On the problem of tracking a moving object by observers

We consider a minimax feedback control problem for a linear dynamic system with a positional quality criterion, which is the norm of the family of deviations of the motion from given target points at given times. The problem is formalized as a positional differential game. A procedure for calculating the value of the game based on the backward construction of upper convex hulls of auxiliary program functions is studied. We also study a method of generating a minimax control law based on this procedure and on the extremal shift principle. The stability of the proposed resolving constructions with respect to computational and informational noises is proved.     

Minimax Control of Parabolic Systems with Dirichlet Boundary Conditions and State Constraints

In this paper we formulate and study a minimax control problem for a class of parabolic systems with controlled Dirichlet boundary conditions and uncertain distributed perturbations under pointwise control and state constraints. We prove an existence theorem for minimax solutions and develop effective penalized procedures to approximate state constraints. Based on a careful variational analysis, we establish convergence results and optimality conditions for approximating problems that allow us to characterize suboptimal solutions to the original minimax problem with hard constraints. Then passing to the limit in approximations, we prove necessary optimality conditions for the minimax problem considered under proper constraint qualification conditions. Accepted 7 June 1996     

On a class of differential games without saddle-point solutions

The minimax solution of a linear regulator problem is considered. A model representing a game situation in which the first player controls the dynamic system and selects a suitable, minimax control strategy, while the second player selects the aim of the game, is formulated. In general, the resulting differential game does not possess a saddle-point solution. Hence, the minimax solution for the player controlling the dynamic system is sought and obtained by modifying the performance criterion in such a way that (a) the minimax strategy remains unchanged and (b) the modified game possesses a saddle-point solution. The modification is achieved by introducing a regularization procedure which is a generalization of the method used in an earlier paper on the quadratic minimax problem. A numerical algorithm for determining the nonlinear minimax strategy in feedback form, in which Pagurek's result on open-loop and closed-loop sensitivity is used to nontrivially simplify the computational aspects of the problem, is presented and applied on a simple example.     

State estimation for a dynamical system described by a linear equation with unknown parameters

We investigate the state estimation problem for a dynamical system described by a linear operator equation with unknown parameters in a Hilbert space. In the case of quadratic restrictions on the unknown parameters, we propose formulas for a priori mean-square minimax estimators and a posteriori linear minimax estimators. A criterion for the finiteness of the minimax error is formulated. As an example, the main results are applied to a system of linear algebraic-differential equations with constant coefficients.     

Properties of ε-value functions for a two person differential game

We consider the problem of approximate minimax for the Bolza problem of optimal control. Starting from the method of dynamic programming (Bellman) we define the ?-value function to be the approximation for the value function being a solution to the Hamilton–Jacobi equation.     

Minimax nonparametric testing in a problem related to the radon transform

We consider the detection problem of a two-dimensional function from noisy observations of its integrals over lines. We study both rate and sharp asymptotics for the error probabilities in the minimax setup. By construction, the derived tests are non-adaptive. We also construct a minimax rate-optimal adaptive test of rather simple structure.     

About a minimax theorem of Matthies,Strang and Christiansen

We give a new minisup theorem for noncompact strategy sets. Our result is of the type of the Matthies-Strang-Christiansen minimax theorem where the hyperplane should be replaced by any closed convex set. As an application, we derive a slight generalization of the Matthies-Strang-Christiansen minimax theorem.     

On a pair of nonlinear mixed integer programming problems

We consider maximin and minimax nonlinear mixed integer programming problems which are nonsymmetric in duality sense. Under weaker (pseudo-convex/pseudo-concave) assumptions, we show that the supremum infimum of the maximin problem is greater than or equal to the infimum supremum of the minimax problem. As a particular case, this result reduces to the weak duality theorem for minimax and symmetric dual nonlinear mixed integer programming problems. Further, this is used to generalize available results on minimax and symmetric duality in nonlinear mixed integer programming.     

Solution of an equiweighted minimax location problem on a hemisphere

A particular continuous single facility minimax location problem on the surface of a hemisphere is discussed. We assume that all the demand points are equiweighted. An algorithm, based on spherical trigonometry, for finding the minimax point is presented. The minimax point thus obtained is unique and the algorithm is O(n ²) in the worst case.     

Control of a family of nonlinear dynamic systems under measurements with bounded disturbances

We consider a control synthesis problem for nonlinear dynamic systems under parametric uncertainty and bounded measurement noises. Because of bounded disturbances in measurements of the state vector and the nonlinearity in the control object, the initially formulated control synthesis problem for a family of nonlinear systems as a generalized Zubov problem is transformed into a symbiosis of generalized Zubov–Bulgakov problems. The main result of the paper is the analytic solution of a minimax synthesis problem, which yields a constructive method for finding an invariant set.     

Numerical solution of minimax problems of optimal control,part 2

In a previous paper (Part 1), we presented general transformation techniques useful to convert minimax problems of optimal control into the Mayer-Bolza problem of the calculus of variations [Problem (P)]. We considered two types of minimax problems: minimax problems of Type (Q), in which the minimax function depends on the state and does not depend on the control; and minimax problems of Type (R), in which the minimax function depends on both the state and the control. Both Problem (Q) and Problem (R) can be reduced to Problem (P).In this paper, the transformation techniques presented in Part 1 are employed in conjunction with the sequential gradient-restoration algorithm for solving optimal control problems on a digital computer. Both the single-subarc approach and the multiple-subarc approach are employed. Three test problems characterized by known analytical solutions are solved numerically.It is found that the combination of transformation techniques and sequential gradient-restoration algorithm yields numerical solutions which are quite close to the analytical solutions from the point of view of the minimax performance index. The relative differences between the numerical values and the analytical values of the minimax performance index are of order 10^–3 if the single-subarc approach is employed. These relative differences are of order 10^–4 or better if the multiple-subarc approach is employed.This research was supported by the National Science Foundation, Grant No. ENG-79-18667, and by Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Contract No. F33615-80-C3000. This paper is a condensation of the investigations reported in Refs. 1–7. The authors are indebted to E. M. Coker and E. M. Sims for analytical and computational assistance.     

Bilinear minimax control problems for a class of parabolic systems with applications to control of nuclear reactors

This paper considers the bilinear minimax control problem of an important class of parabolic systems with Robin boundary conditions. Such systems are linear on state variables when the control and disturbance are fixed, and linear on the control or disturbance when the state variables are fixed. The objective is to maintain target state variables by taking account the influence of noises in data, while a desired power level and adjustment costs are taken into consideration. Firstly we introduce some classes of bilinear systems and obtain the existence and the uniqueness of the solution, as well as stability under mild assumptions. Afterwards the minimax control problem is formulated. We show the existence of an optimal solution, and we also find necessary optimality conditions. Finally, to illustrate the abstract results, we present two examples of neutron fission systems.     

Optimality conditions for nondifferentiable minimax fractional programming with complex variables

We show that a minimax fractional programming problem is equivalent to a minimax nonfractional parametric problem for a given parameter in complex space. We establish the necessary and sufficient optimality conditions of nondifferentiable minimax fractional programming problem with complex variables under generalized convexities.     

Estimation of a linear functional and extrapolation of a random field

We consider minimax estimation of a linear functional of a homogeneous random field. A linear optimal estimator of the functional is derived and the field achieving the minimax error of the functional estimate is determined.Translated from Vychislitel'naya i Prikladnaya Matematika, No. 59, pp. 105–113, 1986.     

精确罚函数和极小极大问题

在这篇文章中我们研究了对于不等式约束的非线性规划问题如何根据极小极大问题的鞍点来找精确罚问题的解。对于一个具有不等式约束的非线性规划问题,通过罚函数,我们构造出一个极小极大问题,应用交换“极小”或“极大”次序的策略,证明了罚问题的鞍点定理。研究结果显示极小极大问题的鞍点是精确罚问题的解。     

Variable-metric technique for the solution of affinely parametrized nondifferentiable optimal design problems

The composite functions which appear in various optimal feedback system design problems, as well as in open-loop optimal control problems, can lead to severely ill-conditioned minimax problems. This ill-conditioning can cause first-order minimax algorithms to converge very slowly. We propose a variable-metric technique which substantially mitigates this ill-conditioning. The technique does not require the evaluation of second derivatives and can be used to speed the convergence of any first-order minimax algorithm which produces estimates of the optimal multipliers. Numerical experiments are presented which show that the variable-metric technique increases the speed of two algorithms.     

Estimation of a non-negative location parameter with unknown scale

For a vast array of general spherically symmetric location-scale models with a residual vector, we consider estimating the (univariate) location parameter when it is lower bounded. We provide conditions for estimators to dominate the benchmark minimax MRE estimator, and thus be minimax under scale invariant loss. These minimax estimators include the generalized Bayes estimator with respect to the truncation of the common non-informative prior onto the restricted parameter space for normal models under general convex symmetric loss, as well as non-normal models under scale invariant \(L^p\) loss with \(p>0\) . We cover many other situations when the loss is asymmetric, and where other generalized Bayes estimators, obtained with different powers of the scale parameter in the prior measure, are proven to be minimax. We rely on various novel representations, sharp sign change analyses, as well as capitalize on Kubokawa’s integral expression for risk difference technique. Several properties such as robustness of the generalized Bayes estimators under various loss functions are obtained.     

On measurable minimax selectors

In this note we consider the upper value of a zero-sum game with payoff function depending on a state variable. We provide a new and much simpler proof of a measurable minimax selection theorem established 25 years ago by the author in Nowak (1985) [19]. A discussion of the basic assumptions and relations with the literature on stochastic games and (minimax) control models is also included.     

Stein's idea and minimax admissible estimation of a multivariate normal mean

We consider estimation of a multivariate normal mean vector under sum of squared error loss.We propose a new class of minimax admissible estimator which are generalized Bayes with respect to a prior distribution which is a mixture of a point prior at the origin and a continuous hierarchical type prior. We also study conditions under which these generalized Bayes minimax estimators improve on the James–Stein estimator and on the positive-part James–Stein estimator.     

On distributionally robust multiperiod stochastic optimization

This paper considers model uncertainty for multistage stochastic programs. The data and information structure of the baseline model is a tree, on which the decision problem is defined. We consider “ambiguity neighborhoods” around this tree as alternative models which are close to the baseline model. Closeness is defined in terms of a distance for probability trees, called the nested distance. This distance is appropriate for scenario models of multistage stochastic optimization problems as was demonstrated in Pflug and Pichler (SIAM J Optim 22:1–23, 2012). The ambiguity model is formulated as a minimax problem, where the the optimal decision is to be found, which minimizes the maximal objective function within the ambiguity set. We give a setup for studying saddle point properties of the minimax problem. Moreover, we present solution algorithms for finding the minimax decisions at least asymptotically. As an example, we consider a multiperiod stochastic production/inventory control problem with weekly ordering. The stochastic scenario process is given by the random demands for two products. We determine the minimax solution and identify the worst trees within the ambiguity set. It turns out that the probability weights of the worst case trees are concentrated on few very bad scenarios.