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Questions tagged [nonlinear-optimization]

Nonlinear objectives, nonlinear constraints, non-convex objective, non-convex feasible region.

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$L_2$ minimizing makespan vs. $L_\infty$ minimizing makespan

There are $n$ positive real numbers. We partition these numbers into $m$ parts, the size of each part is the sum the numbers in this part. Maximum size of the parts is called a makespan of a partition....
kakia's user avatar
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8 votes
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The busy Star Guardian

On an infinite plane, the Prime Star has disintegrated into four constituent stars, the North Star, the South Star, the East Star and the West Star, each traveling at a constant speed of $1$ in their ...
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8 votes
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210 views

Concavity of product and ratio of sums

Apologies if this question is not appropriate for MathOverflow. I have asked at Math.StackExchange without success. Consider the function $f:\mathbb{R}^n\rightarrow \mathbb{R}$ defined as $$ f(x)=\...
user_lambda's user avatar
8 votes
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196 views

Solving matrix equation $X^{-1}=\sum_{i=1}^n D_i X A_i$

Does anybody know an algorithm to solve the following matrix equation? $$X^{-1}=\sum_{i=1}^n D_i X A_i$$ where $D_i$s are diagonal and $A_i$s are symmetric matrices. It would be great to have an ...
Reshad Hosseini's user avatar
7 votes
0 answers
469 views

Analytic expression for the Tsirelson bound of the I3322 inequality?

Finding Tsirelson bounds for Bell inequalities is a well-loved problem in quantum information theory. A famous case where it is still open is for the I3322 inequality. In this paper Pál and Vértesi ...
Mateus Araújo's user avatar
7 votes
0 answers
217 views

Characterizing matrices with rank constraint

Given matrix $M\in\Bbb\{0,1\}^{n\times n}$, is there a nice method to characterize $$\mathscr{D}[M]=\{Q\in\Bbb\{0,1\}^{n\times n}:\mathsf{rank}(M-Q)= \mathsf{rank}(Q),\quad M-Q\in\Bbb\{0,1\}^{n\times ...
Turbo's user avatar
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6 votes
0 answers
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Concavity of a function implicitly defined by a polynomial

Consider the following system of $n$ equations: \begin{equation}f_j^2 = x_j^2\sum_{i=1}^n A_{ij} f_i \tag{$\star$} \end{equation} where $A_{ij}\geq 0$ are known constants and where $x_j>0$ for ...
user_lambda's user avatar
6 votes
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77 views

Bounding volume of cell in complement of zero set

I am given an integer polynomial $f \in \mathbb{Z}[X_1, \ldots, X_n]$ of bounded degree and bounded coefficient size. The polynomial's zero set partitions $\mathbb{R}^n$ into cells. What I am looking ...
eins6180's user avatar
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5 votes
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608 views

What is the correct $L^\infty$ limit of this strange variational problem, and what does it encode?

1. On the $L^\infty$ calculus of variations: The field known as the $L^\infty$ calculus of variations is a relatively new field that concerns itself with minimising functionals involving the supremum ...
Nate River's user avatar
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5 votes
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measure of an image under an argmax function

I am trying to find any techniques to analyze the measure of an image of a set under an argmax function. For example, let $\Omega\subset\mathbb{R}^n$ be compact and $\phi:\Omega\to\mathbb{R}$ be ...
Christopher Miller's user avatar
5 votes
0 answers
404 views

Find subset of collection of sets whose intersection has minimum average value

Let $a_1,\ldots,a_n>0$, and let $S_1,\ldots,S_d\subset\{1,\ldots,n\}$ (all non-empty). For any $I\subseteq\{1,\ldots,d\}$, define $S(I)=\bigcap_{i\in I} S_i$. Given some $1\leq s < d$, consider ...
martin's user avatar
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4 votes
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235 views

What is the maximum tidal force between two objects with unit volumes and unit density?

Motivation for this problem This problem arises from the fact that the derivative of the gravitational force (tidal force) in the $z$-direction between two objects $A$ and $B$, which have equal ...
jacktang1996's user avatar
4 votes
0 answers
121 views

$f(n) = \frac{n^2 + n + 4}{2}$, $g(f(n)) = f(g(n))$ such that $g(n)$ is an integer

Let $n$ be a strict positive integer and let's define an integer sequence $f(n)$ : $$f(n) = \frac{n^2 + n + 4}{2}$$ so $$ \begin{split} f (\Bbb N)& \triangleq {3,5,8,12,17,23,30,38,47,\ldots}\\ f(...
mick's user avatar
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1 answer
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Local maxima of the sum of Gaussian functions in *multiple dimensions* are always strict local maxima - prove/disprove/prove conditionally?

This is a follow up of the question in one dimension, that asked to show that the all the maxima of the sum of Gaussian $$f_n(x):= \sum_{i=1}^{n}e^{-(x-x_i)^2}, x_1 < x_2 < \dots < x_n$$ are ...
Learning math's user avatar
4 votes
0 answers
146 views

An inequality for three iid random variables with a log-concave density

It was previously shown that $$H\ge cG,\tag{1}$$ where $c:=1/14334$, $$G:=E|X-Y|,\quad H:=E|X-Y|-\tfrac12\,E|X+Y-2Z|,$$ and $X,Y,Z$ are independent random variables with the same log-concave density. ...
Iosif Pinelis's user avatar
4 votes
0 answers
287 views

A conjecture about the barycenter of a polytope

Could someone help me with the following conjecture? Thanks a lot! Suppose I have a polytope $\Delta$ in $\mathbb R^n (n\geq 2)$ with coordinates $(x_1,x_2,\cdots,x_n)$ defined by linear ...
user42804's user avatar
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4 votes
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275 views

Computing Bohr Radii

The Bohr radius $R$ for $\mathcal{H}(\mathbb{D})$ is defined as the radius $$R = \sup\limits_{0<r<1} \Bigl\{ r\ \Big|\sum\limits_{k=0}^{\infty}|a_k|r^k \leq |f|_\mathbb{D}, \text{ for all }f(z)=\...
Josiah Park's user avatar
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4 votes
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228 views

Minimization over a convex function of equal vs unequal success probabilities of Bernoulli random variables

Let $U_1,U_2,\ldots,U_n$ be $n\geq 2$ mutually independent Bernoulli random variables. There are two cases of interest: $1.$ The random variables $U_1,U_2,\ldots,U_n$ are identically distributed; $...
Seyhmus Güngören's user avatar
4 votes
0 answers
234 views

Optimisation over $SO(3)$: is it safe to use a global parametrisation?

I am a functional analyst by training, but I am doing some numerical experiments which require me to minimise continuous functions $f:SO(3)\longrightarrow [0,+\infty)$ using a computer (I know that ...
DCM's user avatar
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4 votes
0 answers
241 views

Stochastic subgradient descent almost sure convergence

I was reading up on stochastic subgradient descent, and most sources i could find via google search give quick proofs on convergence in expectation and probability, and say that proofs of almost sure ...
user1539279's user avatar
4 votes
0 answers
707 views

What does the Von Neumann's stability analysis tell us about non-linear finite difference equations?

I've asked this question on computation science stackexchange, but it did not receive any answers so I have decided to ask it here as well. I am reading a paper [1] where they solve the following non-...
Hunter's user avatar
  • 215
4 votes
0 answers
248 views

Comparison of Constrained Optimization Methods

I am trying to solve a constrained optimization problem using filter methods and came across two papers on the topic that I am having some problems with. The original filter method paper is the ...
RustyStatistician's user avatar
4 votes
0 answers
405 views

maximize non-convex composite function

I want to maximize a composite function over a convex set \begin{equation} \begin{aligned} & \underset{\mathbf{p}}{\text{maximize}} & & f(\mathbf{p})-g(\mathbf{p})\\ & \text{subject to}...
mycal's user avatar
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4 votes
0 answers
233 views

Determining Nullspace Basis such that only one column is deleted or added as row is added or deleted, and remaining columns of basis stay the same

I would like to compute, in MATLAB, the basis Z for the nullspace of an m by n matrix A, such that if one row of A is added (resulting in A_a), the basis for A_a is n-m-1 of the n-m columns of Z, i.e.,...
Mark L. Stone's user avatar
4 votes
0 answers
213 views

Optimization problem involving Multivariate Normal

I use $\phi(t)$ to describe the standard normal distribution density and $\Phi(t)$ as the normal distribution CDF and would like to prove that for all $n\geq3$, the function: $$h(\mu_{1},\ldots,\...
YotamH's user avatar
  • 41
3 votes
0 answers
144 views

An optimisation problem

Let $E\subset \mathbb R^2$ be compact, convex and connected. For $p_1,\ldots, p_n>0$ with $$\sum_{i=1}^n p_i=1,$$ and a probability measure $\nu$ supported on $E$ of density $f$, we consider $$\...
Fawen90's user avatar
  • 1,389
3 votes
0 answers
83 views

How many local maxima can $(x_1,\dots,x_r)\mapsto\|x_1A_1+\dots+x_rA_r\|_\infty/\|(x_1,\dots,x_r)\|_2$ have for Hermitian $A_1,\dots,A_r$?

Let $K\in\{\mathbb{R},\mathbb{C},\mathbb{H}\}$. Suppose that $A_1,\dots,A_r\in M_n(K)$ are all Hermitian. Define a function $f_{A_1,\dots,A_r}:\mathbb{RP}^{n-1}\rightarrow[0,\infty)$ by setting $$f_{...
Joseph Van Name's user avatar
3 votes
0 answers
108 views

Are square configurations the only critical points of the energy on the circle?

$\newcommand{\S}{\mathbb{S}^1}$ $\newcommand{\la}{\lambda}$Let$$M=\{(x_1,x_2,x_3,x_4) \in (\S)^4\,\, |\,\, \text{ all the } x_i \, \text{ are distinct}\} $$ Define $E:M \to \mathbb{R}$ by $$E(x_1,x_2,...
Asaf Shachar's user avatar
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3 votes
0 answers
91 views

What is the name for this type of optimization problem?

As we all know, a classic optimization problem can be represented in the following way: Given a function $f: A \to \mathbb{R}$, find an element $x_0 \in A$ such that $f(x_0) \le f(x)$ for all $x \in ...
Shaun Han's user avatar
  • 141
3 votes
0 answers
72 views

Analytical solution of 2nd order nonlinear ODE ($y''+(a+by^2)y'+cy = 0$)

I encountered the following ode in the attempt to solve the problem of nonlinear van der pol equation. I have tried for a long time to give it a solution but failed. $y''+(a+by^2)y'+cy = 0$ where $a$, ...
최종운's user avatar
3 votes
0 answers
282 views

Continuum of Lagrange multipliers, duality gap, and minimax theorem

Suppose I have a linear optimization problem involving random variables on some (infinite) probability space $\Omega$. For example, need to maximize expectation $E[Q]$ of random variable $Q$ subject ...
Bogdan's user avatar
  • 781
3 votes
0 answers
122 views

Convex optimization upper bound for a non-linear optimization

Is there any good convex optimization problem based upper-bound for the following non-linear optimization problem? \begin{align} \max_{x_1,\ldots,x_N}&\quad \sum_{n=1}^{N} \log(1+\frac{x_n}{1+\...
Math_Y's user avatar
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3 votes
0 answers
68 views

Convergence of iteration of a convex program

Let $\mathbf{V} \in \mathbb{R}_{+}^{n \times m}, \ \ \mathbf{E} \in \mathbb{R}_{+}^{n \times m}$, with $\mathbf{V} \mathbf{1}_{m} = \mathbf{1}_{n}$ and $\mathbf{E}^{T} \mathbf{1}_{n} = \mathbf{1}_{m}$...
Ded's user avatar
  • 53
3 votes
0 answers
240 views

Optimization with parametric constraints: solution maps

For constrained optimization problems $$ \begin{array}{ll} \min\limits_{x \in \mathbb R^n} & f(p, x) \\ \text{s.t.} & x \in C \end{array} $$ where $p \in \mathbb R$ is a parameter, we can ...
Rubi Shnol's user avatar
3 votes
0 answers
255 views

How can we solve this kind of saddle point problem?

I'm trying to solve a saddle point problem of the following form: Let $(E,\mathcal E,\lambda)$ be a measure space; $p$ be a probability density on $(E,\mathcal E,\lambda)$ and $\mu:=p\lambda$ $W$ be ...
0xbadf00d's user avatar
  • 167
3 votes
0 answers
202 views

Maximize an $L^p$-functional subject to a set of constraints

Let $(E,\mathcal E,\lambda)$ and $(E',\mathcal E',\lambda')$ be measure spaces $f\in L^2(\lambda)$ $I$ be a finite nonempty set $\varphi_i:E'\to E$ be bijective $(\mathcal E',\mathcal E)$-measurable ...
0xbadf00d's user avatar
  • 167
3 votes
3 answers
550 views

Looking for a very particular kind of non-convex functions

I want some examples (hopefully parametric families!) of non-convex functions which satisfy the following properties simultaneously, It should be at least twice differentiable. It should have a ...
gradstudent's user avatar
  • 2,246
3 votes
0 answers
106 views

Dependency of the Wasserstein distance on the parameter: a differential perspective

Let $\mu(dx)=\sum_{i=1}^np_i\delta_{x_i}(dx)$ and $\nu(dy)=\rho(y)dy$ be two probability measures on $\mathbb R^d$. Consider the $2-$Wasserstein distance below: $$W_2(\mu,\nu)^2 \quad := \quad \inf_{\...
user111097's user avatar
3 votes
0 answers
121 views

Finding a mixture of 1st and 0'th order Markov models that is closest to an empirical distribution

I am interested in finding the distribution "$p^*$" closest to an empirical distribution $\hat{p}$ where $p^*$ is a mixture of first and zeroth order Markov models. That is, I want to find $$ p^* = \...
ted's user avatar
  • 283
3 votes
0 answers
645 views

Can a quadratic matrix inequality constraint be convex?

I have an optimization problem with a semi-definiteness constraint: $$ N \preceq 0 $$ where the entries $N^{AB}$ of the matrix $N$ are defined through $$ N^{AB} = \sum_{i,j} x^i M_{ij}^{AB} x^j $$ The ...
fanfare's user avatar
  • 131
3 votes
0 answers
105 views

Are there scenarios under which feasibility bilinear programming is easy?

Given $c\in\Bbb R^{n_1},d\in\Bbb R^{n_2}$, $E\in\Bbb R^{n_1\times n_2}$, $A\in\Bbb R^{m_1\times n_1}$, $B\in\Bbb R^{m_2\times n_2}$ $a\in\Bbb R^{m_1}$, $b\in\Bbb R^{m_2}$ and $t\in\Bbb R$ we know ...
Turbo's user avatar
  • 13.9k
3 votes
0 answers
239 views

Constrained optimization with a Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) controller

My engineering colleagues have devised an interesting approach to equality-constrained optimization. I.e. they wish to solve the problem $\min_x f(x)$ subject to the constraint $g(x) = 0$ where $f, g ...
user2698883's user avatar
3 votes
0 answers
148 views

The complexity of an optimization problem involving sum of binomial coefficients

I'm just new to this community. So please forgive me if the question is not properly asked. I would like to get the natural number e such that the following function can be minimized: $f(e)=\frac{b}{...
Sunniel's user avatar
  • 31
3 votes
0 answers
203 views

Can the following system of equations be solved analytically/in a closed form?

From a constrained non-linear maximization problem I obtained the following system of equations: $a_1=\frac{1+a_3-\sqrt{a_2a_3}\sqrt{v_1}}{1+\sqrt{\frac{a_3}{a_2}}\sqrt{v_1}}$ $a_2=\frac{2-a_3-\sqrt{...
Paul's user avatar
  • 41
3 votes
0 answers
962 views

Minimize L-infinity norm with restrictions

I need to minimize the following L-infinity norm with respective to $\tau$. L-infinity norm of a matrix $A$ is defined as $\|A\| = max_{i,j}|a_{i,j}|$. $$ min_{\tau} \| I -S(S+\tau)^{-1}\| $$ $$ \...
phil wang's user avatar
3 votes
0 answers
214 views

existence of optimal control

I'm looking for an existential result in optimal control for the following class of problems: Given $T > 0$, $\bar x, \hat x\in\mathbb R^d$, an instantaneous cost function $c:\mathbb R^d\times \...
dchatter's user avatar
  • 251
3 votes
0 answers
104 views

Sequence transformations that are entropy invariant

Consider a collection of increasing positive integers $\{a_i\}_{i=1}^m$ and the distribution $p_i=\frac{a_i}{\sum_{i=1}^ma_i}$. Define entropy of $\mathcal{A}=\{a_i\}_{i=1}^m$ by $$H(\mathcal{A},m)=-\...
Turbo's user avatar
  • 13.9k
2 votes
0 answers
72 views

Gradient descent over the set of complex symmetric matrices

In the course of my research (somewhat related to compressive sensing), I am trying to determine a complex, symmetric matrix $L$ (i.e. $L = L^T$) through the following optimization formulation: $$ \...
Shreyas B.'s user avatar
2 votes
0 answers
93 views

Curve fitting with "rough" loss functions

Many real-valued classification and regression problems can be framed as minimization in the following way. Setup: Let $\Theta \in \mathbb{R}^p$ be the parameter space that we are searching over. For ...
Simon Kuang's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
426 views

How to solve an optimization problem whose optimization variable is a function?

I would like to find an optimal probability density function (PDF) $f$. Given $b$, $$ \begin{array}{ll} \underset {f} {\text{minimize}} & C \\ \text{subject to} & 1 + \frac{b}{x} \displaystyle\...
Erik's user avatar
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