Ellipsoidal Approach to Box-Constrained Quadratic Problems

We present a new heuristic for the global solution of box constrained quadratic problems, based on the classical results which hold for the minimization of quadratic problems with ellipsoidal constraints. The approach is tested on several problems randomly generated and on graph instances from the DIMACS challenge, medium size instances of the Maximum Clique Problem. The numerical results seem to suggest some effectiveness of the proposed approach.     

Non-cooperative two-person games in biology: A classification

This article compares evolutionary equilibrium notions with solution concepts in rational game theory. Both static and dynamic evolutionary game theory are treated. The methods employed by dynamic theory, so-called “game dynamics”, could be discovered to be relevant for rational game theory also.     

On Standard Quadratic Optimization Problems

A standard quadratic optimization problem (QP) consists of finding (global) maximizers of a quadratic form over the standard simplex. Standard QPs arise quite naturally in copositivity-based procedures which enable an escape from local solutions. Furthermore, several important applications yield optimization problems which can be cast into a standard QP in a straightforward way. As an example, a new continuous reformulation of the maximum weight clique problem in undirected graphs is presented which considerably improves previous attacks both as numerical stability and interpretation of the results are concerned. Apparently also for the first time, an equivalence between standard QPs and QPs on the positive orthant is established. Also, a recently presented global optimization procedure (GENF - genetical engineering via negative fitness) is shortly reviewed.     

Solving Standard Quadratic Optimization Problems via Linear, Semidefinite and Copositive Programming

The problem of minimizing a (non-convex) quadratic function over the simplex (the standard quadratic optimization problem) has an exact convex reformulation as a copositive programming problem. In this paper we show how to approximate the optimal solution by approximating the cone of copositive matrices via systems of linear inequalities, and, more refined, linear matrix inequalities (LMI's). In particular, we show that our approach leads to a polynomial-time approximation scheme for the standard quadratic optimzation problem. This is an improvement on the previous complexity result by Nesterov who showed that a 2/3-approximation is always possible. Numerical examples from various applications are provided to illustrate our approach.     

The combinatorics of pivoting for the maximum weight clique

In this paper we prove the equivalence between a pivoting-based heuristic (PBH) for the maximum weight clique problem and a combinatorial greedy heuristic. It is also proved that PBH always returns a local solution although this is not always guaranteed for Lemke's method, on which PBH is based.     

A first-order interior-point method for linearly constrained smooth optimization

We propose a first-order interior-point method for linearly constrained smooth optimization that unifies and extends first-order affine-scaling method and replicator dynamics method for standard quadratic programming. Global convergence and, in the case of quadratic program, (sub)linear convergence rate and iterate convergence results are derived. Numerical experience on simplex constrained problems with 1000 variables is reported.     

Perron–Frobenius property of copositive matrices, and a block copositivity criterion

Haynsworth and Hoffman proved in 1969 that the spectral radius of a symmetric copositive matrix is an eigenvalue of this matrix. This note investigates conditions which guarantee that an eigenvector corresponding to this dominant eigenvalue has no negative coordinates, i.e., whether the Perron–Frobenius property holds. Also a block copositivity criterion using the Schur complement is specified which may be helpful to reduce dimension in copositivity checks and which generalizes results proposed by Andersson et al. in 1995, and Johnson and Reams in 2005. Apparently, the latter five researchers were unaware of the more general results by the author precedingly published in 1987 and 1996, respectively.