Study about theory and algorithms for constrained optimization usually assumes that the feasible region of the optimization problem is nonempty. However, there are many important practical optimization problems whose feasible regions are not known to be nonempty or not, and optimizers of the objective function with the least constraint violation prefer to be found. A … Read more
Nonconvex mixed-binary nonlinear optimization problems frequently appear in practice and are typically extremely hard to solve. In this paper we discuss a class of primal heuristics that are based on a reformulation of the problem as a mathematical program with equilibrium constraints. We then use different regularization schemes for this class of problems and use … Read more
We study piecewise decomposition methods for mathematical programs with equilibrium constraints (MPECs) for which all constraint functions are linear. At each iteration of a decomposition method, one step of a nonlinear programming scheme is applied to one piece of the MPEC to obtain the next iterate. Our goal is to understand global convergence to B-stationary … Read more
We study a bilevel noncooperative game-theoretic model of restructured electricity markets, with locational marginal prices. Each player in this game faces a bilevel optimization problem that we remodel as a mathematical program with equilibrium constraints, MPEC. The corresponding game is an example of an EPEC, equilibrium problem with equilibrium constraints. We establish sufficient conditions for … Read more
Multi-leader-follower games arise when modeling competition between two or more dominant firms and lead in a natural way to equilibrium problems with equilibrium constraints (EPECs). We examine a variety of nonlinear optimization and nonlinear complementarity formulations of EPECs. We distinguish two broad cases: problems where the leaders can cost-differentiate and problems with price-consistent followers. We … Read more
This paper studies theoretical and practical properties of interior-penalty methods for mathematical programs with complementarity constraints. A framework for implementing these methods is presented, and the need for adaptive penalty update strategies is motivated with examples. The algorithm is shown to be globally convergent to strongly stationary points, under standard assumptions. These results are then … Read more
We prove local and global convergence results for an interior-point method applied to mathematical programs with equilibrium constraints. The global result shows the algorithm minimizes infeasibility regardless of starting point, while one result proves local convergence when penalty functions are exact; another local result proves convergence when the solution is not even a KKT point. … Read more
We investigate the possibility of solving mathematical programs with complementarity constraints (MPCCs) using algorithms and procedures of smooth nonlinear programming. Although MPCCs do not satisfy a constraint qualification, we establish sucient conditions for their Lagrange multiplier set to be nonempty. MPCCs that have nonempty Lagrange multiplier sets and that satisfy the quadratic growth condition can … Read more
This paper is motivated by problem of optimal shape design of laminated elastic bodies. We use a recently introduced model of delamination, based on minimization of potential energy which includes the free (Gibbs-type) energy and (pseudo)potential of dissipative forces, to introduce and analyze a special mathematical program with equilibrium constraints. The equilibrium is governed by … Read more
Interior point methods for nonlinear programs (NLPs) are adapted for solution of mathematical programs with complementarity constraints (MPCCs). The constraints of the MPCC are suitably relaxed so as to guarantee a strictly feasible interior for the inequality constraints. The standard primal-dual algorithm has been adapted with a modified step calculation. The algorithm is shown to … Read more