Second order optimality conditions for bilevel set optimization problems

In this paper, we introduce a new notion of augmenting function known as indicator augmenting function to establish a minmax type duality relation, existence of a path of solution converging to optimal value and a zero duality gap relation for a nonconvex primal problem and the corresponding Lagrangian dual problem. We also obtain necessary and sufficient conditions for an exact penalty representation in the framework of indicator augmented Lagrangian.     

Further Study on Augmented Lagrangian Duality Theory

In this paper, we present a necessary and sufficient condition for a zero duality gap between a primal optimization problem and its generalized augmented Lagrangian dual problems. The condition is mainly expressed in the form of the lower semicontinuity of a perturbation function at the origin. For a constrained optimization problem, a general equivalence is established for zero duality gap properties defined by a general nonlinear Lagrangian dual problem and a generalized augmented Lagrangian dual problem, respectively. For a constrained optimization problem with both equality and inequality constraints, we prove that first-order and second-order necessary optimality conditions of the augmented Lagrangian problems with a convex quadratic augmenting function converge to that of the original constrained program. For a mathematical program with only equality constraints, we show that the second-order necessary conditions of general augmented Lagrangian problems with a convex augmenting function converge to that of the original constrained program.This research is supported by the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong (PolyU B-Q359.)     

The exact penalty map for nonsmooth and nonconvex optimization

Augmented Lagrangian duality provides zero duality gap and saddle point properties for nonconvex optimization. On the basis of this duality, subgradient-like methods can be applied to the (convex) dual of the original problem. These methods usually recover the optimal value of the problem, but may fail to provide a primal solution. We prove that the recovery of a primal solution by such methods can be characterized in terms of (i) the differentiability properties of the dual function and (ii) the exact penalty properties of the primal-dual pair. We also connect the property of finite termination with exact penalty properties of the dual pair. In order to establish these facts, we associate the primal-dual pair to a penalty map. This map, which we introduce here, is a convex and globally Lipschitz function and its epigraph encapsulates information on both primal and dual solution sets.     

Optimal Potentials for Problems with Changing Sign Data

The main purpose of this paper is to study the duality and penalty method for a constrained nonconvex vector optimization problem. Following along with the image space analysis, a Lagrange-type duality for a constrained nonconvex vector optimization problem is proposed by virtue of the class of vector-valued regular weak separation functions in the image space. Simultaneously, some equivalent characterizations to the zero duality gap property are established including the Lagrange multiplier, the Lagrange saddle point and the regular separation. Moreover, an exact penalization is also obtained by means of a local image regularity condition and a class of particular regular weak separation functions in the image space.     

A unifying theory of exactness of linear penalty functions II: parametric penalty functions

In this article, we develop a general theory of exact parametric penalty functions for constrained optimization problems. The main advantage of the method of parametric penalty functions is the fact that a parametric penalty function can be both smooth and exact unlike the standard (i.e. non-parametric) exact penalty functions that are always nonsmooth. We obtain several necessary and/or sufficient conditions for the exactness of parametric penalty functions, and for the zero duality gap property to hold true for these functions. We also prove some convergence results for the method of parametric penalty functions, and derive necessary and sufficient conditions for a parametric penalty function to not have any stationary points outside the set of feasible points of the constrained optimization problem under consideration. In the second part of the paper, we apply the general theory of exact parametric penalty functions to a class of parametric penalty functions introduced by Huyer and Neumaier, and to smoothing approximations of nonsmooth exact penalty functions. The general approach adopted in this article allowed us to unify and significantly sharpen many existing results on parametric penalty functions.     

A complete characterization of strong duality in nonconvex optimization with a single constraint

We first establish sufficient conditions ensuring strong duality for cone constrained nonconvex optimization problems under a generalized Slater-type condition. Such conditions allow us to cover situations where recent results cannot be applied. Afterwards, we provide a new complete characterization of strong duality for a problem with a single constraint: showing, in particular, that strong duality still holds without the standard Slater condition. This yields Lagrange multipliers characterizations of global optimality in case of (not necessarily convex) quadratic homogeneous functions after applying a generalized joint-range convexity result. Furthermore, a result which reduces a constrained minimization problem into one with a single constraint under generalized convexity assumptions, is also presented.     

Nonlinear Lagrangian Theory for Nonconvex Optimization

The Lagrangian function in the conventional theory for solving constrained optimization problems is a linear combination of the cost and constraint functions. Typically, the optimality conditions based on linear Lagrangian theory are either necessary or sufficient, but not both unless the underlying cost and constraint functions are also convex.We propose a somewhat different approach for solving a nonconvex inequality constrained optimization problem based on a nonlinear Lagrangian function. This leads to optimality conditions which are both sufficient and necessary, without any convexity assumption. Subsequently, under appropriate assumptions, the optimality conditions derived from the new nonlinear Lagrangian approach are used to obtain an equivalent root-finding problem. By appropriately defining a dual optimization problem and an alternative dual problem, we show that zero duality gap will hold always regardless of convexity, contrary to the case of linear Lagrangian duality.     

Separation Functions and Optimality Conditions in Vector Optimization

In this paper, we propose weak separation functions in the image space for general constrained vector optimization problems on strong and weak vector minimum points. Gerstewitz function is applied to construct a special class of nonlinear separation functions as well as the corresponding generalized Lagrangian functions. By virtue of such nonlinear separation functions, we derive Lagrangian-type sufficient optimality conditions in a general context. Especially for nonconvex problems, we establish Lagrangian-type necessary optimality conditions under suitable restriction conditions, and we further deduce Karush–Kuhn–Tucker necessary conditions in terms of Clarke subdifferentials.     

多目标半定规划的最优性条件及对偶理论

在不变凸的假设下来讨论多目标半定规划的最优性条件、对偶理论以及非凸半定规划的最优性条件．首先给出了非凸半定规划的一个KKT条件成立的充分必要条件, 并利用此定理证明了其最优性必要条件．其次讨论了多目标半定规划的最优性必要条件、充分条件, 并对其建立Wolfe对偶模型, 证明了弱对偶定理和强对偶定理．     

Extended Lagrange and Penalty Functions in Optimization

We consider nonlinear Lagrange and penalty functions for optimization problems with a single constraint. The convolution of the objective function and the constraint is accomplished by an increasing positively homogeneous of the first degree function. We study necessary and also sufficient conditions for the validity of the zero duality gap property for both Lagrange and penalty functions and for the exact penalization. We also study the so-called regular weak separation functions.     

Existence of a Saddle Point in Nonconvex Constrained Optimization

The existence of a saddle point in nonconvex constrained optimization problems is considered in this paper. We show that, under some mild conditions, the existence of a saddle point can be ensured in an equivalent p-th power formulation for a general class of nonconvex constrained optimization problems. This result expands considerably the class of optimization problems where a saddle point exists and thus enlarges the family of nonconvex problems that can be solved by dual-search methods.     

Stability and augmented Lagrangian duality in nonconvex semi-infinite programming

In this paper the pseudo-Lipschitz property of the constraint set mapping and the Lipschitz property of the optimal value function of parametric nonconvex semi-infinite optimization problems are obtained under suitable conditions on the limiting subdifferential and the limiting normal cone. Then we derive sufficient conditions for the strong duality of nonconvex semi-infinite optimality problems and a criterion for exact penalty representations via an augmented Lagrangian approach. Examples are given to illustrate the obtained results.     

Dynamic convex duality in constrained utility maximization

ABSTRACT

In this paper, we study a constrained utility maximization problem following the convex duality approach. After formulating the primal and dual problems, we construct the necessary and sufficient conditions for both the primal and dual problems in terms of forward and backward stochastic differential equations (FBSDEs) plus some additional conditions. Such formulation then allows us to explicitly characterize the primal optimal control as a function of the adjoint process coming from the dual FBSDEs in a dynamic fashion and vice versa. We also find that the optimal wealth process coincides with the adjoint process of the dual problem and vice versa. Finally we solve three constrained utility maximization problems, which contrasts the simplicity of the duality approach we propose and the technical complexity of solving the primal problem directly.     

非凸向量集值优化Benson真有效解的最优性条件与对偶

在无需偏序锥内部非空的情况下给出了非凸约束向量集值优化Benaon真有效解一种加细的最优性条件，并建立了向量集值优化Benson真有效解一种改进的Lagrange乘子型对偶，它比已有的Lagrange乘子型对偶具有较好的对偶性。     

Theoretical and Practical Convergence of a Self-Adaptive Penalty Algorithm for Constrained Global Optimization

This paper proposes a self-adaptive penalty function and presents a penalty-based algorithm for solving nonsmooth and nonconvex constrained optimization problems. We prove that the general constrained optimization problem is equivalent to a bound constrained problem in the sense that they have the same global solutions. The global minimizer of the penalty function subject to a set of bound constraints may be obtained by a population-based meta-heuristic. Further, a hybrid self-adaptive penalty firefly algorithm, with a local intensification search, is designed, and its convergence analysis is established. The numerical experiments and a comparison with other penalty-based approaches show the effectiveness of the new self-adaptive penalty algorithm in solving constrained global optimization problems.     

On zero duality gap in nonconvex quadratic programming problems

We present in this paper new sufficient conditions for verifying zero duality gap in nonconvex quadratically/linearly constrained quadratic programs (QP). Based on saddle point condition and conic duality theorem, we first derive a sufficient condition for the zero duality gap between a quadratically constrained QP and its Lagrangian dual or SDP relaxation. We then use a distance measure to characterize the duality gap for nonconvex QP with linear constraints. We show that this distance can be computed via cell enumeration technique in discrete geometry. Finally, we revisit two sufficient optimality conditions in the literature for two classes of nonconvex QPs and show that these conditions actually imply zero duality gap.     

Sufficient conditions for duality in homogeneous programming

A symmetric duality theory for programming problems with homogeneous objective functions was published in 1961 by Eisenberg and has been used by a number of authors since in establishing duality theorems for specific problems. In this paper, we study a generalization of Eisenberg's problem from the viewpoint of Rockafellar's very general perturbation theory of duality. The extension of Eisenberg's sufficient conditions appears as a special case of a much more general criterion for the existence of optimal vectors and lack of a duality gap. We give examples where Eisenberg's sufficient condition is not satisfied, yet optimal vectors exist, and primal and dual problems have the same value.     

Lagrange Duality and Partitioning Techniques in Nonconvex Global Optimization

It is shown that, for very general classes of nonconvex global optimization problems, the duality gap obtained by solving a corresponding Lagrangian dual in reduced to zero in the limit when combined with suitably refined partitioning of the feasible set. A similar result holds for partly convex problems where exhaustive partitioning is applied only in the space of nonconvex variables. Applications include branch-and-bound approaches for linearly constrained problems where convex envelopes can be computed, certain generalized bilinear problems, linearly constrained optimization of the sum of ratios of affine functions, and concave minimization under reverse convex constraints.     

Conjugate Duality and the Control of Linear Discrete Systems

In this paper we deal with the minimization of a convex function over the solution set of a range inclusion problem determined by a multivalued operator with convex graph. We attach a dual problem to it, provide regularity conditions guaranteeing strong duality and derive for the resulting primal–dual pair necessary and sufficient optimality conditions. We also discuss the existence of optimal solutions for the primal and dual problems by using duality arguments. The theoretical results are applied in the context of the control of linear discrete systems.     

Unified Duality Theory for Constrained Extremum Problems. Part I: Image Space Analysis

This paper is concerned with a unified duality theory for a constrained extremum problem. Following along with the image space analysis, a unified duality scheme for a constrained extremum problem is proposed by virtue of the class of regular weak separation functions in the image space. Some equivalent characterizations of the zero duality property are obtained under an appropriate assumption. Moreover, some necessary and sufficient conditions for the zero duality property are also established in terms of the perturbation function. In the accompanying paper, the Lagrange-type duality, Wolfe duality and Mond–Weir duality will be discussed as special duality schemes in a unified interpretation. Simultaneously, three practical classes of regular weak separation functions will be also considered.