Scatter Search—Wellsprings and Challenges

This article is concerned with two global optimization problems (P1) and (P2). Each of these problems is a fractional programming problem involving the maximization of a ratio of a convex function to a convex function, where at least one of the convex functions is a quadratic form. First, the article presents and validates a number of theoretical properties of these problems. Included among these properties is the result that, under a mild assumption, any globally optimal solution for problem (P1) must belong to the boundary of its feasible region. Also among these properties is a result that shows that problem (P2) can be reformulated as a convex maximization problem. Second, the article presents for the first time an algorithm for globally solving problem (P2). The algorithm is a branch and bound algorithm in which the main computational effort involves solving a sequence of convex programming problems. Convergence properties of the algorithm are presented, and computational issues that arise in implementing the algorithm are discussed. Preliminary indications are that the algorithm can be expected to provide a practical approach for solving problem (P2), provided that the number of variables is not too large.