Some useful set-valued maps in set optimization

In this article, we introduce several classes of set-valued maps which can be useful in set optimization due to their applications. Exactly, we present some set-valued maps defined by scalar and vector functions and study their properties such as continuity and convexity among others. In addition, we compute their asymptotic maps which can be employed to establish coercivity and existence results in the framework of set optimization problems. Finally, we expose some possible directions for further research.     

On the Minimizing Trajectory of Convex Functions with Unbounded Level Sets

We consider a convex function f(x) with unbounded level sets. Many algorithms, if applied to this class of functions, do not guarantee convergence to the global infimum. Our approach to this problem leads to a derivation of the equation of a parametrized curve x(t), such that an infimum of f(x) along this curve is equal to the global infimum of the function on ⁿ .We also investigate properties of the vectors of recession, showing in particular how to determine a cone of recession of the convex function. This allows us to determine a vector of recession required to construct the minimizing trajectory.     

结合修正Curry-Altman步长搜索一个新的共轭梯度算法的收敛性

Conjugate gradient optimization algorithms depend on the search directions with different choices for the parameter in the search directions. In this note, conditions are given on the parameter in the conjugate gradient directions to ensure the descent property of the search directions. Global convergence of such a class of methods is discussed. It is shown that, using reverse modulus of continuity function and forcing function, the new method for solving unconstrained optimization can work for a continuously differentiable function with a modification of the Curry-Altman‘s step-size rule and a bounded level set. Combining PR method with our new method, PR method is modified to have global convergence property.Numerical experiments show that the new methods are efficient by comparing with FR conjugate gradient method.     

求解无约束非线性规划问题的一个新的重开始共轭梯度算法的收敛性

Conjugate gradient optimization algorithms depend on the search directions.with different choices for the parameters in the search directions.In this note,by combining the nice numerical performance of PR and HS methods with the global convergence property of the class of conjugate gradient methods presented by HU and STOREY(1991),a class of new restarting conjugate gradient methods is presented.Global convergences of the new method with two kinds of common line searches,are proved .Firstly,it is shown that,using reverse modulus of continuity funciton and forcing function,the new method for solving unconstrained optimization can work for a continously differentiable function with Curry-Altman‘s step size rule and a bounded level set .Secondly,by using comparing technique,some general convergence propecties of the new method with other kind of step size rule are established,Numerical experiments show that the new method is efficient by comparing with FR conjugate gradient method.     

The Potential Fluid Flow Problem and the Convergence Rate of the Minimal Residual Method

In the paper the potential fluic flow problem in porous media using Darcy's law and the continuity equation is solved. Mixed-hybrid finite element formulation based on general trilateral prismatic elements is considered. Spectral properties of resulting symmetric indefinite system of linear equations are examined. Minimal residual method for the solution of systems with a symmetric indefinite matrix is applied. The rate of convergence and the asymptotic convergence factor which depend on the eigenvalue distribution of the system matrix are estimated.     

Asymptotic behavior of optimal solutions to control problems for systems described by differential inclusions corresponding to partial differential equations

In the paper, we consider differential inclusions related to PDEs of parabolic type and some control problems with integral cost functionals associated to them. Given a sequence of such problems, we investigate first the asymptotic behavior of solution sets (mild solutions or more precisely selection-trajectory pairs) for differential inclusions, and we get some semicontinuity or continuity results (Kuratowski convergence of solution sets). Then, we prove the -convergence of cost functionals, related to the above Kuratowski convergence of solution sets. Finally, applying the Buttazzo-Dal Maso abstract scheme, based on the sequential -convergence, we obtain results concerning the asymptotic behavior (hence, also stability results) for optimal solutions to control problems as well as the convergence of minimal values.The authors would like to thank Professors G. Dal Maso and S. Spagnolo for helpful conversations.This work was done when the first author was visiting ICTP and ISAS in Trieste in 1990/91.     

Structure of closed finitely starshaped sets

A set is finitely starshaped if any finite subset of is totally visible from some point of . It is well known that in a finite-dimensional linear space, a closed finitely starshaped set which is not starshaped must be unbounded. It is proved here that such a set must admit at least one direction of recession. This fact clarifies the structure of such sets and allows the study of properties of their visibility elements, well known in the case of starshaped sets. A characterization of planar finitely starshaped sets by means of its convex components is obtained. Some plausible conjectures are disproved by means of counterexamples.     

中立型随机泛函微分方程的稳定性

该文研究了一般中立型随机微分方程解的渐近性质,利用Lyapunov函数和上鞅收敛定理,得到 了该方程解的一些渐近稳定性、多项式渐近稳定性及指数稳定性等渐近性质,其结果涵盖并 推广了已有文献的结论。     

A topological approach to divisibility of arithmetical functions and GCD matrices

Considering lower closed sets as closed sets on a preposet (P, ≤), we obtain an Alexandroff topology on P. Then order preserving functions are continuous functions. In this article we investigate order preserving properties (and thus continuity properties) of integer-valued arithmetical functions under the usual divisibility relation of integers and power GCD matrices under the divisibility relation of integer matrices.     

Support cones and convexity of sets in

We discuss several metric characterizations of convexity of sets in non-smooth finite-dimensional Banach spaces. We describe a setting in which convexity is equivalent to the rotation-invariance of various properties, including almost convexity, radial continuity of the metric projection, and Chebyshevity. One of the tools used is a generalization of norm-smoothness which involves support cones of the unit ball.

     

A note on random coin tossing

Harris and Keane [Probab. Theory Related Fields 109 (1997) 27-37] studied absolute continuity/singularity of two probabilities on the coin-tossing space, one representing independent tosses of a fair coin, while in the other a biased coin is tossed at renewal times of an independent renewal process and a fair coin is tossed at all other times. We extend their results by allowing possibly different biases at the different renewal times. We also investigate the contiguity and asymptotic separation properties in this kind of set-up and obtain some sufficient conditions.Keywords:renewal process, absolute continuity, singularity, contiguity, asymptotic separation, martingale convergence theorem     

Hölder and Lipschitz stability of solution sets in programs with probabilistic constraints

We study perturbations of a stochastic program with a probabilistic constraint and r-concave original probability distribution. First we improve our earlier results substantially and provide conditions implying Hölder continuity properties of the solution sets w.r.t. the Kolmogorov distance of probability distributions. Secondly, we derive an upper Lipschitz continuity property for solution sets under more restrictive conditions on the original program and on the perturbed probability measures. The latter analysis applies to linear-quadratic models and is based on work by Bonnans and Shapiro. The stability results are illustrated by numerical tests showing the different asymptotic behaviour of parametric and nonparametric estimates in a program with a normal probabilistic constraint.Mathematics Subject Classification (2000): 90C15, 90C31     

广义拟容量的C-右连续性

本文探讨广义容量的性质,得到如下结果：（a）具有C-右连续,即关于紧集连续的凸拟容量是凸容量;（b）一大类广义容量具有C-右连续性;（c）凸拟容量的准上积分是凸Choquet容量．此外,给出具有C-右连续性的弱拟容量的可容性定理．本文还利用上述结果研究调和空间上正超调和函数的缩减函数和扫除函数．     

Weak sharp minima revisited, part II: application to linear regularity and error bounds

The notion of weak sharp minima is an important tool in the analysis of the perturbation behavior of certain classes of optimization problems as well as in the convergence analysis of algorithms designed to solve these problems. It has been studied extensively by several authors. This paper is the second of a series on this subject where the basic results on weak sharp minima in Part I are applied to a number of important problems in convex programming. In Part II we study applications to the linear regularity and bounded linear regularity of a finite collection of convex sets as well as global error bounds in convex programming. We obtain both new results and reproduce several existing results from a fresh perspective. We dedicate this paper to our friend and mentor Terry Rockafellar on the occasion of his 70th birthday. He has been our guide in mathematics as well as in the backcountry and waterways of the Olympic and Cascade mountains. Research supported in part by the National Science Foundation Grant DMS-0203175.     

Approximation properties of a generalization of positive linear operators

In the present paper we introduce a generalization of positive linear operators and obtain its Korovkin type approximation properties. The rates of convergence of this generalization is also obtained by means of modulus of continuity and Lipschitz type maximal functions. The second purpose of this paper is to obtain weighted approximation properties for the generalization of positive linear operators defined in this paper. Also we obtain a differential equation so that the second moment of our operators is a particular solution of it. Lastly, some Voronovskaja type asymptotic formulas are obtained for Meyer-König and Zeller type and Bleimann, Butzer and Hahn type operators.     

Modified Whittle estimation of multilateral models on a lattice

In the estimation of parametric models for stationary spatial or spatio-temporal data on a d-dimensional lattice, for d?2, the achievement of asymptotic efficiency under Gaussianity, and asymptotic normality more generally, with standard convergence rate, faces two obstacles. One is the “edge effect”, which worsens with increasing d. The other is the possible difficulty of computing a continuous-frequency form of Whittle estimate or a time domain Gaussian maximum likelihood estimate, due mainly to the Jacobian term. This is especially a problem in “multilateral” models, which are naturally expressed in terms of lagged values in both directions for one or more of the d dimensions. An extension of the discrete-frequency Whittle estimate from the time series literature deals conveniently with the computational problem, but when subjected to a standard device for avoiding the edge effect has disastrous asymptotic performance, along with finite sample numerical drawbacks, the objective function lacking a minimum-distance interpretation and losing any global convexity properties. We overcome these problems by first optimizing a standard, guaranteed non-negative, discrete-frequency, Whittle function, without edge-effect correction, providing an estimate with a slow convergence rate, then improving this by a sequence of computationally convenient approximate Newton iterations using a modified, almost-unbiased periodogram, the desired asymptotic properties being achieved after finitely many steps. The asymptotic regime allows increase in both directions of all d dimensions, with the central limit theorem established after re-ordering as a triangular array. However our work offers something new for “unilateral” models also. When the data are non-Gaussian, asymptotic variances of all parameter estimates may be affected, and we propose consistent, non-negative definite estimates of the asymptotic variance matrix.     

Supercalm Multifunctions For Convergence Analysis

Calmness of multifunctions is a well-studied concept of generalized continuity in which single-valued selections from the image sets of the multifunction exhibit a restricted type of local Lipschitz continuity where the base point is fixed as one point of comparison. Generalized continuity properties of multifunctions like calmness can be applied to convergence analysis when the multifunction appropriately represents the iterates generated by some algorithm. Since it involves an essentially linear relationship between input and output, calmness gives essentially linear convergence results when it is applied directly to convergence analysis. We introduce a new continuity concept called ‘supercalmness’ where arbitrarily small calmness constants can be obtained near the base point, which leads to essentially superlinear convergence results. We also explore partial supercalmness and use a well-known generalized derivative to characterize both when a multifunction is supercalm and when it is partially supercalm. To illustrate the value of such characterizations, we explore in detail a new example of a general primal sequential quadratic programming method for nonlinear programming and obtain verifiable conditions to ensure convergence at a superlinear rate.     

Uniform continuity and growth of real continuous functions

The purpose of this paper is to understand whether there exists any link between the uniform continuity of a real function defined on an unbounded interval and its growth at infinity. The primary objective is to present some results from teaching experience which help in the comprehension of this notion and yield some classroom techniques. It is well known that a uniformly continuous function has a monomial growth; it will be proved that there does not exist another growth of positive order. After introducing three kinds of growth, some results are recalled in connection with the behaviour near infinity of a uniformly continuous function. Using a series of counterexamples, it is shown that the uniform continuity of a function cannot be described by its asymptotic behaviour near infinity. Finally, some useful properties of the averaging convergence are reviewed, and how this is related to uniform continuity is investigated.     

Rational Approximation to the Exponential Function with Complex Conjugate Interpolation Points

In this paper, we study asymptotic properties of rational functions that interpolate the exponential function. The interpolation is performed with respect to a triangular scheme of complex conjugate points lying in bounded rectangular domains included in the horizontal strip |Im z|<2π. Moreover, the height of these domains cannot exceed some upper bound which depends on the type of rational functions. We obtain different convergence results and precise estimates for the error function in compact sets of that generalize the classical properties of Padé approximants to the exponential function. The proofs rely on, among others, Walsh's theorem on the location of the zeros of linear combinations of derivatives of a polynomial and on Rolle's theorem for real exponential polynomials in the complex domain.     

Variational convergence for vector-valued functions and its applications to convex multiobjective optimization

The aim of this work is to study a notion of variational convergence for vector-valued functions. We show that it is suitable for obtaining existence and stability results in convex multiobjective optimization. We obtain various of properties of the variational convergence. We characterize it via the set convergence of epigraphs, coepigraphs, level sets, and some infima. We also characterize it by means of two metrics. We compare it with other notions of convergence for vector-valued functions from the literature and we show that it is more general than most of them. For obtaining the existence and stability results we employ an asymptotic method that has shown to be very useful in optimization theory. In this method we couple the variational convergence with notions of asymptotic analysis (asymptotic cones and functions).