Inexact alternating projections on nonconvex sets

Given two arbitrary closed sets in Euclidean space, a simple transversality condition guarantees that the method of alternating projections converges locally, at linear rate, to a point in the intersection. Exact projection onto nonconvex sets is typically intractable, but we show that computationally-cheap inexact projections may suffice instead. In particular, if one set is defined … Read more

Sparse Mean-Reverting Portfolios via Penalized Likelihood Optimization

An optimization approach is proposed to construct sparse portfolios with mean-reverting price behaviors. Our objectives are threefold: (i) design a multi-asset long-short portfolio that best fits an Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process in terms of maximum likelihood, (ii) select portfolios with desirable characteristics of high mean reversion and low variance though penalization, and (iii) select a parsimonious portfolio … Read more

Numerical Solution of Optimal Control Problems with Switches, Switching Costs and Jumps

In this article, we present a framework for the numerical solution of optimal control problems, constrained by ordinary differential equations which can run in (finitely many) different modes, where a change of modes leads to additional switching cost in the cost function, and whenever the system changes its mode, jumps in the differential states are … Read more

On the Convergence to Stationary Points of Deterministic and Randomized Feasible Descent Directions Methods

We study the class of nonsmooth nonconvex problems in which the objective is to minimize the difference between a continuously differentiable function (possibly nonconvex) and a convex (possibly nonsmooth) function over a convex polytope. This general class contains many types of problems, including difference of convex functions (DC) problems, and as such, can be used … Read more

Non-monotone Inexact Restoration Method for nonlinear programming

This paper deals with a new variant of the Inexact Restoration Method of Fischer and Friedlander (COAP, 46, pp. 333-346, 2010). We propose an algorithm that replaces the monotone line-search performed in the tangent phase (with regard to the penalty function) by a non-monotone one. Con- vergence to feasible points satisfying the approximate gradient projection … Read more

Decision Diagram Decomposition for Quadratically Constrained Binary Optimization

In recent years the use of decision diagrams within the context of discrete optimization has proliferated. This paper continues this expansion by proposing the use of decision diagrams for modeling and solving binary optimization problems with quadratic constraints. The model proposes the use of multiple decision diagrams to decompose a quadratic matrix so that each … Read more

Parallelizable Algorithms for Optimization Problems with Orthogonality Constraints

To construct a parallel approach for solving optimization problems with orthogonality constraints is usually regarded as an extremely difficult mission, due to the low scalability of the orthonormalization procedure. However, such demand is particularly huge in some application areas such as materials computation. In this paper, we propose a proximal linearized augmented Lagrangian algorithm (PLAM) … Read more

An inertial extrapolation method for convex simple bilevel optimization

We consider a scalar objective minimization problem over the solution set of another optimization problem. This problem is known as simple bilevel optimization problem and has drawn a significant attention in the last few years. Our inner problem consists of minimizing the sum of smooth and nonsmooth functions while the outer one is the minimization … Read more

On the complexity of an Inexact Restoration method for constrained optimization

Recent papers indicate that some algorithms for constrained optimization may exhibit worst-case complexity bounds that are very similar to those of unconstrained optimization algorithms. A natural question is whether well established practical algorithms, perhaps with small variations, may enjoy analogous complexity results. In the present paper we show that the answer is positive with respect … Read more

An Inexact First-order Method for Constrained Nonlinear Optimization

The primary focus of this paper is on designing inexact first-order methods for solving large-scale constrained nonlinear optimization problems. By controlling the inexactness of the subproblem solution, we can significantly reduce the computational cost needed for each iteration. A penalty parameter updating strategy during the subproblem solve enables the algorithm to automatically detect infeasibility. Global … Read more