We study the problem of maximizing the second smallest eigenvalue of the Laplace matrix of a graph over all nonnegative edge weightings with bounded total weight. The optimal value is the \emph{absolute algebraic connectivity} introduced by Fiedler, who proved tight connections of this value to the connectivity of the graph. Using semidefinite programming techniques and … Read more
We consider 3-partitioning the vertices of a graph into sets $S_1, S_2$ and $S_3$ of specified cardinalities, such that the total weight of all edges joining $S_1$ and $S_2$ is minimized. This problem is closely related to several NP-hard problems like determining the bandwidth or finding a vertex separator in a graph. We show that … Read more
In this paper we consider the following two types of complex quadratic maximization problems: (i) maximize $z^{\HH} Q z$, subject to $z_k^m=1$, $k=1,…,n$, where $Q$ is a Hermitian matrix with $\tr Q=0$ and $z\in \C^n$ is the decision vector; (ii) maximize $\re y^{\HH}Az$, subject to $y_k^m=1$, $k=1,…,p$, and $z_l^m=1$, $l=1,…,q$, where $A\in \C^{p\times q}$ and … Read more
This paper studies the possibilities of the Linear Matrix Inequality (LMI) characterization of the matrix cones formed by nonnegative complex Hermitian quadratic functions over specific domains in the complex space. In its real case analog, such studies were conducted in Sturm and Zhang in 2003. In this paper it is shown that stronger results can … Read more
We address a problem of covariance selection, where we seek a trade-off between a high likelihood against the number of non-zero elements in the inverse covariance matrix. We solve a maximum likelihood problem with a penalty term given by the sum of absolute values of the elements of the inverse covariance matrix, and allow for … Read more
The purpose of this paper is two-fold. Firstly, we show that every Cholesky-based weighted central path for semidefinite programming is analytic under strict complementarity. This result is applied to homogeneous cone programming to show that the central paths defined by the known class of optimal self-concordant barriers are analytic in the presence of strictly complementary … Read more
Lov\’ asz and Schrijver [1991] have constructed semidefinite relaxations for the stable set polytope of a graph $G=(V,E)$ by a sequence of lift-and-project operations; their procedure finds the stable set polytope in at most $\alpha(G)$ steps, where $\alpha(G)$ is the stability number of $G$. Two other hierarchies of semidefinite bounds for the stability number have … Read more
This paper presents a branch-and-bound algorithm for nonconvex quadratic programming, which is based on solving semidefinite relaxations at each node of the enumeration tree. The method is motivated by a recent branch-and-cut approach for the box-constrained case that employs linear relaxations of the first-order KKT conditions. We discuss certain limitations of linear relaxations when handling … Read more
For a locally optimal solution to the nonlinear semidefinite programming problem, under Robinson’s constraint qualification, the following conditions are proved to be equivalent: the strong second order sufficient condition and constraint nondegeneracy; the nonsingularity of Clarke’s Jacobian of the Karush-Kuhn-Tucker system; the strong regularity of the Karush-Kuhn-Tucker point; and others. Citation Technical Report, Department of … Read more
We propose minimum volume ellipsoids (MVE) clustering as an alternate clustering technique to k-means clustering for Gaussian data points and explore its value and practicality. MVE clustering allocates data points into clusters that minimizes the total volumes of each cluster’s covering ellipsoids. Motivations for this approach include its scale-invariance, its ability to handle asymmetric and … Read more