On the use of the saddle formulation in weakly-constrained 4D-VAR data assimilation

This paper discusses the practical use of the saddle variational formulation for the weakly-constrained 4D-VAR method in data assimilation. It is shown that the method, in its original form, may produce erratic results or diverge because of the inherent lack of monotonicity of the produced objective function values. Convergent, variationaly coherent variants of the algorithm … Read more

Optimal threshold classification characteristics

This study looks at the application of mathematical concepts of entropy and Fibonacci sequence in creating optimal dimensional relations of classification character. The paper is devoted to optimization of some numerical relations and integers as unified threshold characteristics of classification type, aimed for example at systemic optimizing the measuring information of various processes. The paper … Read more

A MIQCP formulation for B-spline constraints

This paper presents a mixed-integer quadratically constrained programming (MIQCP) formulation for B-spline constraints. The formulation can be used to obtain an exact MIQCP reformulation of any spline-constrained optimization problem, provided that the polynomial spline functions are continuous. This reformulation allows practitioners to use a general-purpose MIQCP solver, instead of a special-purpose spline solver, when solving … Read more

Sequential Linear Programming and Particle Swarm Optimization for the optimization of energy districts

In this paper we deal with the optimization of energy resources management of industrial districts, with the aim of minimizing the customer energy expenses. In a district the number of possible energy system combinations is really large, and a manual design approach might lead to a suboptimal solution. For this reason we designed a software … Read more

Open research areas in distance geometry

Distance Geometry is based on the inverse problem that asks to find the positions of points, in a Euclidean space of given dimension, that are compatible with a given set of distances. We briefly introduce the field, and discuss some open and promising research areas. ArticleDownload View PDF

A New First-order Algorithmic Framework for Optimization Problems with Orthogonality Constraints

In this paper, we consider a class of optimization problems with orthogonality constraints, the feasible region of which is called the Stiefel manifold. Our new framework combines a function value reduction step with a correction step. Different from the existing approaches, the function value reduction step of our algorithmic framework searches along the standard Euclidean … Read more

On max-k-sums

The max-$k$-sum of a set of real scalars is the maximum sum of a subset of size $k$, or alternatively the sum of the $k$ largest elements. We study two extensions: First, we show how to obtain smooth approximations to functions that are pointwise max-$k$-sums of smooth functions. Second, we discuss how the max-$k$-sum can … Read more

Positioning and construction algorithms for a specific absolute positioning magnetic ruler system

Abstract Absolute positioning magnetic rulers are rulers which calculate the distance of the reading head based just on one reading of a magnetic signal. A new absolute positioning magnetic ruler method which is based on rulers with trapezoidal magnetic poles is considered in this paper. On a fixed position of a ruler, the reading head … Read more

Constructing New Weighted l1-Algorithms for the Sparsest Points of Polyhedral Sets

The l0-minimization problem that seeks the sparsest point of a polyhedral set is a longstanding challenging problem in the fields of signal and image processing, numerical linear algebra and mathematical optimization. The weighted l1-method is one of the most plausible methods for solving this problem. In this paper, we develop a new weighted l1-method through … Read more

Unconditionally energy stable time stepping scheme for Cahn-Morral equation: application to multi-component spinodal decomposition and optimal space tiling

An unconditionally energy stable time stepping scheme is introduced to solve Cahn-Morral-like equations in the present study. It is constructed based on the combination of David Eyre’s time stepping scheme and Schur complement approach. Although the presented method is general and independent to the choice of homogeneous free energy density function term, logarithmic and polynomial … Read more