On the superlinear local convergence of a filter-SQP method

Transition to superlinear local convergence is shown for a modified version of the trust-region filter-SQP method for nonlinear programming introduced by Fletcher, Leyffer, and Toint [8]. Hereby, the original trust-region SQP-steps can be used without an additional second order correction. The main modification consists in using the Lagrangian function value instead of the objective function value in the filter together with an appropriate infeasibility measure. Moreover, it is shown that the modified trust-region filter-SQP method has the same global convergence properties as the original algorithm in [8].Mathematics Subject Classification (2000): 90C55, 65K05, 90C30     

Estimation of an optimal solution of a LP problem with unknown objective function

We consider a linear programming problem with unknown objective function. Random observations related to the unknown objective function are sequentially available. We define a stochastic algorithm, based on the simplex method, that estimates an optimal solution of the linear programming problem. It is shown that this algorithm converges with probability one to the set of optimal solutions and that its failure probability is of order inversely proportional to the sample size. We also introduce stopping criteria for the algorithm. The asymptotic normality of some suitably defined residuals is also analyzed. The proposed estimation algorithm is motivated by the stochastic approximation algorithms but it introduces a generalization of these techniques when the linear programming problem has several optimal solutions. The proposed algorithm is also close to the stochastic quasi-gradient procedures, though their usual assumptions are weakened.Mathematics Subject Classification (2000): 90C05, 62L20, 90C15Acknowledgments. I would like to thank two unknown referees for their fruitful suggestions that have helped to improve the paper.     

An exact penalty function algorithm for semi-infinite programmes

An algorithm for semi-inifinite programming using sequential quadratic programming techniques together with anL exact penalty function is presented, and global convergence is shown. An important feature of the convergence proof is that it does not require an implicit function theorem to be applicable to the semi-infinite constraints; a much weaker assumption concerning the finiteness of the number of global maximizers of each semi-infinite constraint is sufficient. In contrast to proofs based on an implicit function theorem, this result is also valid for a large class ofC ¹ problems.     

Polynomiality of an inexact infeasible interior point algorithm for semidefinite programming

In this paper we present a primal-dual inexact infeasible interior-point algorithm for semidefinite programming problems (SDP). This algorithm allows the use of search directions that are calculated from the defining linear system with only moderate accuracy, and does not require feasibility to be maintained even if the initial iterate happened to be a feasible solution of the problem. Under a mild assumption on the inexactness, we show that the algorithm can find an -approximate solution of an SDP in O(n²ln(1/)) iterations. This bound of our algorithm is the same as that of the exact infeasible interior point algorithms proposed by Y. Zhang.Research supported in part by the Singapore-MIT alliance, and NUS Academic Research Grant R-146-000-032-112.Mathematics Subject Classification (1991): 90C05, 90C30, 65K05     

A one-phase algorithm for semi-infinite linear programming

We present an algorithm for solving a large class of semi-infinite linear programming problems. This algorithm has several advantages: it handles feasibility and optimality together; it has very weak restrictions on the constraints; it allows cuts that are not near the most violated cut; and it solves the primal and the dual problems simultaneously. We prove the convergence of this algorithm in two steps. First, we show that the algorithm can find an-optimal solution after finitely many iterations. Then, we use this result to show that it can find an optimal solution in the limit. We also estimate how good an-optimal solution is compared to an optimal solution and give an upper bound on the total number of iterations needed for finding an-optimal solution under some assumptions. This algorithm is generalized to solve a class of nonlinear semi-infinite programming problems. Applications to convex programming are discussed.     

A nonmonotonic trust region algorithm for a class of semi-infinite minimax programming

Based on the discretization methods for solving semi-infinite programming problems, this paper presents a new nonmonotonic trust region algorithm for a class of semi-infinite minimax programming problem. Under some mild assumptions, the global convergence of the proposed algorithm is given. Numerical tests are reported that show the efficiency of the proposed method.     

The corrected Uzawa method for solving saddle point problems

In this paper, we consider the solution of linear systems of saddle point type by correcting the Uzawa algorithm, which has been proposed in [K. Arrow, L. Hurwicz, H. Uzawa, Studies in nonlinear programming, Stanford University Press, Stanford, CA, 1958]. We call this method as corrected Uzawa (CU) method. The convergence of the CU method is analyzed for solving nonsingular saddle point problem as well as the semi‐convergence for the singular case. First, the corrected model for the Uzawa algorithm is established, and the CU algorithm is presented. Then we study the geometric meaning of the CU model. Moreover, we introduce the overall reduction coefficient α to measure the effect of the CU process. It is shown that the CU method converges faster than the Uzawa method and several other methods if the overall reduction coefficient α satisfies certain conditions. Numerical experiments are presented to illustrate the theoretical results and examine the numerical effectiveness of the CU method. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A Mehrotra-type predictor-corrector algorithm with polynomiality andQ-subquadratic convergence

Mehrotra's predictor-corrector algorithm [3] is currently considered to be one of the most practically efficient interior-point methods for linear programming. Recently, Zhang and Zhang [18] studied the global convergence properties of the Mehrotra-type predictor-corrector approach and established polynomial complexity bounds for two interior-point algorithms that use the Mehrotra predictor-corrector approach. In this paper, we study the asymptotic convergence rate for the Mehrotra-type predictor-corrector interior-point algorithms. In particular, we construct an infeasible-interior-point algorithm based on the second algorithm proposed in [18] and show that while retaining a complexity bound ofO(n ^1.5 t)-iterations, under certain conditions the algorithm also possesses aQ-subquadratic convergence, i.e., a convergence ofQ-order 2 with an unboundedQ-factor.Research supported in part by NSF DMS-9102761 and DOE DE-FG02-93ER25171.     

Feasible Method for Generalized Semi-Infinite Programming

In this paper, we analyze the outer approximation property of the algorithm for generalized semi-infinite programming from Stein and Still (SIAM J. Control Optim. 42:769–788, 2003). A simple bound on the regularization error is found and used to formulate a feasible numerical method for generalized semi-infinite programming with convex lower-level problems. That is, all iterates of the numerical method are feasible points of the original optimization problem. The new method has the same computational cost as the original algorithm from Stein and Still (SIAM J. Control Optim. 42:769–788, 2003). We also discuss the merits of this approach for the adaptive convexification algorithm, a feasible point method for standard semi-infinite programming from Floudas and Stein (SIAM J. Optim. 18:1187–1208, 2007).     

A Lagrangian Dual Method with Self-Concordant Barriers for Multi-Stage Stochastic Convex Programming

This paper presents an algorithm for solving multi-stage stochastic convex nonlinear programs. The algorithm is based on the Lagrangian dual method which relaxes the nonanticipativity constraints, and the barrier function method which enhances the smoothness of the dual objective function so that the Newton search directions can be used. The algorithm is shown to be of global convergence and of polynomial-time complexity.Mathematics Subject Classification (2000): 90C15, 90C51, 90C06, 90C25, 90C60Research is partially supported by NUS Academic Research Grant R-146-000-006-112     

New approach for the nonlinear programming with transient stability constraints arising from power systems

This paper presents a new approach for solving a class of complicated nonlinear programming problems arises from optimal power flow with transient stability constraints (denoted by OTS) in power systems. By using a functional transformation technology proposed in Chen et al. (IEEE Trans. Circuits Syst. I Fundam. Theory Appl. 48:327–339, [2001]), the OTS problem is transformed to a semi-infinite programming (SIP). Then based on the KKT (Karush-Kuhn-Tucker) system of the reformulated SIP problem and the finite approximation technology, an iterative method is presented, which develops Wu-Li-Qi-Zhou’ (Optim. Methods Softw. 20:629–643, [2005]) method. In order to save the computing cost, some typical computing technologies, such as active set strategy, quasi-Newton method for the subproblems coming from the finite approximation model, are addressed. The global convergence of the proposed algorithm is established. Numerical examples from power systems are tested. The computing results show the efficiency of the new approach.     

An entropy based central cutting plane algorithm for convex min-max semi-infinite programming problems

In this paper,we present a central cutting plane algorithm for solving convex min-max semi-infinite programming problems.Because the objective function here is non-differentiable,we apply a smoothing technique to the considered problem and develop an algorithm based on the entropy function.It is shown that the global convergence of the proposed algorithm can be obtained under weaker conditions.Some numerical results are presented to show the potential of the proposed algorithm.     

AnUV-algorithm for semi-infinite multiobjective programming

In this paper, we give an application ofUV-decomposition method of convex programming to multiobjective programming, and offer a new algorithm for solving semi-infinite multiobjective programming. Finally, the superlinear convergence of the algorithm is proved.     

A New Quadratic Semi-infinite Programming Algorithm Based on Dual Parametrization

The so called dual parameterization method for quadratic semi-infinite programming (SIP) problems is developed recently. A dual parameterization algorithm is also proposed for numerical solution of such problems. In this paper, we present and improved adaptive algorithm for quadratic SIP problems with positive definite objective and multiple linear infinite constraints. In each iteration of the new algorithm, only a quadratic programming problem with a limited dimension and a limited number of constraints is required to be solved. Furthermore, convergence result is given. The efficiency of the new algorithm is shown by solving a number of numerical examples.     

The inverse optimal value problem

This paper considers the following inverse optimization problem: given a linear program, a desired optimal objective value, and a set of feasible cost vectors, determine a cost vector such that the corresponding optimal objective value of the linear program is closest to the desired value. The above problem, referred here as the inverse optimal value problem, is significantly different from standard inverse optimization problems that involve determining a cost vector for a linear program such that a pre-specified solution vector is optimal. In this paper, we show that the inverse optimal value problem is NP-hard in general. We identify conditions under which the problem reduces to a concave maximization or a concave minimization problem. We provide sufficient conditions under which the associated concave minimization problem and, correspondingly, the inverse optimal value problem is polynomially solvable. For the case when the set of feasible cost vectors is polyhedral, we describe an algorithm for the inverse optimal value problem based on solving linear and bilinear programming problems. Some preliminary computational experience is reported.Mathematics Subject Classification (1999):49N45, 90C05, 90C25, 90C26, 90C31, 90C60Acknowledgement This research has been supported in part by the National Science Foundation under CAREER Award DMII-0133943. The authors thank two anonymous reviewers for valuable comments.     

Asymptotic behavior of the central path for a special class of degenerate SDP problems

This paper studies the asymptotic behavior of the central path (X(ν),S(ν),y(ν)) as ν↓0 for a class of degenerate semidefinite programming (SDP) problems, namely those that do not have strictly complementary primal-dual optimal solutions and whose “degenerate diagonal blocks” of the central path are assumed to satisfy We establish the convergence of the central path towards a primal-dual optimal solution, which is characterized as being the unique optimal solution of a certain log-barrier problem. A characterization of the class of SDP problems which satisfy our assumptions are also provided. It is shown that the re-parametrization t>0→(X(t⁴),S(t⁴),y(t⁴)) of the central path is analytic at t=0. The limiting behavior of the derivative of the central path is also investigated and it is shown that the order of convergence of the central path towards its limit point is Finally, we apply our results to the convex quadratically constrained convex programming (CQCCP) problem and characterize the class of CQCCP problems which can be formulated as SDPs satisfying the assumptions of this paper. In particular, we show that CQCCP problems with either a strictly convex objective function or at least one strictly convex constraint function lie in this class.This author was supported in part by CAPES and PRONEX-Otimização (FAPERJ/CNPq).This author was supported in part by FUNAPE/UFG, CAPES, PADCT-CNPq and PRONEX-Otimização (FAPERJ/CNPq).This author was supported in part by NSF Grants CCR-9902010, CCR-0203113 and INT-9910084 and ONR grant N00014-03-1-0401.Mathematics Subject Classification (1991): 90C20, 90C22, 90C25, 90C30, 90C33, 90C45, 90C51     

Rosen's Gradient Projection with discrete steps

In 1960, J. B. Rosen gave a famous Gradient Projection Method in [1]. But the convergence of the algorithm has not been proved for a long time. Many authors paid much attention to this problem, such as X.S. Zhang proved in [2] (1984) that the limit point of {x _k} which is generated by Rosen's algorithm is a K-T piont for a 3-dimensional caes, if {x _k} is convergent. D. Z. Du proved in [3] (1986) that Rosen's algorithm is convergent for 4-dimensional. In [4] (1986), the author of this paper gave a general proof of the convergence of Rosen's Gradient Projection Method for ann-dimensional case. As Rosen's method requires exact line search, we know that exact line search is very difficult on computer. In this paper a line search method of discrete steps are presented and the convergence of the algorithm is proved.     

A globally convergent primal-dual interior-point filter method for nonlinear programming

In this paper, the filter technique of Fletcher and Leyffer (1997) is used to globalize the primal-dual interior-point algorithm for nonlinear programming, avoiding the use of merit functions and the updating of penalty parameters.The new algorithm decomposes the primal-dual step obtained from the perturbed first-order necessary conditions into a normal and a tangential step, whose sizes are controlled by a trust-region type parameter. Each entry in the filter is a pair of coordinates: one resulting from feasibility and centrality, and associated with the normal step; the other resulting from optimality (complementarity and duality), and related with the tangential step.Global convergence to first-order critical points is proved for the new primal-dual interior-point filter algorithm.Mathematics Subject Classification (1991): 65K05, 90C06, 90C29, 90C30Support for this author was provided by CRPC grant CCR–9120008.Support for this author was provided by CRPC grant CCR–9120008.Support for this author was provided by Centro de Matemática da Universidade de Coimbra, by FCT under grant POCTI/35059/MAT/2000, by the European Union under grant IST-2000-26063, and by Fundaç\ ao Calouste Gulbenkian. The author would also like to thank the IBM T.J. Watson Research Center and the Institute for Mathematics and Its Applications for their local support.     

Generalized stationary points and an interior-point method for mathematical programs with equilibrium constraints

Generalized stationary points of the mathematical program with equilibrium constraints (MPEC) are studied to better describe the limit points produced by interior point methods for MPEC. A primal-dual interior-point method is then proposed, which solves a sequence of relaxed barrier problems derived from MPEC. Global convergence results are deduced under fairly general conditions other than strict complementarity or the linear independence constraint qualification for MPEC (MPEC-LICQ). It is shown that every limit point of the generated sequence is a strong stationary point of MPEC if the penalty parameter of the merit function is bounded. Otherwise, a point with certain stationarity can be obtained. Preliminary numerical results are reported, which include a case analyzed by Leyffer for which the penalty interior-point algorithm failed to find a stationary point.Mathematics Subject Classification (1991):90C30, 90C33, 90C55, 49M37, 65K10     

AN OUTER APPROXIMATION ALGORITHM FOR SEMI-INFINITE NONDIFFERENTIABLE PROGRAMMINGS

This paper presents a conceptual outer approximation algorithm for dealing with the semi-infinite nondifferentiable programming in which functions are locally Lipschitzian. By weakening the restriction on the family of functions for a parametric programming, we answer a question proposed in [1].