There is no variational characterization of the cycles in the method of periodic projections

The method of periodic projections consists in iterating projections onto $m$ closed convex subsets of a Hilbert space according to a periodic sweeping strategy. In the presence of $m\geq 3$ sets, a long-standing question going back to the 1960s is whether the limit cycles obtained by such a process can be characterized as the minimizers … Read more

A new, solvable, primal relaxation for convex nonlinear integer programming problems

The paper describes a new primal relaxation (PR) for computing bounds on nonlinear integer programming (NLIP) problems. It is a natural extension to NLIP problems of the geometric interpretation of Lagrangean relaxation presented by Geoffrion (1974) for linear problems, and it is based on the same assumption that some constraints are complicating and are treated … Read more

Convexity Conditions of Kantorovich Function and Related Semi-infinite Linear Matrix Inequalities

The Kantorovich function $(x^TAx)( x^T A^{-1} x)$, where $A$ is a positive definite matrix, is not convex in general. From a matrix or convex analysis point of view, it is interesting to address the question: When is this function convex? In this paper, we prove that the 2-dimensional Kantorovich function is convex if and only … Read more

New Bounds for Restricted Isometry Constants in Low-rank Matrix Recovery

In this paper, we establish new bounds for restricted isometry constants (RIC) in low-rank matrix recovery. Let $\A$ be a linear transformation from $\R^{m \times n}$ into $\R^p$, and $r$ the rank of recovered matrix $X\in \R^{m \times n}$. Our main result is that if the condition on RIC satisfies $\delta_{2r+k}+2(\frac{r}{k})^{1/2}\delta_{\max\{r+\frac{3}{2}k,2k\}}

A Double Smoothing Technique for Constrained Convex Optimization Problems and Applications to Optimal Control

In this paper, we propose an efficient approach for solving a class of convex optimization problems in Hilbert spaces. Our feasible region is a (possibly infinite-dimensional) simple convex set, i.e. we assume that projections on this set are computationally easy to compute. The problem we consider is the minimization of a convex function over this … Read more

Piecewise quadratic approximations in convex numerical optimization

We present a bundle method for convex nondifferentiable minimization where the model is a piecewise quadratic convex approximation of the objective function. Unlike standard bundle approaches, the model only needs to support the objective function from below at a properly chosen (small) subset of points, as opposed to everywhere. We provide the convergence analysis for … Read more

Target-following framework for symmetric cone programming

We extend the target map, together with the weighted barriers and the notions of weighted analytic centers, from linear programming to general convex conic programming. This extension is obtained from a novel geometrical perspective of the weighted barriers, that views a weighted barrier as a weighted sum of barriers for a strictly decreasing sequence of … Read more

Alternating Direction Method with Gaussian Back Substitution for Separable Convex Programming

We consider the linearly constrained separable convex programming whose objective function is separable into m individual convex functions without crossed variables. The alternating direction method (ADM) has been well studied in the literature for the special case m=2. But the convergence of extending ADM to the general case m>=3 is still open. In this paper, … Read more

First-order Methods of Smooth Convex Optimization with Inexact Oracle

We introduce the notion of inexact first-order oracle and analyze the behaviour of several first-order methods of smooth convex optimization used with such an oracle. This notion of inexact oracle naturally appears in the context of smoothing techniques, Moreau-Yosida regularization, Augmented Lagrangians and many other situations. We derive complexity estimates for primal, dual and fast … Read more

The central curve in linear programming

The central curve of a linear program is an algebraic curve specified by linear and quadratic constraints arising from complementary slackness. It is the union of the various central paths for minimizing or maximizing the cost function over any region in the associated hyperplane arrangement. We determine the degree, arithmetic genus and defining prime ideal … Read more