Nonconvex functions and variational inequalities

In this paper, we study some properties of a class of nonconvex functions, called semipreinvex functions, which includes the classes of preinvex functions and arc-connected convex functions. It is shown that the minimum of an arcwise directionally differentiable semi-invex functions on a semi-invex set can be characterized by a class of variational inequalities, known as variational-like inequalities. We use the auxiliary principle technique to prove the existence of a solution of a variational-like inequality and suggest a novel iterative algorithm.