Direct search based on probabilistic descent

Direct-search methods are a class of popular derivative-free algorithms characterized by evaluating the objective function using a step size and a number of (polling) directions. When applied to the minimization of smooth functions, the polling directions are typically taken from positive spanning sets which in turn must have at least n+1 vectors in an n-dimensional … Read more

Parallel Multi-Block ADMM with o(1/k) Convergence

This paper introduces a parallel and distributed extension to the alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM). The algorithm decomposes the original problem into N smaller subproblems and solves them in parallel at each iteration. This Jacobian-type algorithm is well suited for distributed computing and is particularly attractive for solving certain large-scale problems. This paper introduces … Read more

On solving symmetric systems of linear equations in an unnormalized Krylov subspace framework

In an unnormalized Krylov subspace framework for solving symmetric systems of linear equations, the orthogonal vectors that are generated by a Lanczos process are not necessarily on the form of gradients. Associating each orthogonal vector with a triple, and using only the three-term recurrences of the triples, we give conditions on whether a symmetric system … Read more

Relaxing nonconvex quadratic functions by multiple adaptive diagonal perturbations

The current bottleneck of globally solving mixed-integer (nonconvex) quadratically constrained problem (MIQCP) is still to construct strong but computationally cheap convex relaxations, especially when dense quadratic functions are present. We pro- pose a cutting surface procedure based on multiple diagonal perturbations to derive strong convex quadratic relaxations for nonconvex quadratic problem with separable constraints. Our … Read more

A modified limited-memory BNS method for unconstrained minimization based on the conjugate directions idea

A modification of the limited-memory variable metric BNS method for large scale unconstrained optimization is proposed, which consist in corrections (derived from the idea of conjugate directions) of the used difference vectors for better satisfaction of previous quasi-Newton conditions. In comparison with [16], where a similar approach is used, correction vectors from more previous iterations … Read more

A globally convergent trust-region algorithm for unconstrained derivative-free optimization

In this work we explicit a derivative-free trust-region algorithm for unconstrained optimization based on the paper (Computational Optimization and Applications 53: 527-555, 2012) proposed by Powell. The objective function is approximated by quadratic models obtained by polynomial interpolation. The number of points of the interpolation set is fixed. In each iteration only one interpolation point … Read more

Derivative-free Methods for Mixed-Integer Constrained Optimization Problems

Methods which do not use any derivative information are becoming popular among researchers, since they allow to solve many real-world engineering problems. Such problems are frequently characterized by the presence of discrete variables which can further complicate the optimization process. In this paper, we propose derivative-free algorithms for solving continuously differentiable Mixed Integer NonLinear Programming … Read more

A Fast Active Set Block Coordinate Descent Algorithm for l1-regularized least squares

The problem of finding sparse solutions to underdetermined systems of linear equations arises in several real-world problems (e.g. signal and image processing, compressive sensing, statistical inference). A standard tool for dealing with sparse recovery is the l1-regularized least-squares approach that has been recently attracting the attention of many researchers. In this paper, we describe an … Read more

A Family of Subgradient-Based Methods for Convex Optimization Problems in a Unifying Framework

We propose a new family of subgradient- and gradient-based methods which converges with optimal complexity for convex optimization problems whose feasible region is simple enough. This includes cases where the objective function is non-smooth, smooth, have composite/saddle structure, or are given by an inexact oracle model. We unified the way of constructing the subproblems which … Read more

SQP Methods for Parametric Nonlinear Optimization

Sequential quadratic programming (SQP) methods are known to be effi- cient for solving a series of related nonlinear optimization problems because of desirable hot and warm start properties–a solution for one problem is a good estimate of the solution of the next. However, standard SQP solvers contain elements to enforce global convergence that can interfere … Read more