Max-min separability: incremental approach and application to supervised data classification

A new algorithm for the computation of a piecewise linear function separating two finite point sets in $n$-dimensional space is developed and the algorithm is applied to solve supervised data classification problems. The algorithm computes hyperplanes incrementally and it finds as many hyperplanes as necessary to separate two sets with respect to some tolerance. An … Read more

Semidefinite Representation of Convex Sets

Let $S =\{x\in \re^n:\, g_1(x)\geq 0, \cdots, g_m(x)\geq 0\}$ be a semialgebraic set defined by multivariate polynomials $g_i(x)$. Assume $S$ is convex, compact and has nonempty interior. Let $S_i =\{x\in \re^n:\, g_i(x)\geq 0\}$, and $\bdS$ (resp. $\bdS_i$) be the boundary of $S$ (resp. $S_i$). This paper, as does the subject of semidefinite programming (SDP), concerns … Read more

An iterative approach for cone complementarity problems for nonsmooth multibody dynamics

Aiming at a fast and robust simulation of large multibody systems with contacts and friction, this work presents a novel method for solving large cone complementarity problems by means of a fixed-point iteration. The method is an extension of the Gauss-Seidel and Gauss-Jacobi method with overrelaxation for symmetric convex linear complementarity problems. The method is … Read more

Necessary optimality condition for Nonsmooth Switching Control problem

This paper is concerned with a class optimal switching nonsmoth optimal control problem is considered. Both the switching instants and the control function are to the chosen such that the cost functional is minimized.The necessary optimality conditions are derived by means of normal cone and Dubovitskii Milyutin theory. CitationTechnical report 2007-3 Submited to the journal … Read more

Convex duality and entropy-based moment closure: Characterizing degenerate densities

A common method for constructing a function from a finite set of moments is to solve a constrained minimization problem. The idea is to find, among all functions with the given moments, that function which minimizes a physically motivated, strictly convex functional. In the kinetic theory of gases, this functional is the kinetic entropy; the … Read more

The kernel average for two convex functions and its application to the extension and representation of monotone operators

We provide and analyze a based average for two convex functions, based on a kernel function. It covers several known averages such as the arithmetic average, epigraphical average, and the proximal average. When applied to the Fitzpatrick function and the conjugate of Fitzpatrick function associated with a monotone operator, our average produces an autoconjugate (also … Read more

The Speed of Shor’s R-Algorithm

Shor’s r-algorithm is an iterative method for unconstrained optimization, designed for minimizing nonsmooth functions, for which its reported success has been considerable. Although some limited convergence results are known, nothing seems to be known about the algorithm’s rate of convergence, even in the smooth case. We study how the method behaves on convex quadratics, proving … Read more

Two Algorithms for the Minimum Enclosing Ball Problem

Given $\cA := \{a^1,\ldots,a^m\} \subset \R^n$ and $\eps > 0$, we propose and analyze two algorithms for the problem of computing a $(1 + \eps)$-approximation to the radius of the minimum enclosing ball of $\cA$. The first algorithm is closely related to the Frank-Wolfe algorithm with a proper initialization applied to the dual formulation of … Read more

A Coordinate Gradient Descent Method for Nonsmooth Separable Minimization

We consider the problem of minimizing the sum of a smooth function and a separable convex function. This problem includes as special cases bound-constrained optimization and smooth optimization with l_1-regularization. We propose a (block) coordinate gradient descent method for solving this class of nonsmooth separable problems. We establish global convergence and, under a local Lipschitzian … Read more

Monotonicity of L”{o}wner Operators and Its Applications to Symmetric Cone Complementarity Problems

This paper focuses on monotone L\”{o}wner operators in Euclidean Jordan algebras and their applications to the symmetric cone complementarity problem (SCCP). We prove necessary and sufficient conditions for locally Lipschitz L\”{o}wner operators to be monotone, strictly monotone and strongly monotone. We also study the relationship between monotonicity and operator-monotonicity of L\”{o}wner operators. As a by-product … Read more