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

Normally admissible stratifications and calculation of normal cones to a finite union of polyhedral sets

This paper considers computation of Fr\’echet and limiting normal cones to a finite union of polyhedra. To this aim, we introduce a new concept of normally admissible stratification which is convenient for calculations of such cones and provide its basic properties. We further derive formulas for the above mentioned cones and compare our approach to … Read more

On fast trust region methods for quadratic models with linear constraints

Quadratic models Q_k(.) of the objective function F(.) are used by many successful iterative algorithms for minimization, where k is the iteration number. Given the vector of variables x_k, a new vector x_{k+1} may be calculated that satisfies Q_k(x_{k+1}) < Q_k(x_k), in the hope that it provides the reduction F(x_{k+1}) < F(x_k). Trust region methods ... Read more

A Feasible Direction Algorithm for Nonlinear Second-Order Cone Optimization Problems

In this work we present a new feasible direction algorithm for solving smooth nonlinear second-order cone programs. These problems consist of minimizing a nonlinear di erentiable objective function subject to some nonlinear second-order cone constraints. Given a point interior to the feasible set de nfined by the nonlinear constraints, the proposed approach computes a feasible and descent … Read more

Adaptive Augmented Lagrangian Methods: Algorithms and Practical Numerical Experience

In this paper, we consider augmented Lagrangian (AL) algorithms for solving large-scale nonlinear optimization problems that execute adaptive strategies for updating the penalty parameter. Our work is motivated by the recently proposed adaptive AL trust region method by Curtis et al. [An adaptive augmented Lagrangian method for large-scale constrained optimization, Math. Program. 152 (2015), pp.201–245.]. … Read more

On Second Order Optimality Conditions in Nonlinear Optimization

In this work we present new weak conditions that ensure the validity of necessary second order optimality conditions (SOC) for nonlinear optimization. We are able to prove that weak and strong SOCs hold for all Lagrange multipliers using Abadie-type assumptions. We also prove weak and strong SOCs for at least one Lagrange multiplier imposing the … Read more

A Lagrangean Decomposition Approach for Robust Combinatorial Optimization

We address robust versions of combinatorial optimization problems, specializing on the discrete scenario case and the uncorrelated ellipsoidal uncertainty case. We present a branch and bound-algorithm for the min-max variant of these problems which uses lower bounds obtained from Lagrangean decomposition, allowing to separate the uncertainty aspect in the objective function from the combinatorial structure … Read more

Globally Convergent Evolution Strategies for Constrained Optimization.

In this work we propose, analyze, and test algorithms for linearly constrained optimization when no use of derivatives of the objective function is made. The proposed methodology is built upon the globally convergent evolution strategies previously introduced by the authors for unconstrained optimization. Two approaches are encompassed to handle the constraints. In a first approach, … Read more

An Augmented Lagrangian based Algorithm for Distributed Non-Convex Optimization

This paper is about distributed derivative-based algorithms for solving optimization problems with a separable (potentially nonconvex) objective function and coupled affine constraints. A parallelizable method is proposed that combines ideas from the fields of sequential quadratic programming and augmented Lagrangian algorithms. The method negotiates shared dual variables that may be interpreted as prices, a concept … Read more