Sensitivity analysis in linear programming and semidefinite programming using interior-point methods

We analyze perturbations of the right-hand side and the cost parameters in linear programming (LP) and semidefinite programming (SDP). We obtain tight bounds on the perturbations that allow interior-point methods to recover feasible and near-optimal solutions in a single interior-point iteration. For the unique, nondegenerate solution case in LP, we show that the bounds obtained using interior-point methods compare nicely with the bounds arising from using the optimal basis. We also present explicit bounds for SDP using the Monteiro-Zhang family of search directions and specialize them to the AHO, H..K..M, and NT directions. Received: December 1999 / Accepted: January 2001?Published online March 22, 2001     

On sensitivity of central solutions in semidefinite programming

In this paper we study the properties of the analytic central path of a semidefinite programming problem under perturbation of the right hand side of the constraints, including the limiting behavior when the central optimal solution, namely the analytic center of the optimal set, is approached. Our analysis assumes the primal-dual Slater condition and the strict complementarity condition. Our findings are as follows. First, on the negative side, if we view the central optimal solution as a function of the right hand side of the constraints, then this function is not continuous in general, whereas in the linear programming case this function is known to be Lipschitz continuous. On the positive side, compared with the previous conclusion we obtain a (seemingly) paradoxical result: on the central path any directional derivative with respect to the right hand side of the constraints is bounded, and even converges as the central optimal solution is approached. This phenomenon is possible due to the lack of a uniform bound on the derivatives with respect to the right hand side parameters. All these results are based on the strict complementarity assumption. Concerning this last property we give an example. In that example the set of right hand side parameters for which the strict complementarity condition holds is neither open nor closed. This is remarkable since a similar set for which the primal-dual Slater condition holds is always open. Received: April 2, 1998 / Accepted: January 16, 2001?Published online March 22, 2001     

The many facets of linear programming

We examine the history of linear programming from computational, geometric, and complexity points of view, looking at simplex, ellipsoid, interior-point, and other methods. Received: June 22, 2000 / Accepted: April 4, 2001?Published online October 2, 2001     

Continuity properties of the Karush-Kuhn-Tucker point set in quadratic programming problems

Received March 18, 1996 / Revised version received August 8, 1997 Published online November 24, 1998     

Characterizations, bounds, and probabilistic analysis of two complexity measures for linear programming problems

This note studies _A , a condition number used in the linear programming algorithm of Vavasis and Ye [14] whose running time depends only on the constraint matrix A∈ℝ ^m×n , and (A), a variant of another condition number due to Ye [17] that also arises in complexity analyses of linear programming problems. We provide a new characterization of _A and relate _A and (A). Furthermore, we show that if A is a standard Gaussian matrix, then E(ln _A )=O(min{mlnn,n}). Thus, the expected running time of the Vavasis-Ye algorithm for linear programming problems is bounded by a polynomial in m and n for any right-hand side and objective coefficient vectors when A is randomly generated in this way. As a corollary of the close relation between _A and (A), we show that the same bound holds for E(ln(A)). Received: September 1998 / Accepted: September 2000?Published online January 17, 2001     

Basis- and partition identification for quadratic programming and linear complementarity problems

Optimal solutions of interior point algorithms for linear and quadratic programming and linear complementarity problems provide maximally complementary solutions. Maximally complementary solutions can be characterized by optimal partitions. On the other hand, the solutions provided by simplex–based pivot algorithms are given in terms of complementary bases. A basis identification algorithm is an algorithm which generates a complementary basis, starting from any complementary solution. A partition identification algorithm is an algorithm which generates a maximally complementary solution (and its corresponding partition), starting from any complementary solution. In linear programming such algorithms were respectively proposed by Megiddo in 1991 and Balinski and Tucker in 1969. In this paper we will present identification algorithms for quadratic programming and linear complementarity problems with sufficient matrices. The presented algorithms are based on the principal pivot transform and the orthogonality property of basis tableaus. Received April 9, 1996 / Revised version received April 27, 1998? Published online May 12, 1999     

Some properties of generalized proximal point methods for quadratic and linear programming

The proximal point method for convex optimization has been extended recently through the use of generalized distances (e.g., Bregman distances) instead of the Euclidean one. One advantage of these extensions is the possibility of eliminating certain constraints (mainly positivity) from the subproblems, transforming an inequality constrained problem into a sequence of unconstrained or equality constrained problems. We consider here methods obtained using a certain class of Bregman functions applied to convex quadratic (including linear) programming, which are of the interior-point type. We prove that the limit of the sequence generated by the method lies in the relative interior of the solution set, and furthermore is the closest optimal solution to the initial point, in the sense of the Bregman distance. These results do not hold for the standard proximal point method, i.e., when the square of the Euclidean norm is used as the Bregman distance.The research leading to this paper was partially supported by CNPq Grant 301280/86.We thank two anonymous referees whose comments and suggestions allowed us to improve our results in a significant way.     

A Log-Barrier method with Benders decomposition for solving two-stage stochastic linear programs

An algorithm incorporating the logarithmic barrier into the Benders decomposition technique is proposed for solving two-stage stochastic programs. Basic properties concerning the existence and uniqueness of the solution and the underlying path are studied. When applied to problems with a finite number of scenarios, the algorithm is shown to converge globally and to run in polynomial-time. Received: August 1998 / Accepted: August 2000?Published online April 12, 2001     

Failure of global convergence for a class of interior point methods for nonlinear programming

Using a simple analytical example, we demonstrate that a class of interior point methods for general nonlinear programming, including some current methods, is not globally convergent. It is shown that those algorithms produce limit points that are neither feasible nor stationary points of some measure of the constraint violation, when applied to a well-posed problem. Received: December 1999 / Accepted: May 2000?Published online August 18, 2000     

An infeasible-interior-point potential-reduction algorithm for linear programming

n . The method is based on Rockafellar’s proximal point algorithm and a cutting-plane technique. At each step, we use an approximate proximal point p^a(x_k) of x_k to define a v_k∈∂_εkf(p^a(x_k)) with ε_k≤α∥v_k∥, where α is a constant. The method monitors the reduction in the value of ∥v_k∥ to identify when a line search on f should be used. The quasi-Newton step is used to reduce the value of ∥v_k∥. Without the differentiability of f, the method converges globally and the rate of convergence is Q-linear. Superlinear convergence is also discussed to extend the characterization result of Dennis and Moré. Numerical results show the good performance of the method. Received October 3, 1995 / Revised version received August 20, 1998 Published online January 20, 1999     

Improving the rate of convergence of interior point methods for linear programming

This paper proposes a procedure for improving the rate of convergence of interior point methods for linear programming. If (x ^k ) is the sequence generated by an interior point method, the procedure derives an auxiliary sequence ( ). Under the suitable assumptions it is shown that the sequence ( ) converges superlinearly faster to the solution than (x ^k ). Application of the procedure to the projective and afflne scaling algorithms is discussed and some computational illustration is provided.     

Degeneracy in interior point methods for linear programming: a survey

The publication of Karmarkar's paper has resulted in intense research activity into Interior Point Methods (IPMs) for linear programming. Degeneracy is present in most real-life problems and has always been an important issue in linear programming, especially in the Simplex method. Degeneracy is also an important issue in IPMs. However, the difficulties are different in the two methods. In this paper, we survey the various theoretical and practical issues related to degeneracy in IPMs for linear programming.We survey results, which, for the most part, have already appeared in the literature. Roughly speaking, we shall deal with the effect of degeneracy on the following: the convergence of IPMs, the trajectories followed by the algorithms, numerical performance, and finding basic solutions.Partially supported by a research fund of SHELL.On leave from the Eötvös University, Budapest, and partially supported by OTKA No. 2116.     

On the number of iterations of Karmarkar's algorithm for linear programming

Karmarkar's algorithm for linear programming was published in 1984, and it is highly important to both theory and practice. On the practical side some of its variants have been found to be far more efficient than the simplex method on a wide range of very large calculations, while its polynomial time properties are fundamental to research on complexity. These properties depend on the fact that each iteration reduces a potential function by an amount that is bounded away from zero, the bound being independent of all the coefficients that occur. It follows that, under mild conditions on the initial vector of variables, the number of iterations that are needed to achieve a prescribed accuracy in the final value of the linear objective function is at most a multiple ofn, wheren is the number of inequality constraints. By considering a simple example that allowsn to be arbitrarily large, we deduce analytically that the magnitude of this complexity bound is correct. Specifically, we prove that the solution of the example by Karmarkar's original algorithm can require aboutn/20 iterations. Further, we find that the algorithm makes changes to the variables that are closely related to the steps of the simplex method.This paper is dedicated to Phil Wolfe on the occasion of his 65th birthday.     

Logarithmic SUMT limits in convex programming

The limits of a class of primal and dual solution trajectories associated with the Sequential Unconstrained Minimization Technique (SUMT) are investigated for convex programming problems with non-unique optima. Logarithmic barrier terms are assumed. For linear programming problems, such limits – of both primal and dual trajectories – are strongly optimal, strictly complementary, and can be characterized as analytic centers of, loosely speaking, optimality regions. Examples are given, which show that those results do not hold in general for convex programming problems. If the latter are weakly analytic (Bank et al. [3]), primal trajectory limits can be characterized in analogy to the linear programming case and without assuming differentiability. That class of programming problems contains faithfully convex, linear, and convex quadratic programming problems as strict subsets. In the differential case, dual trajectory limits can be characterized similarly, albeit under different conditions, one of which suffices for strict complementarity. Received: November 13, 1997 / Accepted: February 17, 1999?Published online February 22, 2001     

A probabilistic analysis of a measure of combinatorial complexity for the central curve

We investigate certain combinatorial properties of the central curve associated with interior point methods for linear optimization. We define a measure of complexity for the curve in terms of the number of turns, or changes of direction, that it makes in a geometric sense, and then perform an average case analysis of this measure for P-matrix linear complementarity problems. We show that the expected number of nondegenerate turns taken by the central curve is bounded by n ²-n, where the expectation is taken with respect to a sign-invariant probability distribution on the problem data. As an alternative measure of complexity, we also consider the number of times the central curve intersects with a wide class of algebraic hypersurfaces, including such objects as spheres and boxes. As an example of the results obtained, we show that the primal and dual variables in each coordinate of the central curve cross each other at most once, on average. As a further example, we show that the central curve intersects any sphere centered at the origin at most twice, on average. Received May 28, 1998 / Revised version received October 12, 1999?Published online December 15, 1999     

Global optimization of nonconvex factorable programming problems

In this paper, we consider a special class of nonconvex programming problems for which the objective function and constraints are defined in terms of general nonconvex factorable functions. We propose a branch-and-bound approach based on linear programming relaxations generated through various approximation schemes that utilize, for example, the Mean-Value Theorem and Chebyshev interpolation polynomials coordinated with a Reformulation-Linearization Technique (RLT). A suitable partitioning process is proposed that induces convergence to a global optimum. The algorithm has been implemented in C++ and some preliminary computational results are reported on a set of fifteen engineering process control and design test problems from various sources in the literature. The results indicate that the proposed procedure generates tight relaxations, even via the initial node linear program itself. Furthermore, for nine of these fifteen problems, the application of a local search method that is initialized at the LP relaxation solution produced the actual global optimum at the initial node of the enumeration tree. Moreover, for two test cases, the global optimum found improves upon the solutions previously reported in the source literature. Received: January 14, 1998 / Accepted: June 7, 1999?Published online December 15, 2000     

A polynomial time interior–point path–following algorithm for LCP based on Chen–Harker–Kanzow smoothing techniques

$$Osqrt{n}L$$ ); otherwise, the complexity bound is O(nL). The relations between our search direction and the one used in the standard interior-point algorithm are also discussed. Received September 9, 1996 / Revised version received December 22, 1997? Published online March 16, 1999     

On the choice of parameters for power-series interior point algorithms in linear programming

In this paper we study higher-order interior point algorithms, especially power-series algorithms, for solving linear programming problems. Since higher-order differentials are not parameter-invariant, it is important to choose a suitable parameter for a power-series algorithm. We propose a parameter transformation to obtain a good choice of parameter, called ak-parameter, for general truncated powerseries approximations. We give a method to find ak-parameter. This method is applied to two powerseries interior point algorithms, which are built on a primal—dual algorithm and a dual algorithm, respectively. Computational results indicate that these higher-order power-series algorithms accelerate convergence compared to first-order algorithms by reducing the number of iterations. Also they demonstrate the efficiency of thek-parameter transformation to amend an unsuitable parameter in power-series algorithms.Work supported in part by the DFG Schwerpunktprogramm Anwendungsbezogene Optimierung und Steuerung.