Recovering Risk-Neutral Probability Density Functions from Options Prices using Cubic Splines

We present a new approach to estimate the risk-neutral probability density function (pdf) of the future prices of an underlying asset from the prices of options written on the asset. The estimation is carried out in the space of cubic spline functions, yielding appropriate smoothness. The resulting optimization problem, used to invert the data and … Read more

Subspace trust-region methods for large bound-constrained nonlinear equations

Trust-region methods for solving large bound-constrained nonlinear systems are considered. They allow for spherical or elliptical trust-regions where the search of an approximate solution is restricted to a low dimensional space. A general formulation for these methods is introduced and global and superlinear/quadratic convergence is shown under standard assumptions. Viable approaches for implementation in conjunction … Read more

Convergence analysis of a primal-dual interior-point method for nonlinear programming

We analyze a primal-dual interior-point method for nonlinear programming. We prove the global convergence for a wide class of problems under the standard assumptions on the problem. Citation Technical Report ORFE-04-07, Department of ORFE, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544 Article Download View Convergence analysis of a primal-dual interior-point method for nonlinear programming

A primal-dual nonlinear rescaling method with dynamic scaling parameter update

In this paper we developed a general primal-dual nonlinear rescaling method with dynamic scaling parameter update (PDNRD) for convex optimization. We proved the global convergence, established 1.5-Q-superlinear rate of convergence under the standard second order optimality conditions. The PDNRD was numerically implemented and tested on a number of nonlinear problems from COPS and CUTE sets. … Read more

Numerical experiments with an interior-exterior point method for nonlinear programming

The paper presents an algorithm for solving nonlinear programming problems. The algorithm is based on the combination of interior and exterior point methods. The latter is also known as the primal-dual nonlinear rescaling method. The paper shows that in certain cases when the interior point method fails to achieve the solution with the high level … Read more

Steered sequential projections for the inconsistent convex feasibility problem

We study a steered sequential gradient algorithm which minimizes the sum of convex functions by proceeding cyclically in the directions of the negative gradients of the functions and using steered step-sizes. This algorithm is applied to the convex feasibility problem by minimizing a proximity function which measures the sum of the Bregman distances to the … Read more

Constrained optimization in seismic reflection tomography: an SQP augmented Lagrangian approach

Seismic reflection tomography is a method for determining a subsurface velocity model from the traveltimes of seismic waves reflecting on geological interfaces. From an optimization viewpoint, the problem consists in minimizing a nonlinear least-squares function measuring the mismatch between observed traveltimes and those calculated by ray tracing in this model. The introduction of a priori … Read more

Additional properties of shifted valiable metric methods.

Some supplements to shifted variable metric or quasi-Newton methods for unconstrained minimization are given, including new limited-memory methods. Global convergence of these methods can be established for convex sufficiently smooth functions. Some encouraging numerical experience is reported. Citation Report No. V899-03, Institute of Computer Scienc, Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, December 2003 (revised May 2004). … Read more

Necessary and Sufficient Optimality Conditions for Mathematical Programs with Equilibrium Constraints

In this paper we consider a mathematical program with equilibrium constraints (MPEC) formulated as a mathematical program with complementarity constraints. Various stationary conditions for MPECs exist in literature due to different reformulations. We give a simple proof to the M-stationary condition and show that it is sufficient or locally sufficient for optimality under some MPEC … Read more

On the Relationship Between Convergence Rates of Discrete and Continuous Dynamical Systems

Considering iterative sequences that arise when the approximate solution $x_k$ to a numerical problem is updated by $x_{k+1} = x_k+v(x_k)$, where $v$ is a vector field, we derive necessary and sufficient conditions for such discrete methods to converge to a stationary point of $v$ at different Q-rates in terms of the differential properties of $v$ … Read more