Nonsmooth Optimization Using Uncontrolled Inexact Information

We consider convex nonsmooth optimization problems whose objective function is known through a (fine) oracle together with some additional (cheap but poor) information – formalized as a second coarse oracle with uncontrolled inexactness. It is the case when the objective function is itself the output of an optimization solver, using a branch-and-bound procedure, or decomposing … Read more

Adaptive Observations And Multilevel Optimization In Data Assimilation

We propose to use a decomposition of large-scale incremental four dimensional (4D-Var) data assimilation problems in order to make their numerical solution more efficient. This decomposition is based on exploiting an adaptive hierarchy of the observations. Starting with a low-cardinality set and the solution of its corresponding optimization problem, observations are adaptively added based on … Read more

Robust convex relaxation for the planted clique and densest k-subgraph problems

We consider the problem of identifying the densest k-node subgraph in a given graph. We write this problem as an instance of rank-constrained cardinality minimization and then relax using the nuclear and l1 norms. Although the original combinatorial problem is NP-hard, we show that the densest k-subgraph can be recovered from the solution of our … Read more

Worst-Case Results For Positive Semidefinite Rank

This paper presents various worst-case results on the positive semidefinite (psd) rank of a nonnegative matrix, primarily in the context of polytopes. We prove that the psd rank of a generic n-dimensional polytope with v vertices is at least (nv)^(1/4) improving on previous lower bounds. For polygons with v vertices, we show that psd rank … Read more

A proximal technique for computing the Karcher mean of symmetric positive definite matrices

This paper presents a proximal point approach for computing the Riemannian or intrinsic Karcher mean of symmetric positive definite matrices. Our method derives from proximal point algorithm with Schur decomposition developed to compute minimum points of convex functions on symmetric positive definite matrices set when it is seen as a Hadamard manifold. The main idea … Read more

On the Complexity Analysis of Randomized Block-Coordinate Descent Methods

In this paper we analyze the randomized block-coordinate descent (RBCD) methods for minimizing the sum of a smooth convex function and a block-separable convex function. In particular, we extend Nesterov’s technique (SIOPT 2012) for analyzing the RBCD method for minimizing a smooth convex function over a block-separable closed convex set to the aforementioned more general … Read more

Cutting-planes for optimization of convex functions over nonconvex sets

Motivated by mixed-integer, nonlinear optimization problems, we derive linear inequality characterizations for sets of the form conv{(x, q ) \in R^d × R : q \in Q(x), x \in R^d – int(P )} where Q is convex and differentiable and P \subset R^d . We show that in several cases our characterization leads to polynomial-time … Read more

Dual equilibrium problems: how a succession of aspiration points converges to an equilibrium

We consider an equilibrium problem defined on a convex set, whose cost bifunction may not be monotone. We show that this problem can be solved by the inexact partial proximal method with quasi distance. As an application, at the psychological level of behavioral dynamics, this paper shows two points: i) how a dual equilibrium problem … Read more

Computing in Operations Research using Julia

The state of numerical computing is currently characterized by a divide between highly efficient yet typically cumbersome low-level languages such as C, C++, and Fortran and highly expressive yet typically slow high-level languages such as Python and MATLAB. This paper explores how Julia, a modern programming language for numerical computing which claims to bridge this … Read more

A Trust-Region Method for Unconstrained Multiobjective Problems with Applications in Satisficing Processes

Multiobjective optimization has a significant number of real life applications. For this reason, in this paper, we consider the problem of finding Pareto critical points for unconstrained multiobjective problems and present a trust-region method to solve it. Under certain assumptions, which are derived in a very natural way from assumptions used by \citet{conn} to establish … Read more