A Hybrid Discretization Algorithm with Guaranteed Feasibility for the Global Solution of Semi-Infinite Programs

A discretization-based algorithm for the global solution of semi-infinite programs (SIPs) is proposed, which is guaranteed to converge to a feasible, ε-optimal solution finitely under mild assumptions. The algorithm is based on the hybridization of two existing algorithms. The first algorithm (Mitsos in Optimization 60(10–11):1291–1308, 2011) is based on a restriction of the right-hand side … Read more

Strong Duality and Dual Pricing Properties in Semi-infinite Linear Programming–A Non-Fourier-Motzkin Elimination Approach

The Fourier-Motzkin elimination method has been recently extended to linear inequality systems that have infinitely many inequalities. It has been used in the study of linear semi-infinite programming by Basu, Martin, and Ryan. Following the idea of the conjecture for semi-infinite programming in a paper by Kortanek and Zhang recently published in Optimization, which states … Read more

Semi-infinite programming using high-degree polynomial interpolants and semidefinite programming

In a common formulation of semi-infinite programs, the infinite constraint set is a requirement that a function parametrized by the decision variables is nonnegative over an interval. If this function is sufficiently closely approximable by a polynomial or a rational function, then the semi-infinite program can be reformulated as an equivalent semidefinite program. Solving this … Read more

Strong duality and sensitivity analysis in semi-infinite linear programming

Finite-dimensional linear programs satisfy strong duality (SD) and have the “dual pricing” (DP) property. The (DP) property ensures that, given a sufficiently small perturbation of the right-hand-side vector, there exists a dual solution that correctly “prices” the perturbation by computing the exact change in the optimal objective function value. These properties may fail in semi-infinite … Read more

Combinatorial Optimal Control of Semilinear Elliptic PDEs

Optimal control problems (OCP) containing both integrality and partial differential equation (PDE) constraints are very challenging in practice. The most wide-spread solution approach is to first discretize the problem, it results in huge and typically nonconvex mixed-integer optimization problems that can be solved to proven optimality only in very small dimensions. In this paper, we … Read more

Solving disjunctive optimization problems by generalized semi-infinite optimization techniques

We describe a new possibility to model disjunctive optimization problems as generalized semi-infinite programs. In contrast to existing methods, for our approach neither a conjunctive nor a disjunctive normal form is expected. Applying existing lower level reformulations for the corresponding semi-infinite program we derive conjunctive nonlinear problems without any logical expressions, which can be locally … Read more

A collision detection approach for maximizing the material utilization

We introduce a new method for a task of maximal material utilization, which is is to fit a flexible, scalable three-dimensional body into another aiming for maximal volume whereas position and shape may vary. The difficulty arises from the containment constraint which is not easy to handle numerically. We use a collision detection method to … Read more

On Calmness of the Argmin Mapping in Parametric Optimization Problems

Recently, Canovas et. al. (2013) presented an interesting result: the argmin mapping of a linear semi-infinite program under canonical perturbations is calm if and only if some associated linear semi-infinite inequality system is calm. Using classical tools from parametric optimization, we show that the if-direction of this condition holds in a much more general framework … Read more

Confidence Levels for CVaR Risk Measures and Minimax Limits

Conditional value at risk (CVaR) has been widely used as a risk measure in finance. When the confidence level of CVaR is set close to 1, the CVaR risk measure approximates the extreme (worst scenario) risk measure. In this paper, we present a quantitative analysis of the relationship between the two risk measures and its … Read more

Primal-dual methods for solving infinite-dimensional games

In this paper we show that the infinite-dimensional differential games with simple objective functional can be solved in a finite-dimensional dual form in the space of dual multipliers for the constraints related to the end points of the trajectories. The primal solutions can be easily reconstructed by the appropriate dual subgradient schemes. The suggested schemes … Read more