A gradient projection-multiplier method for nonlinear programming

This paper describes a gradient projection-multiplier method for solving the general nonlinear programming problem. The algorithm poses a sequence of unconstrained optimization problems which are solved using a new projection-like formula to define the search directions. The unconstrained minimization of the augmented objective function determines points where the gradient of the Lagrangian function is zero. Points satisfying the constraints are located by applying an unconstrained algorithm to a penalty function. New estimates of the Lagrange multipliers and basis constraints are made at points satisfying either a Lagrangian condition or a constraint satisfaction condition. The penalty weight is increased only to prevent cycling. The numerical effectiveness of the algorithm is demonstrated on a set of test problems.The author gratefully acknowledges the helpful suggestions of W. H. Ailor, J. L. Searcy, and D. A. Schermerhorn during the preparation of this paper. The author would also like to thank D. M. Himmelblau for supplying a number of interesting test problems.     

An improved sequential quadratic programming algorithm for solving general nonlinear programming problems

In this paper, a class of general nonlinear programming problems with inequality and equality constraints is discussed. Firstly, the original problem is transformed into an associated simpler equivalent problem with only inequality constraints. Then, inspired by the ideals of the sequential quadratic programming (SQP) method and the method of system of linear equations (SLE), a new type of SQP algorithm for solving the original problem is proposed. At each iteration, the search direction is generated by the combination of two directions, which are obtained by solving an always feasible quadratic programming (QP) subproblem and a SLE, respectively. Moreover, in order to overcome the Maratos effect, the higher-order correction direction is obtained by solving another SLE. The two SLEs have the same coefficient matrices, and we only need to solve the one of them after a finite number of iterations. By a new line search technique, the proposed algorithm possesses global and superlinear convergence under some suitable assumptions without the strict complementarity. Finally, some comparative numerical results are reported to show that the proposed algorithm is effective and promising.     

A modified SQP-filter method for nonlinear complementarity problem

The nonlinear complementarity problem can be reformulated as a nonlinear programming. For solving nonlinear programming, sequential quadratic programming (SQP) type method is very effective. Moreover, filter method, for its good numerical results, are extensively studied to handle nonlinear programming problems recently. In this paper, a modified quadratic subproblem is proposed. Based on it, we employ filter technique to tackle nonlinear complementarity problem. This method has no demand on initial point. The restoration phase, which is always used in traditional filter method, is not needed. Global convergence results of the proposed algorithm are established under suitable conditions. Some numerical results are reported in this paper.     

On the formulation and theory of the Newton interior-point method for nonlinear programming

In this work, we first study in detail the formulation of the primal-dual interior-point method for linear programming. We show that, contrary to popular belief, it cannot be viewed as a damped Newton method applied to the Karush-Kuhn-Tucker conditions for the logarithmic barrier function problem. Next, we extend the formulation to general nonlinear programming, and then validate this extension by demonstrating that this algorithm can be implemented so that it is locally and Q-quadratically convergent under only the standard Newton method assumptions. We also establish a global convergence theory for this algorithm and include promising numerical experimentation.The first two authors were supported in part by NSF Cooperative Agreement No. CCR-8809615, by Grants AFOSR 89-0363, DOE DEFG05-86ER25017, ARO 9DAAL03-90-G-0093, and the REDI Foundation. The fourth author was supported in part by NSF DMS-9102761 and DOE DE-FG02-93ER25171. The authors would like to thank Sandra Santos for painstakingly proofreading an earlier verion of this paper.     

A filter method for nonlinear semidefinite programming with global convergence

In this study, a new filter algorithm is presented for solving the nonlinear semidefinite programming. This algorithm is inspired by the classical sequential quadratic programming method. Unlike the traditional filter methods, the sufficient descent is ensured by changing the step size instead of the trust region radius. Under some suitable conditions, the global convergence is obtained. In the end, some numerical experiments are given to show that the algorithm is effective.     

A non-interior continuation method for second-order cone programming

We extend the smoothing function proposed by Huang, Han and Chen [Journal of Optimization Theory and Applications, 117 (2003), pp. 39–68] for the non-linear complementarity problems to the second-order cone programming (SOCP). Based on this smoothing function, a non-interior continuation method is presented for solving the SOCP. The proposed algorithm solves only one linear system of equations and performs only one line search at each iteration. It is shown that our algorithm is globally and locally superlinearly convergent in absence of strict complementarity at the optimal solution. Numerical results indicate the effectiveness of the algorithm.     

非线性互补问题的SQP方法

In this paper, the nonlinear complementarity problem is transformed into the least squares problem with nonnegative constraints ,and a SQP algorithm for this reformulation based on a damped Gauss-Newton type method is presented. It is shown that the algorithm is globally and locally superlinearly (quadratically) convergent without the assumption of monotonicity.     

A one-step smoothing Newton method for second-order cone programming

A new smoothing function for the second-order cone programming is given by smoothing the symmetric perturbed Fischer–Burmeister function. Based on this new function, a one-step smoothing Newton method is presented for solving the second-order cone programming. The proposed algorithm solves only one linear system of equations and performs only one line search at each iteration. This algorithm does not have restrictions regarding its starting point and is Q-quadratically convergent. Numerical results suggest the effectiveness of our algorithm.     

Predictor-corrector method for nonlinear complementarity problem

Recently, Ye et al. proved that the predictor-corrector method proposed by Mizuno et al. maintains -iteration complexity while exhibiting the quadratic convergence of the dual gap to zero under very mild conditions. This impressive result becomes the best-known in the interior point methods. In this paper, we modify the predictor-corrector method and then extend it to solving the nonlinear complementarity problem. We prove that the new method has a -iteration complexity while maintaining the quadratic asymptotic convergence.     

On the convergence properties of second-order multiplier methods

The purpose of this note is to provide some estimates relating to Newton-type methods of multipliers. These estimates can be used to infer that convergence in such methods can be achieved for an arbitrary choice of the initial multiplier vector by selecting the penalty parameter sufficiently large.This work was supported by Grant No. NSF ENG 74-19332.     

A robust sequential quadratic programming method

The sequential quadratic programming method developed by Wilson, Han and Powell may fail if the quadratic programming subproblems become infeasible, or if the associated sequence of search directions is unbounded. This paper considers techniques which circumvent these difficulties by modifying the structure of the constraint region in the quadratic programming subproblems. Furthermore, questions concerning the occurrence of an unbounded sequence of multipliers and problem feasibility are also addressed.Work supported in part by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. DMS-8602399 and by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research under Grant No. ISSA-860080.Work supported in part by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. DMS-8602419.     

A constraint shifting homotopy method for general non-linear programming

In this article, a constraint shifting homotopy method (CSHM) is proposed for solving non-linear programming with both equality and inequality constraints. A new homotopy is constructed, and existence and global convergence of a homotopy path determined by it are proven. All problems that can be solved by the combined homotopy interior point method (CHIPM) can also be solved by the proposed method. In contrast to the combined homotopy infeasible interior point method (CHIIPM), it needs a weaker regularity condition. And the starting point in the proposed method is not necessarily a feasible point or an interior point, so it is more convenient to be implemented than CHIPM and CHIIPM. Numerical results show that the proposed algorithm is feasible and effective.     

A splitting method for quadratic programming problem

1. IntroductionThe quadratic programming (QP) problem is the most simple one in nonlinear pro-gramming and plays a very important role in optimization theory and applications.It is well known that matriX splitting teChniques are widely used for solving large-scalelinear system of equations very successfully. These algorithms generate an infinite sequence,in contrast to the direct algorithms which terminate in a finite number of steps. However,iterative algorithms are considerable simpler tha…     

A spline smoothing homotopy method for nonconvex nonlinear programming

Homotopy methods are globally convergent under weak conditions and robust; however, the efficiency of a homotopy method is closely related with the construction of the homotopy map and the path tracing algorithm. Different homotopies may behave very different in performance even though they are all theoretically convergent. In this paper, a spline smoothing homotopy method for nonconvex nonlinear programming is developed using cubic spline to smooth the max function of the constraints of nonlinear programming. Some properties of spline smoothing function are discussed and the global convergence of spline smoothing homotopy under the weak normal cone condition is proven. The spline smoothing technique uses a smooth constraint instead of m constraints and acts also as an active set technique. So the spline smoothing homotopy method is more efficient than previous homotopy methods like combined homotopy interior point method, aggregate constraint homotopy method and other probability one homotopy methods. Numerical tests with the comparisons to some other methods show that the new method is very efficient for nonlinear programming with large number of complicated constraints.     

A modified predictor-corrector method for linear programming

In the predictor-corrector method of Mizuno, Todd and Ye [1], the duality gap is reduced only at the predictor step and is kept unchanged during the corrector step. In this paper, we modify the corrector step so that the duality gap is reduced by a constant fraction, while the predictor step remains unchanged. It is shown that this modified predictor-corrector method retains the iteration complexity as well as the local quadratic convergence property.     

A combined penalty function and gradient projection method for nonlinear programming

A new programming algorithm for nonlinear constrained optimization problems is proposed. The method is based on the penalty function approach and thereby circumyents the necessity to maintain feasibility at each iteration, but it also behaves much like the gradient projection method. Although only first-order information is used, the algorithm converges asymptotically at a rate which is independent of the magnitude of the penalty term; hence, unlike the simple gradient method, the asymptotic rate of the proposed method is not affected by the ill-conditioning associated with the introduction of the penalty term. It is shown that the asymptotic rate of convergence of the proposed method is identical with that of the gradient projection method.Dedicated to Professor M. R. HestenesThis research was supported by the National Science Foundation, Grant No. GK-16125.     

A primal interior point method for the linear semidefinite programming problem

The linear semidefinite programming problem is examined. A primal interior point method is proposed to solve this problem. It extends the barrier-projection method used for linear programs. The basic properties of the proposed method are discussed, and its local convergence is proved.     

A trust region SQP algorithm for mixed-integer nonlinear programming

We propose a modified sequential quadratic programming method for solving mixed-integer nonlinear programming problems. Under the assumption that integer variables have a smooth influence on the model functions, i.e., that function values do not change drastically when in- or decrementing an integer value, successive quadratic approximations are applied. The algorithm is stabilized by a trust region method with Yuan’s second order corrections. It is not assumed that the mixed-integer program is relaxable or, in other words, function values are evaluated only at integer points. The Hessian of the Lagrangian function is approximated by a quasi-Newton update formula subject to the continuous and integer variables. Numerical results are presented for a set of 80 mixed-integer test problems taken from the literature. The surprising result is that the number of function evaluations, the most important performance criterion in practice, is less than the number of function calls needed for solving the corresponding relaxed problem without integer variables.     

非线性半定规划的逐次线性化柔性惩罚法

针对非线性不等式约束半定规划问题提出一种新的逐次线性化方法, 新算法既不要求罚函数单调下降, 也不使用过滤技巧, 尝试步的接受准则仅仅依赖于目标函数和约束违反度, 罚函数中对应于成功迭代点的罚因子不需要单调增加. 新算法或者要求违反约束度量有足够改善, 或者在约束违反度的一个合理范围内要求目标函数值充分下降, 在通常假设条件下, 分析了新算法的适定性及全局收敛性. 最后, 给出了非线性半定规划问题的数值试验结果, 结果表明了新算法的有效性.     

A globally convergent method for nonlinear programming

Recently developed Newton and quasi-Newton methods for nonlinear programming possess only local convergence properties. Adopting the concept of the damped Newton method in unconstrained optimization, we propose a stepsize procedure to maintain the monotone decrease of an exact penalty function. In so doing, the convergence of the method is globalized.This research was supported in part by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. ENG-75-10486.