A novel algorithm for a broad class of nonconvex optimization problems

In this paper, we propose a new global optimization approach for solving nonconvex optimization problems in which the nonconvex components are sums of products of convex functions. A broad class of nonconvex problems can be written in this way, such as concave minimization problems, difference of convex problems, and fractional optimization problems. Our approach exploits … Read more

An extension of the Reformulation-Linearization Technique to nonlinear optimization

We introduce a novel Reformulation-Perspectification Technique (RPT) to obtain convex approximations of nonconvex continuous optimization problems. RPT consists of two steps, those are, a reformulation step and a perspectification step. The reformulation step generates redundant nonconvex constraints from pairwise multiplication of the existing constraints. The perspectification step then convexifies the nonconvex components by using perspective … Read more

Multiple cuts in separating plane algorithms

This paper presents an extended version of the separation plane algorithms for subgradient-based finite-dimensional nondifferentiable convex blackbox optimization. The extension introduces additional cuts for epigraph of the conjugate of objective function which improve the convergence of the algorithm. The case of affine cuts is considered in more details and it is shown that it requires … Read more

Subdifferential of the conjugate function in general Banach spaces

We give explicit formulas for the subdifferential set of the conjugate of non necessarily convex functions defined on general Banach spaces. Even if such a subdifferential mapping takes its values in the bidual space, we show that up to a weak** closure operation it is still described by using only elements of the initial space … Read more

Integration formulas via the Legendre-Fenchel Subdifferential of nonconvex functions

Starting from explicit expressions for the subdifferential of the conjugate function, we establish in the Banach space setting some integration results for the so-called epi-pointed functions. These results use the epsilon-subdifferential and the Legendre-Fenchel subdefferential of an appropriate weak lower semicontinuous (lsc) envelope of the initial function. We apply these integration results to the construction … Read more

Geometric Dual Formulation for First-derivative-based Univariate Cubic $ Splines

With the objective of generating “shape-preserving” smooth interpolating curves that represent data with abrupt changes in magnitude and/or knot spacing, we study a class of first-derivative-based ${\cal C}^1$-smooth univariate cubic $L_1$ splines. An $L_1$ spline minimizes the $L_1$ norm of the difference between the first-order derivative of the spline and the local divided difference of … Read more