On the existence and uniqueness of solutions in nonlinear complementarity theory

A complementarity problem is said to be globally uniquely solvable (GUS) if it has a unique solution, and this property will not change, even if any constant term is added to the mapping generating the problem.A characterization of the GUS property which generalizes a basic theorem in linear complementarity theory is given. Known sufficient conditions given by Cottle, Karamardian, and Moré for the nonlinear case are also shown to be generalized. In particular, several open questions concerning Cottle's condition are settled and a new proof is given for the sufficiency of this condition.A simple characterization for the two-dimensional case and a necessary condition for then-dimensional case are also given.The research described in this paper was carried out while N. Megiddo was visiting Tokyo Institute of Technology under a Fellowship of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.