Semismooth Newton method for quadratic programs with bound constraints

Convex quadratic programs with bound constraints are proposed to be solved by applying a semismooth Newton method to the corresponding variational inequality. Computational experiments demonstrate that, for strongly convex problems, this approach can be considerably more efficient than more traditional approaches.     

A semismooth sequential quadratic programming method for lifted mathematical programs with vanishing constraints

Mathematical programs with vanishing constraints are a difficult class of optimization problems with important applications to optimal topology design problems of mechanical structures. Recently, they have attracted increasingly more attention of experts. The basic difficulty in the analysis and numerical solution of such problems is that their constraints are usually nonregular at the solution. In this paper, a new approach to the numerical solution of these problems is proposed. It is based on their reduction to the so-called lifted mathematical programs with conventional equality and inequality constraints. Special versions of the sequential quadratic programming method are proposed for solving lifted problems. Preliminary numerical results indicate the competitiveness of this approach.     

A branch-and-cut algorithm for nonconvex quadratic programs with box constraints

We present the implementation of a branch-and-cut algorithm for bound constrained nonconvex quadratic programs. We use a class of inequalities developed in [12] as cutting planes. We present various branching strategies and compare the algorithm to several other methods to demonstrate its effectiveness.Mathematics Subject Classification (2000): 90C26, 90C27, 90C20     

A heuristic for quadratic Boolean programs with applications to quadratic assignment problems

A heuristic for quadratic Boolean programs is presented. Computational tests with quadratic assignment problems (QAP) showed that it finds very good suboptimal solutions in moderate time and behaves computationally stable. In the appendix a FORTRAN-program for QAP is listed which improves an earlier code published by Burkard and Derigs.     

Inductive linearization for binary quadratic programs with linear constraints

4OR - A linearization technique for binary quadratic programs (BQPs) that comprise linear constraints is presented. The technique, called “inductive linearization”, extends concepts for...     

Multiple reduced gradient method for multiobjective optimization problems

Multiobjective optimization has a large number of real-life applications. Under this motivation, in this paper, we present a new method for solving multiobjective optimization problems with both linear constraints and bound constraints on the variables. This method extends, to the multiobjective setting, the classical reduced gradient method for scalar-valued optimization. The proposed algorithm generates a feasible descent direction by solving an appropriate quadratic subproblem, without the use of any scalarization approaches. We prove that the sequence generated by the algorithm converges to Pareto-critical points of the problem. We also present some numerical results to show the efficiency of the proposed method.     

A polyhedral study of nonconvex quadratic programs with box constraints

By reformulating quadratic programs using necessary optimality conditions, we obtain a linear program with complementarity constraints. For the case where the only constraints are bounds on the variables, we study a relaxation based on a subset of the optimality conditions. By characterizing its convex hull, we obtain a large class of valid inequalities. These inequalities are used in a branch-and-cut scheme, see [13].Mathematics Subject Classification (2000): 90C26, 90C27, 90C20     

A modified reduced gradient method for a class of nondifferentiable problems

The class of nondifferentiable problems treated in this paper constitutes the dual of a class of convex differentiable problems. The primal problem involves faithfully convex functions of linear mappings of the independent variables in the objective function and in the constraints. The points of the dual problem where the objective function is nondifferentiable are known: the method presented here takes advantage of this fact to propose modifications necessary in the reduced gradient method to guarantee convergence.     

A dynamical model for solving degenerate quadratic minimax problems with constraints

This paper presents a new neural network model for solving degenerate quadratic minimax (DQM) problems. On the basis of the saddle point theorem, optimization theory, convex analysis theory, Lyapunov stability theory and LaSalle invariance principle, the equilibrium point of the proposed network is proved to be equivalent to the optimal solution of the DQM problems. It is also shown that the proposed network model is stable in the sense of Lyapunov and it is globally convergent to an exact optimal solution of the original problem. Several illustrative examples are provided to show the feasibility and the efficiency of the proposed method in this paper.     

On convex quadratic programs with linear complementarity constraints

The paper shows that the global resolution of a general convex quadratic program with complementarity constraints (QPCC), possibly infeasible or unbounded, can be accomplished in finite time. The method constructs a minmax mixed integer formulation by introducing finitely many binary variables, one for each complementarity constraint. Based on the primal-dual relationship of a pair of convex quadratic programs and on a logical Benders scheme, an extreme ray/point generation procedure is developed, which relies on valid satisfiability constraints for the integer program. To improve this scheme, we propose a two-stage approach wherein the first stage solves the mixed integer quadratic program with pre-set upper bounds on the complementarity variables, and the second stage solves the program outside this bounded region by the Benders scheme. We report computational results with our method. We also investigate the addition of a penalty term y ^T Dw to the objective function, where y and w are the complementary variables and D is a nonnegative diagonal matrix. The matrix D can be chosen effectively by solving a semidefinite program, ensuring that the objective function remains convex. The addition of the penalty term can often reduce the overall runtime by at least 50 %. We report preliminary computational testing on a QP relaxation method which can be used to obtain better lower bounds from infeasible points; this method could be incorporated into a branching scheme. By combining the penalty method and the QP relaxation method, more than 90 % of the gap can be closed for some QPCC problems.     

Least squares problems with inequality constraints as quadratic constraints

Linear least squares problems with box constraints are commonly solved to find model parameters within bounds based on physical considerations. Common algorithms include Bounded Variable Least Squares (BVLS) and the Matlab function lsqlin. Here, the goal is to find solutions to ill-posed inverse problems that lie within box constraints. To do this, we formulate the box constraints as quadratic constraints, and solve the corresponding unconstrained regularized least squares problem. Using box constraints as quadratic constraints is an efficient approach because the optimization problem has a closed form solution. The effectiveness of the proposed algorithm is investigated through solving three benchmark problems and one from a hydrological application. Results are compared with solutions found by lsqlin, and the quadratically constrained formulation is solved using the L-curve, maximum a posteriori estimation (MAP), and the χ² regularization method. The χ² regularization method with quadratic constraints is the most effective method for solving least squares problems with box constraints.     

A new branch and bound algorithm for solving quadratic programs with linear complementarity constraints

In order to find a global solution for a quadratic program with linear complementarity constraints (QPLCC) more quickly than some existing methods, we consider to embed a local search method into a global search method. To say more specifically, in a branch-and-bound algorithm for solving QPLCC, when we find a new feasible solution to the problem, we utilize an extreme point algorithm to obtain a locally optimal solution which can provide a better bound and help us to trim more branches. So, the global algorithm can be accelerated. A preliminary numerical experiment was conducted which supports the new algorithm.     

A note on reduction of quadratic and bilinear programs with equality constraints

Reduction of some classes of global optimization programs to bilinear programs may be done in various ways, and the choice of method clearly influences the ease of solution of the resulting problem. In this note we show how linear equality constraints may be used together with graph theoretic tools to reduce a bilinear program, i.e., eliminate variables from quadratic terms to minimize the number of complicating variables. The method is illustrated on an example. Computer results are reported on known test problems.     

A new reduced gradient method for solving linearly constrained multiobjective optimization problems

In this paper, we consider the linearly constrained multiobjective minimization, and we propose a new reduced gradient method for solving this problem. Our approach solves iteratively a convex quadratic optimization subproblem to calculate a suitable descent direction for all the objective functions, and then use a bisection algorithm to find an optimal stepsize along this direction. We prove, under natural assumptions, that the proposed algorithm is well-defined and converges globally to Pareto critical points of the problem. Finally, this algorithm is implemented in the MATLAB environment and comparative results of numerical experiments are reported.     

A smoothing method for mathematical programs with equilibrium constraints

Received May 3, 1996 / Revised version received November 19, 1997 Published online January 20, 1999     

A new algorithm for the general quadratic programming problems with box constraints

In this paper, we propose a new branch-and-bound algorithm for the general quadratic problems with box constraints. We, first, transform the problem into a separable form by D. C. decomposition and Cholesky factorization of a positive definite matrix. Then a lower bounding technique is derived and a branch-and-bound algorithm is presented based on the lower bounding and rectangular bisection. Finally, preliminary computational results are reported.     

Fast algorithm for singly linearly constrained quadratic programs with box-like constraints

This paper focuses on a singly linearly constrained class of convex quadratic programs with box-like constraints. We propose a new fast algorithm based on parametric approach and secant approximation method to solve this class of quadratic problems. We design efficient implementations for our proposed algorithm and compare its performance with two state-of-the-art standard solvers called Gurobi and Mosek. Numerical results on a variety of test problems demonstrate that our algorithm is able to efficiently solve the large-scale problems with the dimension up to fifty million and it substantially outperforms Gurobi and Mosek in terms of the running time.     

A GENERALIZED GRADIENT PROJECTION METHOD FOR OPTIMIZATION PROBLEMS WITH EQUALITY AND INEQUALITY CONSTRAINTS ABOUT ARBITRARY INITIAL POINT

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A log-exponential smoothing method for mathematical programs with complementarity constraints

In this paper a log-exponential smoothing method for mathematical programs with complementarity constraints (MPCC) is analyzed, with some new interesting properties and convergence results provided. It is shown that the stationary points of the resulting smoothed problem converge to the strongly stationary point of MPCC, under the linear independence constraint qualification (LICQ), the weak second-order necessary condition (WSONC), and some reasonable assumption. Moreover, the limit point satisfies the weak second-order necessary condition for MPCC. A notable fact is that the proposed convergence results do not restrict the complementarity constraint functions approach to zero at the same order of magnitude.     

A branch-and-bound method for discretely-constrained mathematical programs with equilibrium constraints

We present a branch-and-bound algorithm for discretely-constrained mathematical programs with equilibrium constraints (DC-MPEC). This is a class of bilevel programs with an integer program in the upper-level and a complementarity problem in the lower-level. The algorithm builds on the work by Gabriel et al. (Journal of the Operational Research Society 61(9):1404–1419, 2010) and uses Benders decomposition to form a master problem and a subproblem. The new dynamic partition scheme that we present ensures that the algorithm converges to the global optimum. Partitioning is done to overcome the non-convexity of the Benders subproblem. In addition Lagrangean relaxation provides bounds that enable fathoming in the branching tree and warm-starting the Benders algorithm. Numerical tests show significantly reduced solution times compared to the original algorithm. When the lower level problem is stochastic our algorithm can easily be further decomposed using scenario decomposition. This is demonstrated on a realistic case.