Computing mixed strategies equilibria in presence of switching costs by the solution of nonconvex QP problems

In this paper we address a game theory problem arising in the context of network security. In traditional game theory problems, given a defender and an attacker, one searches for mixed strategies which minimize a linear payoff functional. In the problem addressed in this paper an additional quadratic term is added to the minimization problem. … Read more

A new branch-and-bound algorithm for standard quadratic programming problems

In this paper we propose convex and LP bounds for Standard Quadratic Programming (StQP) problems and employ them within a branch-and-bound approach. We first compare different bounding strategies for StQPs in terms both of the quality of the bound and of the computation times. It turns out that the polyhedral bounding strategy is the best … Read more

On the computation of convex envelopes for bivariate functions through KKT conditions

In this paper we exploit a slight variant of a result previously proved in [11] to define a procedure which delivers the convex envelope of some bivariate functions over polytopes. The procedure is based on the solution of a KKT system and simplifies the derivation of the convex envelope with respect to previously proposed techniques. … Read more

Computational investigation of simple memetic approaches for continuous global optimization

In [Locatelli et al., 2014] a memetic approach, called MDE, for the solution of continuous global optimization problems, has been introduced and proved to be quite efficient in spite of its simplicity. In this paper we computationally investigate some variants of MDE. The investigation reveals that the best variant of MDE usually outperforms MDE itself, … Read more

On an open question about the complexity of a dynamic spectrum management problem

In this paper we discuss the complexity of a dynamic spectrum management problem within a multi-user communication system with K users and N available tones. In this problem a common utility function is optimized. In particular, so called min-rate, harmonic mean and geometric mean utility functions are considered. The complexity of the optimization problems with … Read more

Differerential Evolution methods based on local searches

In this paper we analyze the behavior of a quite standard Differential Evolution (DE) algorithm applied to the objective function transformed by means of local searches. First some surprising results are presented which concern the application of this method to standard test functions. Later we introduce an application to disk- and to sphere-packing problems, two … Read more

Branch and cut algorithms for detecting critical nodes in undirected graphs

In this paper we deal with the critical node problem, where a given number of nodes has to be removed from an undirected graph in order to maximize the disconnections between the node pairs of the graph. We propose an integer linear programming model with a non-polynomial number of constraints but whose linear relaxation can … Read more

Optimization and homotopy methods for the Gibbs free energy of magmatic mixtures

In this paper we consider a mathematical model for magmatic mixtures based on the Gibbs free energy. Different reformulations of the problem are presented and some theoretical results about the existence and number of solutions are derived. Finally, two homotopy methods and a global optimization one are introduced and computationally tested. One of the homotopy … Read more

On the relation between concavity cuts and the surrogate dual for convex maximization problems

In this note we establish a relation between two bounds for convex maximization problems, the one based on a concavity cut, and the surrogate dual bound. Both bounds have been known in the literature for a few decades but, to the authors’ knowledge, the relation between them has not been previously observed in the literature. … Read more

Convex envelopes for quadratic and polynomial functions over polytopes

In this paper we consider the problem of computing the value and a supporting hyperplane of the convex envelope for quadratic and polynomial functions over polytopes with known vertex set. We show that for general quadratic functions the computation can be carried on through a copositive problem, but in some cases (including all the two-dimensional … Read more