Smoothing Method of Multipliers for Sum-Max Problems

We study nonsmooth unconstrained optimization problem, which includes sum of pairwise maxima of smooth functions. Minimum $l_1$-norm approximation is a particular case of this problem. Combining ideas Lagrange multipliers with smooth approximation of max-type function, we obtain a new kind of nonquadratic augmented Lagrangian. Our approach does not require artificial variables, and preserves sparse structure … Read more

New Versions of Interior Point Methods Applied to the Optimal Power Flow Problem

Interior Point methods for Nonlinear Programming have been extensively used to solve the Optimal Power Flow problem. These optimization algorithms require the solution of a set of nonlinear equations to obtain the optimal solution of the power network equations. During the iterative process to solve these equations, the search for the optimum is based on … Read more

A globally convergent filter method for nonlinear programming

In this paper we present a filter algorithm for nonlinear programming and prove its global convergence to stationary points. Each iteration is composed of a restoration phase, which reduces a measure of infeasibility, and an optimality phase, which reduces the objective function in a tangential approximation of the feasible set. These two phases are totally … Read more

Object-Oriented Software for Quadratic Programming

We describe the object-oriented software package OOQP for solving convex quadratic programming problems (QP). The primal-dual interior point algorithms supplied by OOQP are implemented in a way that is largely independent of the problem structure. Users may exploit problem structure by supplying linear algebra, problem data, and variable classes that are customized to their particular … Read more

New Classes of Globally Convexized Filled Functions for Global Optimization

We propose new classes of globally convexized filled functions. Unlike the globally convexized filled functions previously proposed in literature, the ones proposed in this paper are continuously differentiable and, under suitable assumptions, their unconstrained minimization allows to escape from any local minima of the original objective function. Moreover we show that the properties of the … Read more

Solving a Class of Semidefinite Programs via Nonlinear Programming

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

Simple Efficient Solutions for Semidefinite Programming

This paper provides a simple approach for solving a semidefinite program, SDP\@. As is common with many other approaches, we apply a primal-dual method that uses the perturbed optimality equations for SDP, $F_\mu(X,y,Z)=0$, where $X,Z$ are $n \times n$ symmetric matrices and $y \in \Re^n$. However, we look at this as an overdetermined system of … Read more

Global and Local Convergence of Line Search Filter Methods for Nonlinear Programming

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

A Remarkable Property of the Dynamic Optimization Extremals

A dynamic optimization continuous problem poses the question of what is the optimal magnitude of a choice variable, at each point of time, in a given interval. To tackle such problems, three major approaches are available: dynamic programming; the calculus of variations; and the powerful optimal control approach. At the core of optimal control theory … Read more

Constrained Nonlinear Programming for Volatility Estimation with GARCH Models

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