Fast Projection onto the Simplex and the l1 Ball

A new algorithm is proposed to project, exactly and in finite time, a vector of arbitrary size onto a simplex or a l1-norm ball. The algorithm is demonstrated to be faster than existing methods. In addition, a wrong statement in a paper by Duchi et al. is corrected and an adversary sequence for Michelot’s algorithm … Read more

Robust Block Coordinate Descent

In this paper we present a novel randomized block coordinate descent method for the minimization of a convex composite objective function. The method uses (approximate) partial second-order (curvature) information, so that the algorithm performance is more robust when applied to highly nonseparable or ill conditioned problems. We call the method Robust Coordinate Descent (RCD). At … Read more

Projection methods in quantum information science

We consider the problem of constructing quantum operations or channels, if they exist, that transform a given set of quantum states $\{\rho_1, \dots, \rho_k\}$ to another such set $\{\hat\rho_1, \dots, \hat\rho_k\}$. In other words, we must find a {\em completely positive linear map}, if it exists, that maps a given set of density matrices to … Read more

OSGA: A fast subgradient algorithm with optimal complexity

This paper presents an algorithm for approximately minimizing a convex function in simple, not necessarily bounded convex domains, assuming only that function values and subgradients are available. No global information about the objective function is needed apart from a strong convexity parameter (which can be put to zero if only convexity is known). The worst … Read more

Distributed Optimization Methods for Large Scale Optimal Control

This thesis aims to develop and implement both nonlinear and linear distributed optimization methods that are applicable, but not restricted to the optimal control of distributed systems. Such systems are typically large scale, thus the well-established centralized solution strategies may be computationally overly expensive or impossible and the application of alternative control algorithms becomes necessary. … Read more

Eigenvalue, Quadratic Programming, and Semidefinite Programming Relaxations for a Cut Minimization Problem

We consider the problem of partitioning the node set of a graph into $k$ sets of given sizes in order to \emph{minimize the cut} obtained using (removing) the $k$-th set. If the resulting cut has value $0$, then we have obtained a vertex separator. This problem is closely related to the graph partitioning problem. In … Read more

An Interior-Point Trust-Funnel Algorithm for Nonlinear Optimization

We present an interior-point trust-funnel algorithm for solving large-scale nonlinear optimization problems. The method is based on an approach proposed by Gould and Toint (Math Prog 122(1):155–196, 2010) that focused on solving equality constrained problems. Our method is similar in that it achieves global convergence guarantees by combining a trust-region methodology with a funnel mechanism, … Read more

A First Course in Linear Optimization, version 3.0

This is the “front matter” of a new open-source book on Linear Optimization. The book and associated Matlab/AMPL/Mathematica programs are freely available from: https://sites.google.com/site/jonleewebpage/home/publications/#book Citation Jon Lee, “A First Course in Linear Optimization”, Third Edition, Reex Press, 2013-2017. Article Download View A First Course in Linear Optimization, version 3.0

An inexact block-decomposition method for extra large-scale conic semidefinite programming

In this paper, we present an inexact block-decomposition (BD) first-order method for solving standard form conic semidefinite programming (SDP) which avoids computations of exact projections onto the manifold defined by the affine constraints and, as a result, is able to handle extra large SDP instances. The method is based on a two-block reformulation of the … Read more

Optimization Techniques for the Brazilian Natural Gas Network Planning Problem

This work reports on modeling and numerical experience in solving the long-term design and operation planning problem of the Brazilian natural gas network. A stochastic approach to address uncertainties related to the gas demand is considered. Representing uncertainties by finitely many scenarios increases the size of the resulting optimization problem, and therefore the difficulty to … Read more