The multilinear least-squares (MLLS) problem is an extension of the linear leastsquares problem. The difference is that a multilinear operator is used in place of a matrix-vector product. The MLLS is typically a large-scale problem characterized by a large number of local minimizers. It originates, for instance, from the design of filter networks. We present a global search strategy that allows for moving from one local minimizer to a better one. The efficiency of this strategy is illustrated by results of numerical experiments performed for some problems related to the design of filter networks.
The multilinear least-squares (MLLS) problem is an extension of the linear least-squares problem. The difference is that a multilinearoperator is used in place of a matrix-vector product. The MLLS istypically a large-scale problem characterized by a large number of local minimizers. It originates, for instance, from the design of filter networks. We present a global search strategy that allows formoving from one local minimizer to a better one. The efficiencyof this strategy isillustrated by results of numerical experiments performed forsome problems related to the design of filter networks.
Filter networks is a powerful tool used for reducing the image processing time, while maintaining its reasonably high quality.They are composed of sparse sub-filters whose low sparsity ensures fast image processing.The filter network design is related to solvinga sparse optimization problem where a cardinality constraint bounds above the sparsity level.In the case of sequentially connected sub-filters, which is the simplest network structure of those considered in this paper, a cardinality-constrained multilinear least-squares (MLLS) problem is to be solved. If to disregard the cardinality constraint, the MLLS is typically a large-scale problem characterized by a large number of local minimizers. Each of the local minimizers is singular and non-isolated.The cardinality constraint makes the problem even more difficult to solve.An approach for approximately solving the cardinality-constrained MLLS problem is presented.It is then applied to solving a bi-criteria optimization problem in which both thetime and quality of image processing are optimized. The developed approach is extended to designing filter networks of a more general structure. Its efficiency is demonstrated by designing certain 2D and 3D filter networks. It is also compared with the existing approaches.
Filter networks are used as a powerful tool used for reducing the image processing time and maintaining high image quality.They are composed of sparse sub-filters whose high sparsity ensures fast image processing.The filter network design is related to solvinga sparse optimization problem where a cardinality constraint bounds above the sparsity level.In the case of sequentially connected sub-filters, which is the simplest network structure of those considered in this paper, a cardinality-constrained multilinear least-squares (MLLS) problem is to be solved. Even when disregarding the cardinality constraint, the MLLS is typically a large-scale problem characterized by a large number of local minimizers, each of which is singular and non-isolated.The cardinality constraint makes the problem even more difficult to solve.
An approach for approximately solving the cardinality-constrained MLLS problem is presented.It is then applied to solving a bi-criteria optimization problem in which both thetime and quality of image processing are optimized. The developed approach is extended to designing filter networks of a more general structure. Its efficiency is demonstrated by designing certain 2D and 3D filter networks. It is also compared with the existing approaches.
Segmenting a motion-planning problem into smaller subproblems could be beneficial in terms of computational complexity. This observation is used as a basis for a new sub-maneuver decomposition approach investigated in this paper in the context of optimal evasive maneuvers for autonomous ground vehicles. The recently published alternating augmented Lagrangianmethod is adopted and leveraged on, which turns out to fit the problem formulation with several attractive properties of the solution procedure. The decomposition is based on moving the coupling constraints between the sub-maneuvers into a separate coordination problem, which is possible to solve analytically. The remaining constraints and the objective function are decomposed into subproblems, one for each segment, which means that parallel computation is possible and benecial. The method is implemented and evaluated in a safety-critical double lane-change scenario. By using the solution of a low-complexity initialization problem and applying warm-start techniques in the optimization, a solution is possible to obtain after just a few alternating iterations using the developed approach. The resulting computational time is lower than solving one optimization problem for the full maneuver.
Congestion-aware scheduling in case of downlink cellular communication has ignored the distribution of diverse content to different clients with heterogeneous secrecy requirements. Other possible application areas that encounter the preceding issue are secure offloading in mobile-edge computing, and vehicular communication. In this paper, we extend the work in Arvanitaki et al. (SN Comput Sci 1(1):53, 2019) by taking into consideration congestion and random access. Specifically, we study a two-user congestion-aware broadcast channel with heterogeneous traffic and different security requirements. We consider two randomized policies for selecting which packets to transmit, one is congestion-aware by taking into consideration the queue size, whereas the other one is congestion-agnostic. We analyse the throughput and the delay performance under two decoding schemes at the receivers, and provide insights into their relative security performance and into how congestion control at the queue holding confidential information can help decrease the average delay per packet. We show that the congestion-aware policy provides better delay, throughput, and secrecy performance for large arrival packet probabilities at the queue holding the confidential information. The derived results also take account of the self-interference caused at the receiver for whom confidential data is intended due to its full-duplex operation while jamming the communication at the other user. Finally, for two decoding schemes, we formulate our problems in terms of multi-objective optimization, which allows for finding a trade-off between the average packet delay for packets intended for the legitimate user and the throughput for the other user under congestion-aware policy.
We consider a family of dense initializations for limited-memory quasi-Newton methods. The proposed initialization exploits an eigendecomposition-based separation of the full space into two complementary subspaces, assigning a different initialization parameter to each subspace. This family of dense initializations is proposed in the context of a limited-memory Broyden–Fletcher–Goldfarb–Shanno (L-BFGS) trust-region method that makes use of a shape-changing norm to define each subproblem. As with L-BFGS methods that traditionally use diagonal initialization, the dense initialization and the sequence of generated quasi-Newton matrices are never explicitly formed. Numerical experiments on the CUTEst test set suggest that this initialization together with the shape-changing trust-region method outperforms other L-BFGS methods for solving general nonconvex unconstrained optimization problems. While this dense initialization is proposed in the context of a special trust-region method, it has broad applications for more general quasi-Newton trust-region and line search methods. In fact, this initialization is suitable for use with any quasi-Newton update that admits a compact representation and, in particular, any member of the Broyden class of updates.
In this article, we propose a method for solving the trust-region subproblem when a limited-memory symmetric rank-one matrix is used in place of the true Hessian matrix. The method takes advantage of two shape-changing norms to decompose the trust-region subproblem into two separate problems, one of which has a closed-form solution and the other one is easy to solve. Sufficient conditions for global solutions to both subproblems are given. The proposed solver makes use of the structure of limited-memory symmetric rank-one matrices to find solutions that satisfy these optimality conditions. Solutions to the trust-region subproblem are computed to high-accuracy even in the so-called "hard case".
We present a MATLAB implementation of the symmetric rank-one (SC-SR1) method that solves trust-region subproblems when a limited-memory symmetric rank-one (L-SR1) matrix is used in place of the true Hessian matrix, which can be used for large-scale optimization. The method takes advantage of two shape-changing norms [Burdakov et al. 2017; Burdakov and Yuan 2002] to decompose the trust-region subproblem into two separate problems. Using one of the proposed norms, the resulting subproblems have closed-form solutions. Meanwhile, using the other proposed norm, one of the resulting subproblems has a closed-form solutionwhile the other is easily solvable using techniques that exploit the structure of L-SR1 matrices. Numerical results suggest that the SC-SR1 method is able to solve trust-region subproblems to high accuracy even in the so-called "hard case." When integrated into a trust-region algorithm, extensive numerical experiments suggest that the proposed algorithms perform well, when compared with widely used solvers, such as truncated conjugate-gradients.
The following problem is considered. Given m+1 points {x i }0 m in R n which generate an m-dimensional linear manifold, construct for this manifold a maximally linearly independent basis that consists of vectors of the form x i −x j . This problem is present in, e.g., stable variants of the secant and interpolation methods, where it is required to approximate the Jacobian matrix f′ of a nonlinear mappingf by using values off computed at m+1 points. In this case, it is also desirable to have a combination of finite differences with maximal linear independence. As a natural measure of linear independence, we consider the hadamard condition number which is minimized to find an optimal combination of m pairs {x i ,x j }. We show that the problem is not NP-hard, but can be reduced to the minimum spanning tree problem, which is solved by the greedy algorithm in O(m 2) time. The complexity of this reduction is equivalent to one m×n matrix-matrix multiplication, and according to the Coppersmith-Winograd estimate, is below O(n 2.376) for m=n. Applications of the algorithm to interpolation methods are discussed.
This article is devoted to the development of methods of pseudo-orthogonal directions for solving systems of nonlinear equations in which the mapping is uniformly monotonic. Rapidly convergent methods that do not involve evaluation of derivatives are constructed. They constitute a generalization of such methods of unconditional minimization as the method of parallel displacements, Zangwill's method, and Powell's method. The methods developed can be applied, in particular, to finding saddle points of uniformly convex-concave functions.
This article is the second part of a paper devoted to the development of methods of pseudo-orthogonal directions for solving systems of nonlinear equations (for part I see Eng. Cybern. 1982, Vol. 20, No. 3, p. 13-19). An approach is developed for studying the reate of convergence of such methods. Local quadratic convergence of the proposed methods to the solution of the system of equations is proven. This implies the quadratic convergence of some methods of unconstrained minimization: the method of parallel displacements, Zangull's method, and Powell's method.
Symmetric methods (SS methods) of the secant type are proposed for systems of equations with symmetric Jacobian matrix. The SSI and SS2 methods generate sequences of symmetric matrices J and H which approximate the Jacobian matrix and inverse one, respectively. Rank-two quasi-Newton formulas for updating J and H are derived. The structure of the approximations J and H is better than the structure of the corresponding approximations in the traditional secant method because the SS methods take into account symmetry of the Jacobian matrix. Furthermore, the new methods retain the main properties of the traditional secant method, namely, J and H-1are consistent approximations to the Jacobian matrix; the SS methods converge superlinearly; the sequential (n + 1)-point SS methods have the R-order at least equal to the positive root of tn+1-tn-1=0.
Variational inequalities, nonlinear programming, complementarity problems and other problems can be reduced to nonsmooth equations, for which some generalizations of Newton's method are known. The Newton path, as a natural generalization of the Newton direction, was suggested by D.Ralph for enlarging the convergence region (globalization) of Newton-Robinson's method in the nonsmooth case. We investigate some properties of both the Newton direction and the Newton path, which seem to be basic for various globalization strategies. In particular, a simple formula for the derivative of an arbitrary norm of residuals along the Newton direction,derived earlier by the author for the smooth equations, is generalizedhere for the derivative along the Newton path.
In a recent author's paper four classes of methods of the secant type for solving systems of nonlinear equations were proposed. They are stable with respect to linear dependence of the search directions. If the Jacobian matrix is symmetric, then two of them take into account this property. It is proved here that some four special methods from the classes converge superlinearly.
The following problem is considered. Given m + 1 points {xi}0m in Rn which generate an m-dimensional linear manifold, construct for this manifold a maximally linearly independent basis that consists of vectors of the form xi - xj. This problem is present in, e.g., stable variants of the secant method, where it is required to approximate the Jacobian matrix f' of a nonlinear mapping f by using values off computed at m + 1 points. In this case, it is also desirable to have a combination of finite differences with maximal linear independence. As a natural measure of linear independence, we consider a functional which is maximized to find an optimal combination of m pairs {xi, xj}. We show that the problem is not of combinatorial complexity but can be reduced to the minimum spanning tree (MST) problem, which is solved by an MST-type algorithm in O(m2n) time.
Two secant type methods are proposed for solving systems of nonlinear equations with a symmetrical Jacobi matrix. Quasi-Newton rank-two updating formulas are used. Stability and superlinear convergence are proved.
An interpretation of quasi-Newton methods of solving sets of equations is given, and provides the basis of four versions of the secantsmethod, stable with respect to a linear dependence of the directions of motion. The first version involves an approximation of the matrix of first derivatives (the Jacobi matrix), and the second an approximation of the inverse Jacobi matrix. The other two versions are aimed at solving sets of equations with symmetric Jacobi matrix. The stability of the versions is proved.
The Barzilai-Borwein (BB) method is a popular and efficient tool for solving large-scale unconstrained optimization problems. Its search direction is the same as for the steepest descent (Cauchy) method, but its stepsize rule is different. Owing to this, it converges much faster than the Cauchy method. A feature of the BB method is that it may generate too long steps, which throw the iterates too far away from the solution. Moreover, it may not converge, even when the objective function is strongly convex. In this paper, a stabilization technique is introduced. It consists in bounding the distance between each pair of successive iterates, which often allows for decreasing the number of BB iterations. When the BB method does not converge, our simple modification of this method makes it convergent. For strongly convex functions with Lipschits gradients, we prove its global convergence, despite the fact that no line search is involved, and only gradient values are used. Since the number of stabilization steps is proved to be finite, the stabilized version inherits the fast local convergence of the BB method. The presented results of extensive numerical experiments show that our stabilization technique often allows the BB method to solve problems in a fewer iterations, or even to solve problems where the latter fails.
The Barzilai-Borwein (BB) method is a popular and efficient tool for solving large-scale unconstrained optimization problems. Its search direction is the same as for the steepest descent (Cauchy) method, but its stepsize rule is different. Owing to this, it converges much faster than the Cauchy method. A feature of the BB method is that it may generate too long steps, which throw the iterates too far away from the solution. Moreover, it may not converge, even when the objective function is strongly convex. In this paper, a stabilization technique is introduced. It consists in bounding the distance between each pair of successive iterates, which often allows for decreasing the number of BB iterations. When the BB method does not converge, our simple modification of this method makes it convergent. Under suitable assumptions, we prove its global convergence, despite the fact that no line search is involved, and only gradient values are used. Since the number of stabilization steps is proved to be finite, the stabilized version inherits the fast local convergence of the BB method. The presented results of extensive numerical experiments show that our stabilization technique often allows the BB method to solve problems in a fewer iterations, or even to solve problems where the latter fails.
When unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are used to survey distant targets, it is important to transmit sensor information back to a base station. As this communication often requires high uninterrupted bandwidth, the surveying UAV often needs afree line-of-sight to the base station, which can be problematic in urban or mountainous areas. Communication ranges may also belimited, especially for smaller UAVs. Though both problems can be solved through the use of relay chains consisting of one or more intermediate relay UAVs, this leads to a new problem: Where should relays be placed for optimum performance? We present two new algorithms capable of generating such relay chains, one being a dual ascent algorithm and the other a modification of the Bellman-Ford algorithm. As the priorities between the numberof hops in the relay chain and the cost of the chain may vary, wecalculate chains of different lengths and costs and let the ground operator choose between them. Several different formulations for edge costs are presented. In our test cases, both algorithms are substantially faster than an optimized version of the original Bellman-Ford algorithm, which is used for comparison.
When unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are used for surveillance, information must often be transmitted to a base station in real time. However, limited communication ranges and the common requirement of free line of sight may make direct transmissions from distant targets impossible. This problem can be solved using relay chains consisting of one or more intermediate relay UAVs. This leads to the problem of positioning such relays given known obstacles, while taking into account a possibly mission-specific quality measure. The maximum quality of a chain may depend strongly on the number of UAVs allocated. Therefore, it is desirable to either generate a chain of maximum quality given the available UAVs or allow a choice from a spectrum of Pareto-optimal chains corresponding to different trade-offs between the number of UAVs used and the resulting quality. In this article, we define several problem variations in a continuous three-dimensional setting. We show how sets of Pareto-optimal chains can be generated using graph search and present a new label-correcting algorithm generating such chains significantly more efficiently than the best-known algorithms in the literature. Finally, we present a new dual ascent algorithm with better performance for certain tasks and situations.
We consider a constrained optimization problem with mixed integer and real variables. It models optimal placement of communications relay nodes in the presence of obstacles. This problem is widely encountered, for instance, in robotics, where it is required to survey some target located in one point and convey the gathered information back to a base station located in another point. One or more unmanned aerial or ground vehicles (UAVs or UGVs) can be used for this purpose as communications relays. The decision variables are the number of unmanned vehicles (UVs) and the UV positions. The objective function is assumed to access the placement quality. We suggest one instance of such a function which is more suitable for accessing UAV placement. The constraints are determined by, firstly, a free line of sight requirement for every consecutive pair in the chain and, secondly, a limited communication range. Because of these requirements, our constrained optimization problem is a difficult multi-extremal problem for any fixed number of UVs. Moreover, the feasible set of real variables is typically disjoint. We present an approach that allows us to efficiently find a practically acceptable approximation to a global minimum in the problem of optimal placement of communications relay nodes. It is based on a spatial discretization with a subsequent reduction to a shortest path problem. The case of a restricted number of available UVs is also considered here. We introduce two label correcting algorithms which are able to take advantage of using some peculiarities of the resulting restricted shortest path problem. The algorithms produce a Pareto solution to the two-objective problem of minimizing the path cost and the number of hops. We justify their correctness. The presented results of numerical 3D experiments show that our algorithms are superior to the conventional Bellman-Ford algorithm tailored to solving this problem.
We consider the directed Steiner tree problem (DSTP) with a constraint on the total number of arcs (hops) in the tree. This problem is known to be NP-hard, and therefore, only heuristics can be applied in the case of its large-scale instances. For the hop-constrained DSTP, we propose local search strategies aimed at improving any heuristically produced initial Steiner tree. They are based on solving a sequence of hop-constrained shortest path problems for which we have recently developed ecient label correcting algorithms. The presented approach is applied to nding suitable 3D locations where unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) can be placed to relay information gathered in multi-target monitoring and surveillance. The eciency of our algorithms is illustrated by results of numerical experiments involving problem instances with up to 40 000 nodes and up to 20 million arcs.
We consider the directed Steiner tree problem (DSTP) with a constraint on the total number of arcs (hops) in the tree. This problem is known to be NP-hard, and therefore, only heuristics can be applied in the case of its large-scale instances.For the hop-constrained DSTP, we propose local search strategies aimed at improving any heuristically produced initial Steiner tree. They are based on solving a sequence of hop-constrained shortest path problems for which we have recently developed efficient label correcting algorithms.The presented approach is applied to finding suitable 3D locations where unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) can be placed to relay information gathered in multi-target monitoring and surveillance. The efficiency of our algorithms is illustrated by results of numerical experiments involving problem instances with up to 40 000 nodes and up to 20 million arcs.
Guarding the perimeter of an area in order to detect potential intruders is an important task in a variety of security-related applications. This task can in many circumstances be performed by a set of camera-equipped unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Such UAVs will occasionally require refueling or recharging, in which case they must temporarily be replaced by other UAVs in order to maintain complete surveillance of the perimeter. In this paper we consider the problem of scheduling such replacements. We present optimal replacement strategies and justify their optimality.
Limited memory quasi-Newton methods and trust-region methods represent two efficient approaches used for solving unconstrained optimization problems. A straightforward combination of them deteriorates the efficiency of the former approach, especially in the case of large-scale problems. For this reason, the limited memory methods are usually combined with a line search. We show how to efficiently combine limited memory and trust-region techniques. One of our approaches is based on the eigenvalue decomposition of the limited memory quasi-Newton approximation of the Hessian matrix. The decomposition allows for finding a nearly-exact solution to the trust-region subproblem defined by the Euclidean norm with an insignificant computational overhead compared with the cost of computing the quasi-Newton direction in line-search limited memory methods. The other approach is based on two new eigenvalue-based norms. The advantage of the new norms is that the trust-region subproblem is separable and each of the smaller subproblems is easy to solve. We show that our eigenvalue-based limited-memory trust-region methods are globally convergent. Moreover, we propose improved versions of the existing limited-memory trust-region algorithms. The presented results of numerical experiments demonstrate the efficiency of our approach which is competitive with line-search versions of the L-BFGS method.
Limited-memory quasi-Newton methods and trust-region methods represent two efficient approaches used for solving unconstrained optimization problems. A straightforward combination of them deteriorates the efficiency of the former approach, especially in the case of large-scale problems. For this reason, the limited-memory methods are usually combined with a line search. We show how to efficiently combine limited-memory and trust-region techniques. One of our approaches is based on the eigenvalue decomposition of the limited-memory quasi-Newton approximation of the Hessian matrix. The decomposition allows for finding a nearly-exact solution to the trust-region subproblem defined by the Euclidean norm with an insignificant computational overhead as compared with the cost of computing the quasi-Newton direction in line-search limited-memory methods. The other approach is based on two new eigenvalue-based norms. The advantage of the new norms is that the trust-region subproblem is separable and each of the smaller subproblems is easy to solve. We show that our eigenvalue-based limited-memory trust-region methods are globally convergent. Moreover, we propose improved versions of the existing limited-memory trust-region algorithms. The presented results of numerical experiments demonstrate the efficiency of our approach which is competitive with line-search versions of the L-BFGS method.
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We present a new algorithm for monotonic regression in one or more explanatory variables. Formally, our method generalises the well-known PAV (pool-adjacent-violators) algorithm from fully to partially ordered data. The computational complexity of our algorithm is O(n2). The goodness-of-fit to observed data is much closer to optimal than for simple averaging techniques.
Monotonic regression is a nonparametric method for estimation ofmodels in which the expected value of a response variable y increases ordecreases in all coordinates of a vector of explanatory variables x = (x1, …, xp).Here, we examine statistical and computational aspects of our recentlyproposed generalization of the pool-adjacent-violators (PAV) algorithm fromone to several explanatory variables. In particular, we show how the goodnessof-fit and accuracy of obtained solutions can be enhanced by presortingobserved data with respect to their level in a Hasse diagram of the partial orderof the observed x-vectors, and we also demonstrate how these calculations canbe carried out to save computer memory and computational time. Monte Carlosimulations illustrate how rapidly the mean square difference between fittedand expected response values tends to zero, and how quickly the mean squareresidual approaches the true variance of the random error, as the number of observations increases up to 104.
Monotonic regression (MR) is a least distance problem with monotonicity constraints induced by a partially ordered data set of observations. In our recent publication [In Ser. {\sl Nonconvex Optimization and Its Applications}, Springer-Verlag, (2006) {\bf 83}, pp. 25-33], the Pool-Adjacent-Violators algorithm (PAV) was generalized from completely to partially ordered data sets (posets). The new algorithm, called GPAV, is characterized by the very low computational complexity, which is of second order in the number of observations. It treats the observations in a consecutive order, and it can follow any arbitrarily chosen topological order of the poset of observations. The GPAV algorithm produces a sufficiently accurate solution to the MR problem, but the accuracy depends on the chosen topological order. Here we prove that there exists a topological order for which the resulted GPAV solution is optimal. Furthermore, we present results of extensive numerical experiments, from which we draw conclusions about the most and the least preferable topological orders.
In this paper, the monotonic regression problem (MR) is considered. We have recentlygeneralized for MR the well-known Pool-Adjacent-Voilators algorithm(PAV) from the case of completely to partially ordered data sets. Thenew algorithm, called GPAV, combines both high accuracy and lowcomputational complexity which grows quadratically with the problemsize. The actual growth observed in practice is typically far lowerthan quadratic. The fitted values of the exact MR solution composeblocks of equal values. Its GPAV approximation has also a blockstructure. We present here a technique for refining blocks produced bythe GPAV algorithm to make the new blocks more close to those in theexact solution. This substantially improves the accuracy of the GPAVsolution and does not deteriorate its computational complexity. Thecomputational time for the new technique is approximately triple thetime of running the GPAV algorithm. Its efficiency is demonstrated byresults of our numerical experiments.
Isotonic regression problem (IR) has numerous important applications in statistics, operations research, biology, image and signal processing and other areas. IR in L2-norm is a minimization problem in which the objective function is the squared Euclidean distance from a given point to a convex set defined by monotonicity constraints of the form: i-th component of the decision vector is less or equal to its j-th component. Unfortunately, the conventional optimization methods are unable to solve IR problems originating from large data sets. The existing IR algorithms, such as the minimum lower sets algorithm by Brunk, the min-max algorithm by Lee, the network flow algorithm by Maxwell & Muchstadt and the IBCR algorithm by Block et al. are able to find exact solution to IR problem for at most a few thousands of variables. The IBCR algorithm, which proved to be the most efficient of them, is not robust enough. An alternative approach is related to solving IR problem approximately. Following this approach, Burdakov et al. developed an algorithm, called GPAV, whose block refinement extension, GPAVR, is able to solve IR problems with a very high accuracy in a far shorter time than the exact algorithms. Apart from this, GPAVR is a very robust algorithm, and it allows us to solve IR problems with over hundred thousands of variables. In this talk, we introduce new exact IR algorithms, which can be viewed as active set methods. They use the approximate solution produced by the GPAVR algorithm as a starting point. We present results of our numerical experiments demonstrating the high efficiency of the new algorithms, especially for very large-scale problems, and their robustness. They are able to solve the problems which all existing exact IR algorithms fail to solve.
In this talk we consider the isotonic regression (IR) problem which can be formulated as follows. Given a vector $\bar{x} \in R^n$, find $x_* \in R^n$ which solves the problem: \begin{equation}\label{ir2} \begin{array}{cl} \mbox{min} & \|x-\bar{x}\|^2 \\ \mbox{s.t.} & Mx \ge 0. \end{array} \end{equation} The set of constraints $Mx \ge 0$ represents here the monotonicity relations of the form $x_i \le x_j$ for a given set of pairs of the components of $x$. The corresponding row of the matrix $M$ is composed mainly of zeros, but its $i$th and $j$th elements, which are equal to $-1$ and $+1$, respectively. The most challenging applications of (\ref{ir2}) are characterized by very large values of $n$. We introduce new IR algorithms. Our numerical experiments demonstrate the high efficiency of our algorithms, especially for very large-scale problems, and their robustness. They are able to solve some problems which all existing IR algorithms fail to solve. We outline also our new algorithms for monotonicity-preserving interpolation of scattered multivariate data. In this talk we focus on application of our IR algorithms in postprocessing of FE solutions. Non-monotonicity of the numerical solution is a typical drawback of the conventional methods of approximation, such as finite elements (FE), finite volumes, and mixed finite elements. The problem of monotonicity is particularly important in cases of highly anisotropic diffusion tensors or distorted unstructured meshes. For instance, in the nuclear waste transport simulation, the non-monotonicity results in the presence of negative concentrations which may lead to unacceptable concentration and chemistry calculations failure. Another drawback of the conventional methods is a possible violation of the discrete maximum principle, which establishes lower and upper bounds for the solution. We suggest here a least-change correction to the available FE solution $\bar{x} \in R^n$. This postprocessing procedure is aimed on recovering the monotonicity and some other important properties that may not be exhibited by $\bar{x}$. The mathematical formulation of the postprocessing problem is reduced to the following convex quadratic programming problem \begin{equation}\label{ls2} \begin{array}{cl} \mbox{min} & \|x-\bar{x}\|^2 \\ \mbox{s.t.} & Mx \ge 0, \quad l \le x \le u, \quad e^Tx = m, \end{array} \end{equation} where$e=(1,1, \ldots ,1)^T \in R^n$. The set of constraints $Mx \ge 0$ represents here the monotonicity relations between some of the adjacent mesh cells. The constraints $l \le x \le u$ originate from the discrete maximum principle. The last constraint formulates the conservativity requirement. The postprocessing based on (\ref{ls2}) is typically a large scale problem. We introduce here algorithms for solving this problem. They are based on the observation that, in the presence of the monotonicity constraints only, problem (\ref{ls2}) is the classical monotonic regression problem, which can be solved efficiently by some of the available monotonic regression algorithms. This solution is used then for producing the optimal solution to problem (\ref{ls2}) in the presence of all the constraints. We present results of numerical experiments to illustrate the efficiency of our algorithms.
We study the problem of positioning unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to maintain an unobstructed flow of communication from a surveying UAV to some base station through the use of multiple relay UAVs. This problem can be modeled as a hopconstrained shortest path problem in a large visibility graph. We propose a dual ascent method for solving this problem, optionally within a branch-and-bound framework. Computational tests show that realistic problems can be solved in a reasonably short time, and that the proposed method is faster than the classical dynamic programming approach.
Multipoint secant and interpolation methods are effective tools for solving systems of nonlinear equations. They use quasi-Newton updates for approximating the Jacobian matrix. Owing to their ability to more completely utilize the information about the Jacobian matrix gathered at the previous iterations, these methods are especially efficient in the case of expensive functions. They are known to be local and superlinearly convergent. We combine these methods with the nonmonotone line search proposed by Li and Fukushima (2000), and study global and superlinear convergence of this combination. Results of numerical experiments are presented. They indicate that the multipoint secant and interpolation methods tend to be more robust and efficient than Broyden’s method globalized in the same way.
Optimization problems with cardinality constraints are very difficult mathematical programs which are typically solved by global techniques from discrete optimization. Here we introduce a mixed-integer formulation whose standard relaxation still has the same solutions (in the sense of global minima) as the underlying cardinality-constrained problem; the relation between the local minima is also discussed in detail. Since our reformulation is a minimization problem in continuous variables, it allows to apply ideas from that field to cardinality-constrained problems. Here, in particular, we therefore also derive suitable stationarity conditions and suggest an appropriate regularization method for the solution of optimization problems with cardinality constraints. This regularization method is shown to be globally convergent to a Mordukhovich-stationary point. Extensive numerical results are given to illustrate the behavior of this method.
Optimization problems with cardinality constraints are very difficult mathematical programs which are typically solved by global techniques from discreteoptimization. Here we introduce a mixed-integer formulation whose standard relaxation still has the same solutions (in the sense of global minima) as the underlying cardinality-constrained problem; the relation between thelocal minima is also discussed in detail. Since our reformulation is a mini-mization problem in continuous variables, it allows to apply ideas from thatfield to cardinality-constrained problems. Here, in particular, we therefore also derive suitable stationarity conditions and suggest an appropriate regularization method for the solution of optimization problems with cardinalityconstraints. This regularization method is shown to be globally convergentto a Mordukhovich-stationary point. Extensive numerical results are given to illustrate the behavior of this method.
Mathematical programs with cardinality constraints are optimization problems with an additional constraint which requires the solution to be sparse in the sense that the number of nonzero elements, i.e. the cardinality, is bounded by a given constant. Such programs can be reformulated as a mixed-integer ones in which the sparsity is modeled with the use of complementarity-type constraints. It is shown that the standard relaxation of the integrality leads to a nonlinear optimization program of the striking property that its solutions (global minimizers) are the same as the solutions of the original program with cardinality constraints. Since the number of local minimizers of the relaxed program is typically larger than the number of local minimizers of the cardinality-constrained problem, the relationship between the local minimizers is also discussed in detail. Furthermore, we show under which assumptions the standard KKT conditions are necessary optimality conditions for the relaxed program. The main result obtained for such conditions is significantly different from the existing optimality conditions that are known for the somewhat related class of mathematical programs with complementarity constraints.
We suggest here a least-change correction to available finite element (FE) solution.This postprocessing procedure is aimed at recoveringthe monotonicity and some other important properties that may not beexhibited by the FE solution. It is based on solvinga monotonic regression problem with some extra constraints.One of them is a linear equality-type constraint which models the conservativityrequirement. The other ones are box-type constraints, andthey originate from the discrete maximum principle.The resulting postprocessing problem is a large scale quadratic optimization problem. It is proved that the postprocessedFE solution preserves the accuracy of the discrete FE approximation.We introduce an algorithm for solving the postprocessingproblem. It can be viewed as a dual ascent method basedon the Lagrangian relaxation of the equality constraint.We justify theoretically its correctness.Its efficiency is demonstrated by the presented results of numerical experiments.
We suggest here a least-change correction to available finite element (FE) solution. This postprocessing procedure is aimed at recovering the monotonicity and some other important properties that may not be exhibited by the FE solution. Although our approach is presented for FEs, it admits natural extension to other numerical schemes, such as finite differences and finite volumes. For the postprocessing, a priori information about the monotonicity is assumed to be available, either for the whole domain or for a subdomain where the lost monotonicity is to be recovered. The obvious requirement is that such information is to be obtained without involving the exact solution, e.g. from expected symmetries of this solution. less thanbrgreater than less thanbrgreater thanThe postprocessing is based on solving a monotonic regression problem with some extra constraints. One of them is a linear equality-type constraint that models the conservativity requirement. The other ones are box-type constraints, and they originate from the discrete maximum principle. The resulting postprocessing problem is a large scale quadratic optimization problem. It is proved that the postprocessed FE solution preserves the accuracy of the discrete FE approximation. less thanbrgreater than less thanbrgreater thanWe introduce an algorithm for solving the postprocessing problem. It can be viewed as a dual ascent method based on the Lagrangian relaxation of the equality constraint. We justify theoretically its correctness. Its efficiency is demonstrated by the presented results of numerical experiments.