In this paper, we introduce a transformation that converts a class of linear and nonlinear semidefinite programming (SDP) problems into nonlinear optimization problems. For those problems of interest, the transformation replaces matrix-valued constraints by vector-valued ones, hence reducing the number of constraints by an order of magnitude. The class of transformable problems includes instances of … Read more
Line search methods for nonlinear programming using Fletcher and Leyffer’s filter method, which replaces the traditional merit function, are proposed and their global and local convergence properties are analyzed. Previous theoretical work on filter methods has considered trust region algorithms and only the question of global convergence. The presented framework is applied to barrier interior … Read more
The paper proposes a constrained Nonlinear Programming methodology for volatility estimation with GARCH models. These models are usually developed and solved as unconstrained optimization problems whereas they actually fit into nonlinear, nonconvex problems. Computational results on FTSE 100 and S & P 500 indices with up to 1500 data points are given and contrasted to … Read more
The asymptotic convergence of parameterized variants of Newton’s method for the solution of nonlinear systems of equations is considered. The original system is perturbed by a term involving the variables and a scalar parameter which is driven to zero as the iteration proceeds. The exact local solutions to the perturbed systems then form a differentiable … Read more
We examine the sequence of local minimizers of the log-barrier function for a nonlinear program near a solution at which second-order sufficient conditions and the Mangasarian-Fromovitz constraint qualifications are satisfied, but the active constraint gradients are not necessarily linearly independent. When a strict complementarity condition is satisfied, we show uniqueness of the local minimizer of … Read more
This paper presents and analyzes a pattern search method for general constrained optimization based on filter methods for step acceptance. Roughly, a filter method accepts a step that either improves the objective function value or the value of some function that measures the constraint violation. The new algorithm does not compute or approximate any derivatives, … Read more
A series of numerical experiments with interior point (LOQO, KNITRO) and active-set SQP codes (SNOPT, filterSQP) are reported and analyzed. The tests were performed with small, medium-size and moderately large problems, and are examined by problem classes. Detailed observations on the performance of the codes, and several suggestions on how to improve them are presented. … Read more
A slack-based feasible interior point method is described which can be derived as a modification of infeasible methods. The modification is minor for most line search methods, but trust region methods require special attention. It is shown how the Cauchy point, which is often computed in trust region methods, must be modified so that the … Read more
This paper introduces and analyses a new algorithm for minimizing a convex function subject to a finite number of convex inequality constraints. It is assumed that the Lagrangian of the problem is strongly convex. The algorithm combines interior point methods for dealing with the inequality constraints and quasi-Newton techniques for accelerating the convergence. Feasibility of … Read more
In the vicinity of a solution of a nonlinear programming problem at which both strict complementarity and linear independence of the active constraints may fail to hold, we describe a technique for distinguishing weakly active from strongly active constraints. We show that this information can be used to modify the sequential quadratic programming algorithm so … Read more