On the volumetric path

We consider the logarithmic and the volumetric barrier functions used in interior point methods. In the case of the logarithmic barrier function, the analytic center of a level set is the point at which the central path intersects that level set. We prove that this also holds for the volumetric path. For the central path, it is also true that the analytic center of the optimal level set is the limit point of the central path. The only known case where this last property for the logarithmic barrier function fails occurs in case of semidefinite optimization in the absence of strict complementarity. For the volumetric path, we show with an example that this property does not hold even for a linear optimization problem in canonical form.     

一个求解半正定规划问题的新原始一对偶内点算法

在原始对偶内点算法的设计和分析中,障碍函数对算法的搜索方法和复杂性起着重要的作用。本文由核函数来确定障碍函数,设计了一个求解半正定规划问题的原始。对偶内点算法。这个障碍函数即可以定义算法新的搜索方向,又度量迭代点与中心路径的距离,同时对算法的复杂性分析起着关键的作用。我们计算了算法的迭代界,得出了关于大步校正法和小步校正法的迭代界,它们分别是O（√n log n log n/c）和O（√n log n/ε）,这里n是半正定规划问题的维数。最后,我们根据一个算例,说明了算法的有效性以及对核函数的参数的敏感性。     

凸二次半定规划一个长步原始对偶路径跟踪算法

本文基于Nesterov-Todd方向,并引进中心路径测量函数以及原始对偶对数障碍函数,建立了一个求解凸二次半定规划的长步路径跟踪法.算法保证当迭代点落在中心路径附近时步长1被接受.算法至多迭代O(n|lnε|)次可得到一个ε最优解.论文最后报告了初步的数值试验结果.     

On the Central Paths in Symmetric Cone Programming

This paper is devoted to the study of optimal solutions of symmetric cone programs by means of the asymptotic behavior of central paths with respect to a broad class of barrier functions. This class is, for instance, larger than that typically found in the literature for semidefinite positive programming. In this general framework, we prove the existence and the convergence of primal, dual and primal–dual central paths. We are then able to establish concrete characterizations of the limit points of these central paths for specific subclasses. Indeed, for the class of barrier functions defined at the origin, we prove that the limit point of a primal central path minimizes the corresponding barrier function over the solution set of the studied symmetric cone program. In addition, we show that the limit points of the primal and dual central paths lie in the relative interior of the primal and dual solution sets for the case of the logarithm and modified logarithm barriers.     

On the convergence of the entropy-exponential penalty trajectories and generalized proximal point methods in semidefinite optimization

The convergence of primal and dual central paths associated to entropy and exponential functions, respectively, for semidefinite programming problem are studied in this paper. It is proved that the primal path converges to the analytic center of the primal optimal set with respect to the entropy function, the dual path converges to a point in the dual optimal set and the primal-dual path associated to this paths converges to a point in the primal-dual optimal set. As an application, the generalized proximal point method with the Kullback-Leibler distance applied to semidefinite programming problems is considered. The convergence of the primal proximal sequence to the analytic center of the primal optimal set with respect to the entropy function is established and the convergence of a particular weighted dual proximal sequence to a point in the dual optimal set is obtained.     

Analyticity of weighted central paths and error bounds for semidefinite programming

The purpose of this paper is two-fold. Firstly, we show that every Cholesky-based weighted central path for semidefinite programming is analytic under strict complementarity. This result is applied to homogeneous cone programming to show that the central paths defined by the known class of optimal self-concordant barriers are analytic in the presence of strictly complementary solutions. Secondly, we consider a sequence of primal–dual solutions that lies within a prescribed neighborhood of the central path of a pair of primal–dual semidefinite programming problems, and converges to the respective optimal faces. Under the additional assumption of strict complementarity, we derive two necessary and sufficient conditions for the sequence of primal–dual solutions to converge linearly with their duality gaps. This research was supported by a grant from the Faculty of Mathematics, University of Waterloo and by a Discovery Grant from NSERC.     

Central Paths in Semidefinite Programming, Generalized Proximal-Point Method and Cauchy Trajectories in Riemannian Manifolds

The relationships among the central path in the context of semidefinite programming, generalized proximal-point method and Cauchy trajectory in a Riemannian manifolds is studied in this paper. First, it is proved that the central path associated to a general function is well defined. The convergence and characterization of its limit point is established for functions satisfying a certain continuity property. Also, the generalized proximal-point method is considered and it is proved that the correspondingly generated sequence is contained in the central path. As a consequence, both converge to the same point. Finally, it is proved that the central path coincides with the Cauchy trajectory in a Riemannian manifold. This work was supported in part by CNPq Grant 302618/2005-8, by PRONEX(CNPq), CAPES-PICDT and FUNAPE/UFG.     

多目标半定规划的加权中心路径法

对于线性型多目标半定规划问题，引进加权中心路径的概念，并利用单目标半定规划的中心路径法，提出了求解多目标半定规划问题的加权中心路径法，先得型对一个叔向量的有效解，然后在此基础上，提出了通过一次迭代得到对应一定范围内其他任意权向量的有效解的一步修正方法．     

THE CENTRAL PATH IN SMOOTH CONVEX SEMIDEFINITE PROGRAMS

Abstract

In this paper we study the welldefinedness of the central path associated to a nonlinear convex semidefinite programming problem with smooth objective and constraint functions. Under standard assumptions, we prove that the existence of the central path is equivalent to the nonemptiness and boundedness of the optimal set. Other equivalent conditions are given, such as the existence of a strictly dual feasible point or the existence of a single central point. The monotonic behavior of the primal and dual logarithmic barriers and of the primal and dual objective functions along the trajectory is also discussed. The existence and optimality of cluster points is established and finally, under the additional assumption of analyticity of the data functions, the convergence of the primal-dual trajectory is proved.     

Central Swaths

We develop a natural generalization to the notion of the central path, a concept that lies at the heart of interior-point methods for convex optimization. The generalization is accomplished via the “derivative cones” of a “hyperbolicity cone”, the derivatives being direct and mathematically appealing relaxations of the underlying (hyperbolic) conic constraint, be it the non-negative orthant, the cone of positive semidefinite matrices, or other. We prove that a dynamics inherent to the derivative cones generates paths always leading to optimality, the central path arising from a special case in which the derivative cones are quadratic. Derivative cones of higher degree better fit the underlying conic constraint, raising the prospect that the paths they generate lead to optimality quicker than the central path.     

A Barrier Function Method for the Nonconvex Quadratic Programming Problem with Box Constraints

In this paper a barrier function method is proposed for approximating a solution of the nonconvex quadratic programming problem with box constraints. The method attempts to produce a solution of good quality by following a path as the barrier parameter decreases from a sufficiently large positive number. For a given value of the barrier parameter, the method searches for a minimum point of the barrier function in a descent direction, which has a desired property that the box constraints are always satisfied automatically if the step length is a number between zero and one. When all the diagonal entries of the objective function are negative, the method converges to at least a local minimum point of the problem if it yields a local minimum point of the barrier function for a sequence of decreasing values of the barrier parameter with zero limit. Numerical results show that the method always generates a global or near global minimum point as the barrier parameter decreases at a sufficiently slow pace.     

Penalty and Barrier Methods for Convex Semidefinite Programming

In this paper we present penalty and barrier methods for solving general convex semidefinite programming problems. More precisely, the constraint set is described by a convex operator that takes its values in the cone of negative semidefinite symmetric matrices. This class of methods is an extension of penalty and barrier methods for convex optimization to this setting. We provide implementable stopping rules and prove the convergence of the primal and dual paths obtained by these methods under minimal assumptions. The two parameters approach for penalty methods is also extended. As for usual convex programming, we prove that after a finite number of steps all iterates will be feasible.     

Local convergence of predictor—corrector infeasible-interior-point algorithms for SDPs and SDLCPs

An example of an SDP (semidefinite program) exhibits a substantial difficulty in proving the superlinear convergence of a direct extension of the Mizuno—Todd—Ye type predictor—corrector primal-dual interior-point method for LPs (linear programs) to SDPs, and suggests that we need to force the generated sequence to converge to a solution tangentially to the central path (or trajectory). A Mizuno—Todd—Ye type predictor—corrector infeasible-interior-point algorithm incorporating this additional restriction for monotone SDLCPs (semidefinite linear complementarity problems) enjoys superlinear convergence under strict complementarity and nondegeneracy conditions. © 1998 The Mathematical Programming Society, Inc. Published by Elsevier Science B.V.     

基于自适应参数校正策略求解SDP的Mehrotra型内点算法

最近,Salahi对线性规划提出了一个基于新的自适应参数校正策略的Mehrotra型预估-校正算法,该策略使其在不使用安全策略的情况下,证明了算法的多项式迭代复杂界.本文将这一算法推广到半定规划的情形.通过利用Zhang的对称化技术,得到了算法的多项式迭代复杂界,这与求解线性规划的相应算法有相同的迭代复杂性阶.     

半定规划的非内点连续化方法

基于Fischer-Burmeister函数,本文将半定规划(SDP)的中心路径条件转化为非线性方程组,进而用SDCP的非内点连续化方法求解之.证明了牛顿方向的存在性,迭代点列的有界性.在适当的假设条件下,得到算法的全局收敛性及局部二次收敛率.数值结果表明算法的有效性.     

Homogeneous Self-dual Algorithms for Stochastic Semidefinite Programming

Ariyawansa and Zhu have proposed a new class of optimization problems termed stochastic semidefinite programs to handle data uncertainty in applications leading to (deterministic) semidefinite programs. For stochastic semidefinite programs with finite event space, they have also derived a class of volumetric barrier decomposition algorithms, and proved polynomial complexity of certain members of the class. In this paper, we consider homogeneous self-dual algorithms for stochastic semidefinite programs with finite event space. We show how the structure in such problems may be exploited so that the algorithms developed in this paper have complexity similar to those of the decomposition algorithms mentioned above.     

关于半定规划的一种宽邻域不可行内点算法的注记

针对半定规划的宽邻域不可行内点算法, 将牛顿法和预估校正法进行结合, 构造出适当的迭代方向, 提出一个修正的半定规划宽邻域不可行内点算法, 并在适当的假设条件下, 证明了该算法具有O(\sqrt{n}L)的迭代复杂界．最后利用Matlab编程, 给出了基于KM方向和NT方向的数值实验结果．     

Properties of the Central Points in Linear Programming Problems

In this paper we list several useful properties of central points in linear programming problems. We study the logarithmic barrier function, the analytic center and the central path, relating the proximity measures and scaled Euclidean distances defined for the primal and primal–dual problems. We study the Newton centering steps, and show how large the short steps used in path following algorithms can actually be, and what variation can be ensured for the barrier function in each iteration of such methods. We relate the primal and primal–dual Newton centering steps and propose a primal-only path following algorithm for linear programming.     

New Self-Concordant Barrier for the Hypercube

We introduce a new barrier function to build new interior-point algorithms to solve optimization problems with bounded variables. First, we show that this function is a (3/2)n-self-concordant barrier for the unitary hypercube [0,1] ⁿ , assuring thus the polynomial property of related algorithms. Second, using the Hessian metric of that barrier, we present new explicit algorithms from the point of view of Riemannian geometry applications. Third, we prove that the central path defined by the new barrier to solve a certain class of linearly constrained convex problems maintains most of the properties of the central path defined by the usual logarithmic barrier. We present also a primal long-step path-following algorithm with similar complexity to the classical barrier. Finally, we introduce a new proximal-point Bregman type algorithm to solve linear problems in [0,1] ⁿ and prove its convergence. P.R. Oliveira was partially supported by CNPq/Brazil.     

A New Full Nesterov–Todd Step Primal–Dual Path-Following Interior-Point Algorithm for Symmetric Optimization

In this paper, we generalize a primal–dual path-following interior-point algorithm for linear optimization to symmetric optimization by using Euclidean Jordan algebras. The proposed algorithm is based on a new technique for finding the search directions and the strategy of the central path. At each iteration, we use only full Nesterov–Todd steps. Moreover, we derive the currently best known iteration bound for the small-update method. This unifies the analysis for linear, second-order cone, and semidefinite optimizations.