Tractable semi-algebraic approximation using Christoffel-Darboux kernel

We provide a new method to approximate a (possibly discontinuous) function using Christoffel-Darboux kernels. Our knowledge about the unknown multivariate function is in terms of finitely many moments of the Young measure supported on the graph of the function. Such an input is available when approximating weak (or measure-valued) solution of optimal control problems, entropy … Read more

Exploiting Sparsity for Semi-Algebraic Set Volume Computation

We provide a systematic deterministic numerical scheme to approximate the volume (i.e. the Lebesgue measure) of a basic semi-algebraic set whose description follows a sparsity pattern. As in previous works (without sparsity), the underlying strategy is to consider an infinite-dimensional linear program on measures whose optimal value is the volume of the set. This is … Read more

Representation of distributionally robust chance-constraints

Given $X\subset R^n$, $\varepsilon \in (0,1)$, a parametrized family of probability distributions $(\mu_{a})_{a\in A}$ on $\Omega\subset R^p$, we consider the feasible set $X^*_\varepsilon\subset X$ associated with the {\em distributionally robust} chance-constraint \[X^*_\varepsilon\,=\,\{x\in X:\:{\rm Prob}_\mu[f(x,\omega)\,>\,0]> 1-\varepsilon,\,\forall\mu\in\mathscr{M}_a\},\] where $\mathscr{M}_a$ is the set of all possibles mixtures of distributions $\mu_a$, $a\in A$. For instance and typically, the family … Read more

Moments and convex optimization for analysis and control of nonlinear partial differential equations

This work presents a convex-optimization-based framework for analysis and control of nonlinear partial differential equations. The approach uses a particular weak embedding of the nonlinear PDE, resulting in a \emph{linear} equation in the space of Borel measures. This equation is then used as a constraint of an infinite-dimensional linear programming problem (LP). This LP is … Read more

D-OPTIMAL DESIGN FOR MULTIVARIATE POLYNOMIAL REGRESSION VIA THE CHRISTOFFEL FUNCTION AND SEMIDEFINITE RELAXATIONS

We present a new approach to the design of D-optimal experiments with multivariate polynomial regressions on compact semi-algebraic design spaces. We apply the moment-sum-of-squares hierarchy of semidefinite programming problems to solve numerically and approximately the optimal design problem. The geometry of the design is recovered with semidefinite programming duality theory and the Christoffel polynomial. Article … Read more

Semidefinite approximations of the polynomial abscissa

Given a univariate polynomial, its abscissa is the maximum real part of its roots. The abscissa arises naturally when controlling linear differential equations. As a function of the polynomial coefficients, the abscissa is H\”older continuous, and not locally Lipschitz in general, which is a source of numerical difficulties for designing and optimizing control laws. In … Read more

Bound-constrained polynomial optimization using only elementary calculations

We provide a monotone non increasing sequence of upper bounds $f^H_k$ ($k\ge 1$) converging to the global minimum of a polynomial $f$ on simple sets like the unit hypercube. The novelty with respect to the converging sequence of upper bounds in [J.B. Lasserre, A new look at nonnegativity on closed sets and polynomial optimization, SIAM … Read more

A MAX-CUT formulation of 0/1 programs

We consider the linear or quadratic 0/1 program \[P:\quad f^*=\min\{ c^Tx+x^TFx : \:A\,x =\b;\:x\in\{0,1\}^n\},\] for some vectors $c\in R^n$, $b\in Z^m$, some matrix $A\in Z^{m\times n}$ and some real symmetric matrix $F\in R^{n\times n}$. We show that $P$ can be formulated as a MAX-CUT problem whose quadratic form criterion is explicit from the data of … Read more

Exact solutions to Super Resolution on semi-algebraic domains in higher dimensions

We investigate the multi-dimensional Super Resolution problem on closed semi-algebraic domains for various sampling schemes such as Fourier or moments. We present a new semidefinite programming (SDP) formulation of the l1-minimization in the space of Radon measures in the multi-dimensional frame on semi-algebraic sets. While standard approaches have focused on SDP relaxations of the dual … Read more

Linear conic optimization for inverse optimal control

We address the inverse problem of Lagrangian identification based on trajectories in the context of nonlinear optimal control. We propose a general formulation of the inverse problem based on occupation measures and complementarity in linear programming. The use of occupation measures in this context offers several advantages from the theoretical, numerical and statistical points of … Read more