Locating and identifying points as global minimizers is, in general, a hard and time-consuming task. Difficulties increase when the derivatives of the functions defining the problem are not available for use. In this work, we propose a new class of methods suited for global derivative-free constrained optimization. Using direct search of directional type, the algorithm … Read more
Pattern search methods can be made more efficient if past function evaluations are appropriately reused. In this paper we will introduce a number of ways of reusing previous evaluations of the objective function based on the computation of simplex derivatives (e.g., simplex gradients) to improve the efficiency of a pattern search iteration. At each iteration … Read more
We propose a pattern search method to solve a classical nonsmooth optimization problem. In a deep analogy with pattern search methods for linear constrained optimization, the set of search directions at each iteration is defined in such a way that it conforms to the local geometry of the set of points of nondifferentiability near the … Read more
This paper deals with the application of pattern search methods to the numerical solution of a class of molecular geometry problems with important applications in molecular physics and chemistry. The goal is to find a configuration of a cluster or a molecule with minimum total energy. The minimization problems in this class of geometry molecular … Read more