Dynamic scaling in the Mesh Adaptive Direct Search algorithm for blackbox optimization

Blackbox optimization deals with situations in which the objective function and constraints are typically computed by launching a time-consuming computer sim- ulation. The subject of this work is the Mesh Adaptive Direct Search (MADS) class of algorithms for blackbox optimization. We propose a way to dynamically scale the mesh, which is the discrete spatial structure … Read more

Generalized Inexact Proximal Algorithms: Habit’s/ Routine’s Formation with Resistance to Change, following Worthwhile Changes

This paper shows how, in a quasi metric space, an inexact proximal algorithm with a generalized perturbation term appears to be a nice tool for Behavioral Sciences (Psychology, Economics, Management, Game theory,…). More precisely, the new perturbation term represents an index of resistance to change, defined as a “curved enough” function of the quasi distance … Read more

On the update of constraint preconditioners for regularized KKT systems

We address the problem of preconditioning sequences of regularized KKT systems, such as those arising in Interior Point methods for convex quadratic programming. In this case, Constraint Preconditioners (CPs) are very effective and widely used; however, when solving large-scale problems, the computational cost for their factorization may be high, and techniques for approximating them appear … Read more

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