In this paper, we revisit the augmented Lagrangian method for a class of nonsmooth convex optimization. We present the Lagrange optimality system of the augmented Lagrangian associated with the problems, and establish its connections with the standard optimality condition and the saddle point condition of the augmented Lagrangian, which provides a powerful tool for developing numerical algorithms. We apply a linear Newton method to the Lagrange optimality system to obtain a novel algorithm applicable to a variety of nonsmooth convex optimization problems arising in practical applications. Under suitable conditions, we prove the nonsingularity of the Newton system and the local convergence of the algorithm.
In this paper, we present some new necessary and sufficient optimality conditions in terms of the Clarke subdifferentials for approximate Pareto solutions of a nonsmooth vector optimization problem which has an infinite number of constraints. As a consequence, we obtain optimality conditions for the particular cases of cone-constrained convex vector optimization problems and semidefinite vector optimization problems. Examples are given to illustrate the obtained results.
In this paper we study an optimal control problem with nonsmooth mixed state and control constraints. In most of the existing results, the necessary optimality condition for optimal control problems with mixed state and control constraints are derived under the Mangasarian-Fromovitz condition and under the assumption that the state and control constraint functions are smooth. In this paper we derive necessary optimality conditions for problems with nonsmooth mixed state and control constraints under constraint qualifications based on pseudo-Lipschitz continuity and calmness of certain set-valu…
We employ a fuzzy optimality condition for the Frechet subdifferential and some advanced techniques of variational analysis such as formulae for the subdifferentials of an infinite family of nonsmooth functions and the coderivative scalarization to investigate robust optimality condition and robust duality for a nonsmooth/nonconvex multiobjective optimization problem dealing with uncertain constraints in arbitrary Asplund spaces. We establish necessary optimality conditions for weakly and properly robust efficient solutions of the problem in terms of the Mordukhovich subdifferentials of the re…
This paper considers a class of nonsmooth nonconvex-nonconcave min-max problems in machine learning and games. We first provide sufficient conditions for the existence of global minimax points and local minimax points. Next, we establish the first-order and second-order optimality conditions for local minimax points by using directional derivatives. These conditions reduce to smooth min-max problems with Fr{é}chet derivatives. We apply our theoretical results to generative adversarial networks (GANs) in which two neural networks contest with each other in a game. Examples are used to illustrat…
This paper deals with Pareto solutions of a nonsmooth fractional interval-valued multiobjective optimization. We first introduce four types of Pareto solutions of the considered problem by considering the lower-upper interval order relation and then apply some advanced tools of variational analysis and generalized differentiation to establish necessary optimality conditions for these solutions. Sufficient conditions for Pareto solutions of such a problem are also provided by means of introducing the concepts of (strictly) generalized convex functions defined in terms of the limiting/Mordukhovi…
In this article, we introduce the idea of $gH$-weak subdifferential for interval-valued functions (IVFs) and show how to calculate $gH$-weak subgradients. It is observed that a nonempty $gH$-weak subdifferential set is closed and convex. In characterizing the class of functions for which the $gH$-weak subdifferential set is nonempty, it is identified that this class is the collection of $gH$-lower Lipschitz IVFs. In checking the validity of sum rule of $gH$-weak subdifferential for a pair of IVFs, a counterexample is obtained, which reflects that the sum rule does not hold. However, under a mi…
In this article we propose a new approach to an analysis of DC optimization problems. This approach was largely inspired by codifferential calculus and the method of codifferential descent and is based on the use of a so-called affine support set of a convex function instead of the Frenchel conjugate function. With the use of affine support sets we define a global codifferential mapping of a DC function and derive new necessary and sufficient global optimality conditions for DC optimization problems. We also provide new simple necessary and sufficient conditions for the global exactness of the…
The paper is devoted to an analysis of a new constraint qualification and a derivation of the strongest existing optimality conditions for nonsmooth mathematical programming problems with equality and inequality constraints in terms of Demyanov-Rubinov-Polyakova quasidifferentials under the minimal possible assumptions. To this end, we obtain a novel description of convex subcones of the contingent cone to a set defined by quasidifferentiable equality and inequality constraints with the use of a new constraint qualification. We utilize these description and constraint qualification to derive t…
Optimality conditions in terms of Bouligand generalized differentials for a nonsmooth semilinear elliptic optimal control problem with distributed and boundary control pointwise constraints
This article is devoted to the analysis of necessary and/or sufficient conditions for metric regularity in terms of Demyanov-Rubinov-Polyakova quasidifferentials. We obtain new necessary and sufficient conditions for the local metric regularity of a multifunction in terms of quasidifferentials of the distance function to this multifunction. We also propose a new MFCQ-type constraint qualification for a parametric system of quasidifferentiable equality and inequality constraints and prove that it ensures the metric regularity of a multifunction associated with this system. As an application, we…
We discuss first order optimality conditions for geometric optimization problems with Neumann boundary conditions and boundary observation. The methods we develop here are applicable to large classes of state systems or cost functionals. Our approach is based on the implicit parametrization theorem and the use of Hamiltonian systems. It establishes equivalence with a constrained optimal control problem and uses Lagrange multipliers under a new simple constraint qualification. In this setting, general functional variations are performed, that combine topological and boundary variations in a nat…
The main goal of this paper is developing the method of discrete approximations to derive necessary optimality conditions for a class of constrained sweeping processes with nonsmooth perturbations. Optimal control problems for sweeping processes have been recently recognized among the most interesting and challenging problems in modern control theory for discontinuous differential inclusions with irregular dynamics and implicit state constrained, while deriving necessary optimality conditions for their local minimizers have been significantly based on the smoothness of controlled dynamic pertu…
It is well known that there have been many numerical algorithms for solving nonsmooth minimax problems, numerical algorithms for nonsmooth minimax problems with joint linear constraints are very rare. This paper aims to discuss optimality conditions and develop practical numerical algorithms for minimax problems with joint linear constraints. First of all, we use the properties of proximal mapping and KKT system to establish optimality conditions. Secondly, we propose a framework of alternating coordinate algorithm for the minimax problem and analyze its convergence properties. Thirdly, we dev…
The paper is devoted to an analysis of optimality conditions for nonsmooth multidimensional problems of the calculus of variations with various types of constraints, such as additional constraints at the boundary and isoperimetric constraints. To derive optimality conditions, we study generalised concepts of differentiability of nonsmooth functions called codifferentiability and quasidifferentiability. Under some natural and easily verifiable assumptions we prove that a nonsmooth integral functional defined on the Sobolev space is continuously codifferentiable and compute its codifferential an…
We are interested in local quasi efficient solutions for nonsmooth vector optimization problems under new generalized approximate invexity assumptions. We formulate necessary and sufficient optimality conditions based on Stampacchia and Minty types of vector variational inequalities involving Clarke's generalized Jacobians. We also establish the relationship between local quasi weak efficient solutions and vector critical points.
The authors' paper in Optimization 63 (2014), 505-533, see Ref. [5], was the first one to provide detailed optimality conditions for pessimistic bilevel optimization. The results there were based on the concept of the two-level optimal value function introduced and analyzed in SIAM J. Optim. 22 (2012), 1309-1343; see Ref. [4], for the case of optimistic bilevel programs. One of the basic assumptions in both of these papers is that the functions involved in the problems are at least continuously differentiable. Motivated by the fact that many real-world applications of optimization involve func…
Second-order optimality conditions for vector nonlinear programming problems with inequality constraints are studied in this paper. We introduce a new second-order constraint qualification, which includes Mangasarian-Fromovitz constraint qualification as a particular case. We obtain necessary and sufficient conditions for weak efficiency of problems with a second-order pseudoconvex vector objective function and quasiconvex constraints. We also derive Lagrange multiplier characterizations of the solution set of a scalar problem with a second-order pseudoconvex objective function and quasiconvex…
We provide the first positive result on the nonsmooth optimization landscape of robust principal component analysis, to the best of our knowledge. It is the object of several conjectures and remains mostly uncharted territory. We identify a necessary and sufficient condition for the absence of spurious local minima in the rank-one case. Our proof exploits the subdifferential regularity of the objective function in order to eliminate the existence quantifier from the first-order optimality condition known as Fermat's rule.
These lecture notes for a graduate course cover generalized derivative concepts useful in deriving necessary optimality conditions and numerical algorithms for nondifferentiable optimization problems in inverse problems, imaging, and PDE-constrained optimization. Treated are convex functions and subdifferentials, Fenchel duality, monotone operators and resolvents, Moreau--Yosida regularization, proximal point and (some) first-order splitting methods, Clarke subdifferentials, and semismooth Newton methods. The required background from functional analysis and calculus of variations is also brief…
For nonsmooth Euler-Lagrange extremals, Noether's conservation laws cease to be valid. We show that Emmy Noether's theorem of the calculus of variations is still valid in the wider class of Lipschitz functions, as long as one restrict the Euler-Lagrange extremals to those which satisfy the DuBois-Reymond necessary condition. In the smooth case all Euler-Lagrange extremals are DuBois-Reymond extremals, and the result gives a proper extension of the classical Noether's theorem. This is in contrast with the recent developments of Noether's symmetry theorems to the optimal control setting, which g…
Based on a characterization of the optimality of a feasible solution of a convex entropy minimization problem, one shows that the feasible solutions obtained using formally the Lagrange multipliers method are optimal.
In this paper, we show that higher-order optimality conditions can be obtain for arbitrary nonsmooth function. We introduce a new higher-order directional derivative and higher-order subdifferential of Hadamard type of a given proper extended real function. This derivative is consistent with the classical higher-order Fréchet directional derivative in the sense that both derivatives of the same order coincide if the last one exists. We obtain necessary and sufficient conditions of order $n$ ($n$ is a positive integer) for a local minimum and isolated local minimum of order $n$ in terms of thes…
A general class of nonconvex optimization problems is considered, where the penalty is the composition of a linear operator with a nonsmooth nonconvex mapping, which is concave on the positive real line. The necessary optimality condition of a regularized version of the original problem is solved by means of a monotonically convergent scheme. Such problems arise in continuum mechanics, as for instance cohesive fractures, where singular behaviour is usually modelled by nonsmooth nonconvex energies. The proposed algorithm is successfully tested for fracture mechanics problems. Its performance is…
We propose a bilevel optimization strategy for selecting the best hyperparameter value for the nonsmooth $\ell_p$ regularizer with $0<p\le 1$. The concerned bilevel optimization problem has a nonsmooth, possibly nonconvex, $\ell_p$-regularized problem as the lower-level problem. Despite the recent popularity of nonconvex $\ell_p$-regularizer and the usefulness of bilevel optimization for selecting hyperparameters, algorithms for such bilevel problems have not been studied because of the difficulty of $\ell_p$-regularizer. Our contribution is the proposal of the first algorithm equipped with a …
We study the extension of the Chambolle--Pock primal-dual algorithm to nonsmooth optimization problems involving nonlinear operators between function spaces. Local convergence is shown under technical conditions including metric regularity of the corresponding primal-dual optimality conditions. We also show convergence for a Nesterov-type accelerated variant provided one part of the functional is strongly convex. We show the applicability of the accelerated algorithm to examples of inverse problems with $L^1$- and $L^\infty$-fitting terms as well as of state-constrained optimal control problem…
A class of non-smooth and non-convex optimization problems with penalty constraints linked to variational inequalities (VI) is studied with respect to its shape differentiability. The specific problem stemming from quasi-brittle fracture describes an elastic body with a Barenblatt cohesive crack under the inequality condition of non-penetration at the crack faces. Based on the Lagrange approach and using smooth penalization with the Lavrentiev regularization, a formula for the shape derivative is derived. The explicit formula contains both primal and adjoint states and is useful for finding de…
In their seminal work, Polyak and Juditsky showed that stochastic approximation algorithms for solving smooth equations enjoy a central limit theorem. Moreover, it has since been argued that the asymptotic covariance of the method is best possible among any estimation procedure in a local minimax sense of Hájek and Le Cam. A long-standing open question in this line of work is whether similar guarantees hold for important non-smooth problems, such as stochastic nonlinear programming or stochastic variational inequalities. In this work, we show that this is indeed the case.
We propose a single time-scale stochastic subgradient method for constrained optimization of a composition of several nonsmooth and nonconvex functions. The functions are assumed to be locally Lipschitz and differentiable in a generalized sense. Only stochastic estimates of the values and generalized derivatives of the functions are used. The method is parameter-free. We prove convergence with probability one of the method, by associating with it a system of differential inclusions and devising a nondifferentiable Lyapunov function for this system. For problems with functions having Lipschitz …
For a broad class of nonlinear systems, we formulate the problem of guaranteeing safety with optimality under constraints. Specifically, we define controlled safety for differential inclusions with constraints on the states and the inputs. Through the use of nonsmooth analysis tools, we show that a continuous optimal control law can be selected from a set-valued constraint capturing the system constraints and conditions guaranteeing safety using control barrier functions. Our results guarantee optimality and safety via a continuous state-feedback law designed using nonsmooth control barrier fu…
Variational inequalities are an important mathematical tool for modelling free boundary problems that arise in different application areas. Due to the intricate nonsmooth structure of the resulting models, their analysis and optimization is a difficult task that has drawn the attention of researchers for several decades. In this paper we focus on a class of variational inequalities, called of the second kind, with a twofold purpose. First, we aim at giving a glance at some of the most prominent applications of these types of variational inequalities in mechanics, and the related analytical and…
We derive a variant of the nonsmooth maximum principle for problems with pure state constraints. The interest of our result resides on the nonsmoothness itself since, when applied to smooth problems, it coincides with known results. Remarkably, in the normal form, our result has the special feature of being a sufficient optimality condition for linearconvex problems, a feature that the classical Pontryagin maximum principle had whereas the nonsmooth version had not. This work is distinct to previous work in the literature since, for state constrained problems, we add the Weierstrass conditions…
In this paper, in terms of three types of generalized second-order derivatives of a nonsmooth function, we mainly study the corresponding second-order optimality conditions in a Hilbert space and prove the equivalence among these optimality conditions for paraconcave functions. As applications, we use these second-order optimality conditions to study strict local minimizers of order two and provide sufficient and/or necessary conditions for ensuring the local minimizer. This work extends and generalizes the study on second-order optimality conditions from the finite-dimensional space to the Hi…
In this paper we consider three minimization problems, namely quadratic, $ρ$-convex and quadratic fractional programing problems. The quadratic problem is considered with quadratic inequality constraints with bounded continuous and discrete mixed variables. The $ρ$-convex problem is considered with $ρ$-convex inequality constraints in mixed variables. The quadratic fractional problem is studied with quadratic fractional constraints in mixed variables. For all three problems we reformulate the problem as a mathematical programming problem and apply standard Karush Kuhn Tucker necessary conditio…
A distributed optimal control problem with final observation for a three- dimensional Lagrange averaged Navier-Stokes-? model is studied. The solvability of the optimal control problem is proved and the first-order optimality conditions are estab- lished. Moreover, by using the Lagrange multipliers method, an optimality system in a weak and a strong form is derived.
This paper deals with approximate solutions of a nonsmooth semi-infinite programming with multiple interval-valued objective functions. We first introduce four types of approximate quasi Pareto solutions of the considered problem by considering the lower-upper interval order relation and then apply some advanced tools of variational analysis and generalized differentiation to establish necessary optimality conditions for these approximate solutions. Sufficient conditions for approximate quasi Pareto solutions of such a problem are also provided by means of introducing the concepts of approxima…
The study of fractional variational problems in terms of a combined fractional Caputo derivative is introduced. Necessary optimality conditions of Euler-Lagrange type for the basic, isoperimetric, and Lagrange variational problems are proved, as well as transversality and sufficient optimality conditions. This allows to obtain necessary and sufficient Pareto optimality conditions for multiobjective fractional variational problems.
In this article we utilise abstract convexity theory in order to unify and generalize many different concepts from nonsmooth analysis. We introduce the concepts of abstract codifferentiability, abstract quasidifferentiability and abstract convex (concave) approximations of a nonsmooth function mapping a topological vector space to an order complete topological vector lattice. We study basic properties of these notions, construct elaborate calculus of abstract codifferentiable functions and discuss continuity of abstract codifferential. We demonstrate that many classical concepts of nonsmooth a…
The study of fuzzy fractional variational problems in terms of a fractional Liouville-Caputo derivative is introduced. Necessary optimality conditions for problems of the fuzzy fractional calculus of variations with free end-points are proved, as well as transversality conditions.
