Introduction To Nonlinear And Global Optimization

This self-contained text provides a solid introduction to global and nonlinear optimization, providing students of mathematics and interdisciplinary sciences with a strong foundation in applied optimization techniques. The book offers a unique hands-on and critical approach to applied optimization which includes the presentation of numerous algorithms, examples, and illustrations, designed to improve the reader’s intuition and develop the analytical skills needed to identify optimization problems, classify the structure of a model, and determine whether a solution fulfills optimality conditions.

A textbook for an undergraduate course in mathematical programming for students with a knowledge of elementary real analysis, linear algebra, and classical linear programming (simple techniques). Focuses on the computation and characterization of global optima of nonlinear functions, rather than the locally optimal solutions addressed by most books on optimization. Incorporates the theoretical, algorithmic, and computational advances of the past three decades that help solve globally multi-extreme problems in the mathematical modeling of real world systems. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Introduction to Global Optimization Exploiting Space-Filling Curves provides an overview of classical and new results pertaining to the usage of space-filling curves in global optimization. The authors look at a family of derivative-free numerical algorithms applying space-filling curves to reduce the dimensionality of the global optimization problem; along with a number of unconventional ideas, such as adaptive strategies for estimating Lipschitz constant, balancing global and local information to accelerate the search. Convergence conditions of the described algorithms are studied in depth and theoretical considerations are illustrated through numerical examples. This work also contains a code for implementing space-filling curves that can be used for constructing new global optimization algorithms. Basic ideas from this text can be applied to a number of problems including problems with multiextremal and partially defined constraints and non-redundant parallel computations can be organized. Professors, students, researchers, engineers, and other professionals in the fields of pure mathematics, nonlinear sciences studying fractals, operations research, management science, industrial and applied mathematics, computer science, engineering, economics, and the environmental sciences will find this title useful . ​

The goal of this book is to present the main ideas and techniques in the field of continuous smooth and nonsmooth optimization. Starting with the case of differentiable data and the classical results on constrained optimization problems, and continuing with the topic of nonsmooth objects involved in optimization theory, the book concentrates on both theoretical and practical aspects of this field. This book prepares those who are engaged in research by giving repeated insights into ideas that are subsequently dealt with and illustrated in detail.

This book is an introduction to nonlinear programming. It deals with the theoretical foundations and solution methods, beginning with the classical procedures and reaching up to “modern” methods like trust region methods or procedures for nonlinear and global optimization. A comprehensive bibliography including diverse web sites with information about nonlinear programming, in particular software, is presented. Without sacrificing the necessary mathematical rigor, excessive formalisms are avoided. Several examples, exercises with detailed solutions, and applications are provided, making the text adequate for individual studies. The book is written for students from the fields of applied mathematics, engineering, economy, and computation.

Interest in constrained optimization originated with the simple linear pro gramming model since it was practical and perhaps the only computationally tractable model at the time. Constrained linear optimization models were soon adopted in numerous application areas and are perhaps the most widely used mathematical models in operations research and management science at the time of this writing. Modelers have, however, found the assumption of linearity to be overly restrictive in expressing the real-world phenomena and problems in economics, finance, business, communication, engineering design, computational biology, and other areas that frequently demand the use of nonlinear expressions and discrete variables in optimization models. Both of these extensions of the linear programming model are NP-hard, thus representing very challenging problems. On the brighter side, recent advances in algorithmic and computing technology make it possible to re visit these problems with the hope of solving practically relevant problems in reasonable amounts of computational time. Initial attempts at solving nonlinear programs concentrated on the de velopment of local optimization methods guaranteeing globality under the assumption of convexity. On the other hand, the integer programming liter ature has concentrated on the development of methods that ensure global optima. The aim of this book is to marry the advancements in solving nonlinear and integer programming models and to develop new results in the more general framework of mixed-integer nonlinear programs (MINLPs) with the goal of devising practically efficient global optimization algorithms for MINLPs.

This text presents a multi-disciplined view of optimization, providing students and researchers with a thorough examination of algorithms, methods, and tools from diverse areas of optimization without introducing excessive theoretical detail. This second edition includes additional topics, including global optimization and a real-world case study using important concepts from each chapter. Introduction to Applied Optimization is intended for advanced undergraduate and graduate students and will benefit scientists from diverse areas, including engineers.

This book has two main objectives: • to provide a concise introduction to nonlinear optimization methods, which can be used as a textbook at a graduate or upper undergraduate level; • to collect and organize selected important topics on optimization algorithms, not easily found in textbooks, which can provide material for advanced courses or can serve as a reference text for self-study and research. The basic material on unconstrained and constrained optimization is organized into two blocks of chapters: • basic theory and optimality conditions • unconstrained and constrained algorithms. These topics are treated in short chapters that contain the most important results in theory and algorithms, in a way that, in the authors’ experience, is suitable for introductory courses. A third block of chapters addresses methods that are of increasing interest for solving difficult optimization problems. Difficulty can be typically due to the high nonlinearity of the objective function, ill-conditioning of the Hessian matrix, lack of information on first-order derivatives, the need to solve large-scale problems. In the book various key subjects are addressed, including: exact penalty functions and exact augmented Lagrangian functions, non monotone methods, decomposition algorithms, derivative free methods for nonlinear equations and optimization problems. The appendices at the end of the book offer a review of the essential mathematical background, including an introduction to convex analysis that can make part of an introductory course.