhn-Tucker theorem for convex objective functionals is also considered.     

Comments on: Farkas’ Lemma: three decades of generalizations for mathematical optimization

In these comments on the excellent survey by Dinh and Jeyakumar, we briefly discuss some recently developed topics and results on applications of extended Farkas’ lemma(s) and related qualification conditions to problems of variational analysis and optimization, which are not fully reflected in the survey. They mainly concern: Lipschitzian stability of feasible solution maps for parameterized semi-infinite and infinite programs with linear and convex inequality constraints indexed by arbitrary sets; optimality conditions for nonsmooth problems involving such constraints; evaluating various subdifferentials of optimal value functions in DC and bilevel infinite programs with applications to Lipschitz continuity of value functions and optimality conditions; calculating and estimating normal cones to feasible solution sets for nonlinear smooth as well as nonsmooth semi-infinite, infinite, and conic programs with deriving necessary optimality conditions for them; calculating coderivatives of normal cone mappings for convex polyhedra in finite and infinite dimensions with applications to robust stability of parameterized variational inequalities. We also give some historical comments on the original Farkas’ papers.     

On Basic Constraint Qualifications for Infinite System of Convex Inequalities in Banach Spaces

The BCQ and the Abadie CQ for infinite systems of convex inequalities in Banach spaces are characterized in terms of the upper semi-continuity of the convex cones generated by the subdifferentials of active convex functions. Some relationships with other constraint qualifications such as the CPLV and the Slate condition are also studied. Applications in best approximation theory are provided.     

Necessary optimality conditions for a class of nonsmooth vector optimization

The Kuhn-Tucker type necessary conditions of weak efficiency are given for the problem of minimizing a vector function whose each component is the sum of a differentiable function and a convex function, subject to a set of differentiable nonlinear inequalities on a convex subset C of ℝ ⁿ , under the conditions similar to the Abadie constraint qualification, or the Kuhn-Tucker constraint qualification, or the Arrow-Hurwicz-Uzawa constraint qualification. Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 70671064, No. 60673177), the Province Natural Science Foundation of Zhejiang (No.Y7080184) and the Education Department Foundation of Zhejiang Province (No. 20070306).     

Invex-convexlike functions and duality

We define a class of invex-convexlike functions, which contains all convex, pseudoconvex, invex, and convexlike functions, and prove that the Kuhn-Tucker sufficient optimality condition and the Wolfe duality hold for problems involving such functions. Applications in control theory are given.The author is grateful to Professor W. Stadler and the referees for many valuable remarks and suggestions, which have enabled him to improve considerably the paper.     

Modified Kuhn-tucker conditions when a minimum is not attained

The Kuhn-Tucker conditions for constrained minimization assume that the minimum is attained. When there is a finite infimum, but a minimum is not attained, an asymptotic version of Kuhn-Tucker conditions is obtained for linear problems, in general in infinite dimensions, with some restriction on the feasible set. This result is extended to some nonlinear problems, not necessarily convex, with some further restriction on differentiability.     

Concave functions,blaschke products,and polygonal mappings

We consider the class Co(p) of all conformal maps of the unit disk onto the exterior of a bounded convex set. We prove that the triangle mappings, i.e., the functions that map the unit disk onto the exterior of a triangle, are among the extreme points of the closed convex hull of Co(p). Moreover, we prove a conjecture on the closed convex hull of Co(p) for all p ∈ (0, 1) which had partially been proved by the authors for some values of p ∈ (0, 1).     

Multiobjective DC programs with infinite convex constraints

New results are established for multiobjective DC programs with infinite convex constraints (MOPIC) that are defined on Banach spaces (finite or infinite dimensional) with objectives given as the difference of convex functions. This class of problems can also be called multiobjective DC semi-infinite and infinite programs, where decision variables run over finite-dimensional and infinite-dimensional spaces, respectively. Such problems have not been studied as yet. Necessary and sufficient optimality conditions for the weak Pareto efficiency are introduced. Further, we seek a connection between multiobjective linear infinite programs and MOPIC. Both Wolfe and Mond-Weir dual problems are presented, and corresponding weak, strong, and strict converse duality theorems are derived for these two problems respectively. We also extend above results to multiobjective fractional DC programs with infinite convex constraints. The results obtained are new in both semi-infinite and infinite frameworks.     

Constraint qualifications in a class of nondifferentiable mathematical programming problems

The Kuhn-Tucker type necessary optimality conditions are given for the problem of minimizing the sum of a differentiable function and a convex function subject to a set of differentiable nonlinear inequalities on a convex subset C of , under the conditions similar to the Kuhn-Tucker constraint qualification or the Arrow-Hurwicz-Uzawa constraint qualification. The case when the set C is open (not necessarily convex) is shown to be a special one of our results, which helps us to improve some of the existing results in the literature.     

Fuchsian convex bodies: basics of Brunn–Minkowski theory

The hyperbolic space ${\mathbb{H}^d}$ can be defined as a pseudo-sphere in the (d + 1) Minkowski space-time. In this paper, a Fuchsian group Γ is a group of linear isometries of the Minkowski space such that ${\mathbb{H}^d/\Gamma}$ is a compact manifold. We introduce Fuchsian convex bodies, which are closed convex sets in Minkowski space, globally invariant for the action of a Fuchsian group. A volume can be associated to each Fuchsian convex body, and, if the group is fixed, Minkowski addition behaves well. Then Fuchsian convex bodies can be studied in the same manner as convex bodies of Euclidean space in the classical Brunn–Minkowski theory. For example, support functions can be defined, as functions on a compact hyperbolic manifold instead of the sphere. The main result is the convexity of the associated volume (it is log concave in the classical setting). This implies analogs of Alexandrov–Fenchel and Brunn–Minkowski inequalities. Here the inequalities are reversed.     

Optimality Conditions for Isolated Local Minimum of Nonsmooth Multiobjective Problems

This article is devoted to the study of Fritz John and strong Kuhn-Tucker necessary conditions for properly efficient solutions, efficient solutions and isolated efficient solutions of a nonsmooth multiobjective optimization problem involving inequality and equality constraints and a set constraints in terms of the lower Hadamard directional derivative. Sufficient conditions for the existence of such solutions are also provided where the involved functions have pseudoconvex sublevel sets. Our results are based on the concept of pseudoconvex sublevel sets. The functions with pseudoconvex sublevel sets are a class of generalized convex functions that include quasiconvex functions.     

一类非光滑广义分式规划的Kuhn-Tucker型最优性必要条件

考虑一类非线性不等式约束的非光滑minimax分式规划问题;目标函数中的分子是可微函数与凸函数之和形式而分母是可微函数与凸函数之差形式,且约束函数是可微的.在Arrow- Hurwicz-Uzawa约束品性下,给出了这类规划的最优解的Kuhn-Tucker型必要条件.所得结果改进和推广了已有文献中的相应结果.     

Approximate Efficiency and Scalar Stationarity in Unbounded Nonsmooth Convex Vector Optimization Problems

We deal with extended-valued nonsmooth convex vector optimization problems in infinite-dimensional spaces where the solution set (the weakly efficient set) may be empty. We characterize the class of convex vector functions having the property that every scalarly stationary sequence is a weakly-efficient sequence. We generalize the results obained in the scalar case by Auslender and Crouzeix about asymptotically well-behaved convex functions and improve substantially the few results known in the vector case.     

Extended Farkas lemma and strong duality for composite optimization problems with DC functions

In this paper, we consider the optimization problem in locally convex Hausdorff topological vector spaces with objectives given as the difference of two composite functions and constraints described by an arbitrary (possibly infinite) number of convex inequalities. Using the epigraph technique, we introduce some new constraint qualifications, which completely characterize the Farkas lemma, the dualities between the primal problem and its dual problem. Applications to the conical programming with DC composite function are also given.     

On the Gap Functions of Prevariational Inequalities

Gap functions play a crucial role in transforming a variational inequality problem into an optimization problem. Then, methods solving an optimization problem can be exploited for finding a solution of a variational inequality problem. It is known that the so-called prevariational inequality is closely related to some generalized convex functions, such as linear fractional functions. In this paper, gap functions for several kinds of prevariational inequalities are investigated. More specifically, prevariational inequalities, extended prevariational inequalities, and extended weak vector prevariational inequalities are considered. Furthermore, a class of gap functions for inequality constrained prevariational inequalities is investigated via a nonlinear Lagrangian.     

Necessary and Sufficient Conditions for Weak Quasi Efficiency in Nonsmooth Multiobjective Problems

In this article, a multiobjective problem with a feasible set defined by inequality, equality and set constraints is considered, where the objective and constraint functions are locally Lipschitz. Several constraint qualifications are given and the relations between them are analyzed. We establish Kuhn-Tucker and strong Kuhn-Tucker necessary optimality conditions for (weak) quasi e?ciency in terms of the Clarke subdifferential. By using two new classes of generalized convex functions, su?cient conditions for local (weak) quasi e?cient are also provided. Furthermore, we study the Mond-Weir type dual problem and establish weak, strong and converse duality results.