What happens to the conclusion of the Ekeland variational principle (briefly, EVP) if a considered function $f:X\to \R\cup\{+\infty\}$ is lower semicontinuous not on a whole metric space $X$ but only on its domain? We provide a straightforward proof showing that it still holds but only for $\epsilon $ varying in some interval $]0,\beta-\inf_Xf[$, where $\beta$ … Read more
An unconditionally energy stable time stepping scheme is introduced to solve Cahn-Morral-like equations in the present study. It is constructed based on the combination of David Eyre’s time stepping scheme and Schur complement approach. Although the presented method is general and independent to the choice of homogeneous free energy density function term, logarithmic and polynomial … Read more
We deal with chance constrained problems (CCP) with differentiable nonlinear random functions and discrete distribution. We allow nonconvex functions both in the constraints and in the objective. We reformulate the problem as a mixed-integer nonlinear program, and relax the integer variables into continuous ones. We approach the relaxed problem as a mathematical problem with complementarity … Read more
We develop fully polynomial time $(\Sigma,\Pi)$-approximation schemes for stochastic dynamic programs with continuous state and action spaces, when the single-period cost functions are convex Lipschitz-continuous functions that are accessed via value oracle calls. That is, for every given additive error parameter $\Sigma>0$ and multiplicative error factor $\Pi=1+\epsilon>1$, the scheme returns a feasible solution whose value … Read more
In this paper, we consider a class of finite-sum convex optimization problems whose objective function is given by the summation of $m$ ($\ge 1$) smooth components together with some other relatively simple terms. We first introduce a deterministic primal-dual gradient (PDG) method that can achieve the optimal black-box iteration complexity for solving these composite optimization … Read more
We address the minimization of the sum of a proper, convex and lower semicontinuous with a (possibly nonconvex) smooth function from the perspective of an implicit dynamical system of forward-backward type. The latter is formulated by means of the gradient of the smooth function and of the proximal point operator of the nonsmooth one. The … Read more
In recent years the expansion of energy supplies from volatile renewable sources has triggered an increased interest in stochastic optimization models for hydro-thermal unit commitment. Several studies have modelled this as a two-stage or multi-stage stochastic mixed-integer optimization problem. Solving such problems directly is computationally intractable for large instances, and alternative approaches are required. In … Read more
The recent expansion of renewable energy supplies has prompted the development of a variety of efficient stochastic optimization models and solution techniques for hydro-thermal scheduling. However, little has been published about the added value of stochastic models over deterministic ones. In the context of day-ahead and intraday unit commitment under wind uncertainty, we compare two-stage … Read more
We study the design of robust truss structures under mechanical equilibrium, displacements and stress constraints. Our main objective is to minimize the total amount of material, for the purpose of finding the most economic structure. A robust design is found by considering load perturbations. The nature of the constraints makes the mathematical program nonconvex. In … Read more
A direct-search derivative-free Matlab optimizer for bound-constrained problems is described, whose remarkable features are its ability to handle a mix of continuous and discrete variables, a versatile interface as well as a novel self-training option. Its performance compares favourably with that of NOMAD, a state-of-the art package. It is also applicable to multilevel equilibrium- or … Read more