A class of optimal state-delay control problems

We consider a general nonlinear time-delay system with state-delays as control variables. The problem of determining optimal values for the state-delays to minimize overall system cost is a non-standard optimal control problem–called an optimal state-delay control problem–that cannot be solved using existing optimal control techniques. We show that this optimal control problem can be formulated as a nonlinear programming problem in which the cost function is an implicit function of the decision variables. We then develop an efficient numerical method for determining the cost function’s gradient. This method, which involves integrating an auxiliary impulsive system backwards in time, can be combined with any standard gradient-based optimization method to solve the optimal state-delay control problem effectively. We conclude the paper by discussing applications of our approach to parameter identification and delayed feedback control.     

Global classical solution of quasi-stationary Stefan free boundary problem

We consider an one-phase quasi-stationary Stefan problem (Hele–Shaw problem) in multidimensional case. Under some reasonable conditions we prove that the problem has a classical solution globally in time. The method can be used in two-phase problem as well. We also discuss asymptotic behavior of solution as t→+∞. The method developed here can be extended to a general class of free boundary problems.     

A Perturbation approach for an inverse quadratic programming problem

We consider an inverse quadratic programming (QP) problem in which the parameters in both the objective function and the constraint set of a given QP problem need to be adjusted as little as possible so that a known feasible solution becomes the optimal one. We formulate this problem as a linear complementarity constrained minimization problem with a positive semidefinite cone constraint. With the help of duality theory, we reformulate this problem as a linear complementarity constrained semismoothly differentiable (SC¹) optimization problem with fewer variables than the original one. We propose a perturbation approach to solve the reformulated problem and demonstrate its global convergence. An inexact Newton method is constructed to solve the perturbed problem and its global convergence and local quadratic convergence rate are shown. As the objective function of the problem is a SC¹ function involving the projection operator onto the cone of positively semi-definite symmetric matrices, the analysis requires an implicit function theorem for semismooth functions as well as properties of the projection operator in the symmetric-matrix space. Since an approximate proximal point is required in the inexact Newton method, we also give a Newton method to obtain it. Finally we report our numerical results showing that the proposed approach is quite effective.     

A Fourier-Coefficient Based Solution of an Optimal Control Problem in Quantum Chemistry

We consider an optimal control problem for the time-dependent Schrödinger equation modeling molecular dynamics. The dynamics can be steered by interactions with a tuned laser field. The problem of designing an optimal field can be posed as an optimal control problem. We reformulate the optimization problem by using a Fourier transform of the electric field, and narrow the frequency band. The resulting problem is less memory intense, and can be solved with a superlinearly convergent quasi-Newton method. We show computational results for a Raman-transition example and give numerical evidence that our method can outperform the standard monotonically convergent algorithm.     

Strong convergence of a hybrid steepest descent method for the split common fixed point problem

We study the convergence properties of an iterative method for a variational inequality defined on a solution set of the split common fixed point problem. The method involves Landweber-type operators related to the problem as well as their extrapolations in an almost cyclic way. The evaluation of these extrapolations does not require prior knowledge of the matrix norm. We prove the strong convergence under the assumption that the operators employed in the method are approximately shrinking.     

Using the Dinkelbach-type algorithm to solve the continuous-time linear fractional programming problems

A Dinkelbach-type algorithm is proposed in this paper to solve a class of continuous-time linear fractional programming problems. We shall transform this original problem into a continuous-time non-fractional programming problem, which unfortunately happens to be a continuous-time nonlinear programming problem. In order to tackle this nonlinear problem, we propose the auxiliary problem that will be formulated as parametric continuous-time linear programming problem. We also introduce a dual problem of this parametric continuous-time linear programming problem in which the weak duality theorem also holds true. We introduce the discrete approximation method to solve the primal and dual pair of parametric continuous-time linear programming problems by using the recurrence method. Finally, we provide two numerical examples to demonstrate the usefulness of this practical algorithm.     

Using the parametric approach to solve the continuous-time linear fractional max–min problems

A numerical algorithm based on parametric approach is proposed in this paper to solve a class of continuous-time linear fractional max-min programming problems. We shall transform this original problem into a continuous-time non-fractional programming problem, which unfortunately happens to be a continuous-time nonlinear programming problem. In order to tackle this nonlinear problem, we propose the auxiliary problem that will be formulated as a parametric continuous-time linear programming problem. We also introduce a dual problem of this parametric continuous-time linear programming problem in which the weak duality theorem also holds true. We introduce the discrete approximation method to solve the primal and dual pair of parametric continuous-time linear programming problems by using the recurrence method. Finally, we provide two numerical examples to demonstrate the usefulness of this algorithm.     

The Cauchy problem for a semi-infinite Volterra chain with an asymptotically periodic initial condition

We examine the Cauchy problem for a semi-infinite Volterra chain with an asymptotically periodic initial condition. The question is addressed of existence of a solution with the same asymptotics at infinity as the initial condition. We demonstrate that the method of the inverse scattering problem is applicable to this problem.     

Minimizing rational functions by exact Jacobian SDP relaxation applicable to finite singularities

This paper considers the optimization problem of minimizing a rational function. We reformulate this problem as a polynomial optimization problem by the technique of homogenization. These two problems are shown to be equivalent under some generic conditions. The exact Jacobian SDP relaxation method proposed by Nie is used to solve the resulting polynomial optimization problem. We also prove that the assumption of nonsingularity in Nie’s method can be weakened to the finiteness of singularities. Some numerical examples are given in the end.     

Mixed Frank–Wolfe Penalty Method with Applications to Nonconvex Optimal Control Problems

We consider a general optimization problem which is an abstract formulation of a broad class of state-constrained optimal control problems in relaxed form. We describe a generalized mixed Frank–Wolfe penalty method for solving the problem and prove that, under appropriate assumptions, accumulation points of sequences constructed by this method satisfy the necessary conditions for optimality. The method is then applied to relaxed optimal control problems involving lumped as well as distributed parameter systems. Numerical examples are given.     

A nonlinear programming approach for the sliding mode control design

We treat the sliding mode control problem by formulating it as a two phase problem consisting of reaching and sliding phases. We show that such a problem can be formulated as bicriteria nonlinear programming problem by associating each of these phases with an appropriate objective function and constraints. We then scalarize this problem by taking weighted sum of these objective functions. We show that by solving a sequence of such formulated nonlinear programming problems it is possible to obtain sliding mode controller feedback coefficients which yield a competitive performance throughout the control. We solve the nonlinear programming problems so constructed by using the modified subgradient method which does not require any convexity and differentiability assumptions. We illustrate validity of our approach by generating a sliding mode control input function for stabilization of an inverted pendulum.     

Numerical solutions of the m-membranes problem

In this paper numerical approximation for the m-membrane problem is considered. We make a change of variables that leads to a different expression of the quadratic functional that allows after discretizing the problem to reformulate it as finite dimensional bound constrained quadratic problem. To our knowledge this is the first paper on numerical approximation of the m-membrane problem. We reformulate the m-membrane problem as a bound constraint quadratic minimization problem. The bound constraint quadratic form is solved with the gradient projection method.     

An adjustment scheme for nonlinear pricing problem with two buyers

We examine a contracting problem with asymmetric information in a monopoly pricing setting. Traditionally, the problem is modeled as a one-period Bayesian game, where the incomplete information about the buyers’ preferences is handled with some subjective probability distribution. Here we suggest an iterative online method to solve the problem. We show that, when the buyers behave myopically, the seller can learn the optimal tariff by selling the product repeatedly. In a practical modification of the method, the seller offers linear tariffs and adjusts them until optimality is reached. The adjustment can be seen as gradient adjustment, and it can be done with limited information and so that it benefits both the seller and the buyers. Our method uses special features of the problem and it is easily implementable.     

Numerical solution of a nonlinear parabolic control problem by a reduced SQP method

We consider a control problem for a nonlinear diffusion equation with boundary input that occurs when heating ceramic products in a kiln. We interpret this control problem as a constrained optimization problem, and we develop a reduced SQP method that presents for this problem a new and efficient approach of its numerical solution. As opposed to Newton's method for the unconstrained problem, where at each iteration the state must be computed from a set of nonlinear equations,in the proposed algorithm only the linearized state equations need to be solved. Furthermore, by use of a secant update formula, the calculation of exact second derivatives is avoided. In this way the algorithm achieves a substantial decrease in the total cost compared to the implementation of Newton's method in [2]. Our method is practicable with regard to storage requirements, and by choosing an appropriate representation for the null space of the Jacobian of the constraints we are able to exploit the sparsity pattern of the Jacobian in the course of the iteration. We conclude with a presentation of numerical examples that demonstrate the fast two-step superlinear convergence behavior of the method.     

New reformulation and feasible semismooth Newton method for a class of stochastic linear complementarity problems

A class of stochastic linear complementarity problems (SLCPs) with finitely many realizations is considered. We first formulate the problem as a new constrained minimization problem. Then, we propose a feasible semismooth Newton method which yields a stationary point of the constrained minimization problem. We study the condition for the level set of the objective function to be bounded. As a result, the condition for the solution set of the constrained minimization problem is obtained. The global and quadratic convergence of the proposed method is proved under certain assumptions. Preliminary numerical results show that this method yields a reasonable solution with high safety and within a small number of iterations.     

A derivative-free line search and dfp method for symmetric equations with global and superlinear convergence

This paper is concerned with the open problem as to whether DFP method with inexact line search converges globally to the minimum of a uniformly convex function. We study this problem by way of a Gauss-Newton approach rather than an ordinary Newton approach. We also propose a derivative-free line search that can be implemented conveniently by a backtracking process and has such an attractive property that any iterative method with this line search generates a sequence of iterates that is approximately norm descent. Moreover, if the Jacobian matrices are uniformly nonsingular, then the generated sequenceconverges. Under appropriate conditions, we establish global and superlinear convergence of the proposed Gauss-Newton based DFP method, which supports the open problem positively.     

Global Optimization Versus Integer Programming in Portfolio Optimization under Nonconvex Transaction Costs

This paper is concerned with a portfolio optimization problem under concave and piecewise constant transaction cost. We formulate the problem as nonconcave maximization problem under linear constraints using absolute deviation as a measure of risk and solve it by a branch and bound algorithm developed in the field of global optimization. Also, we compare it with a more standard 0–1 integer programming approach. We will show that a branch and bound method elaborating the special structure of the problem can solve the problem much faster than the state-of-the integer programming code.     

A path following method for box-constrained multiobjective optimization with applications to goal programming problems

We propose a path following method to find the Pareto optimal solutions of a box-constrained multiobjective optimization problem. Under the assumption that the objective functions are Lipschitz continuously differentiable we prove some necessary conditions for Pareto optimal points and we give a necessary condition for the existence of a feasible point that minimizes all given objective functions at once. We develop a method that looks for the Pareto optimal points as limit points of the trajectories solutions of suitable initial value problems for a system of ordinary differential equations. These trajectories belong to the feasible region and their computation is well suited for a parallel implementation. Moreover the method does not use any scalarization of the multiobjective optimization problem and does not require any ordering information for the components of the vector objective function. We show a numerical experience on some test problems and we apply the method to solve a goal programming problem.     

Bounds for codes by semidefinite programming

Delsarte’s method and its extensions allow one to consider the upper bound problem for codes in two-point homogeneous spaces as a linear programming problem with perhaps infinitely many variables, which are the distance distribution. We show that using as variables power sums of distances, this problem can be considered as a finite semidefinite programming problem. This method allows one to improve some linear programming upper bounds. In particular, we obtain new bounds of one-sided kissing numbers.     

Expected Residual Minimization Method for Stochastic Variational Inequality Problems

This paper considers a stochastic variational inequality problem (SVIP). We first formulate SVIP as an optimization problem (ERM problem) that minimizes the expected residual of the so-called regularized gap function. Then, we focus on a SVIP subclass in which the function involved is assumed to be affine. We study the properties of the ERM problem and propose a quasi-Monte Carlo method for solving the problem. Comprehensive convergence analysis is included as well. This work was supported in part by SRF for ROCS, SEM and Project 10771025 supported by NSFC.