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The classical synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imaging techniques based on matched filters are limited by data bandwidth, resulting in limited imaging performance with side lobes and speckles present. To address the high-resolution SAR imaging problem, sparse reconstruction has been extensively investigated. However, the state-of-the-art sparse recovery methods seldom consider the complex-valued reflectivity of the scene and only recover an approximated real-valued scene instead. Furthermore, iterative schemes associated with the sparse recovery methods demand a high computational cost, which limits the practical applications of these methods. In this paper, we establish a sphere-constrained magnitude-sparsity SAR imaging model, aiming at enhancing the SAR imaging quality with high efficiency. We propose a non-convex non-smooth optimization method, which can be accelerated by stochastic average gradient acceleration to be scalable with large-scale problems. Numerical experiments are conducted with point-target and extended-target simulations. On the one hand, the point-target simulation showcases the superiority of our proposed method over the classical methods in terms of resolution. On the other hand, the extended-target simulation with random phases is considered to be in line with the practical scenario, and the results demonstrate that our method outperforms the classical SAR imaging methods and sparse recovery without phase prior in terms of PSNR. Meanwhile, owing to the stochastic acceleration, our method is faster than the existing sparse recovery methods by orders of magnitude. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we study approximate proper efficient (nondominated and minimal) solutions of vector optimization problems with variable ordering structures (VOSs). In vector optimization with VOS, the partial ordering cone depends on the elements of the image set. Approximate proper efficient/nondominated/minimal solutions are defined in different senses (Henig, Benson, and Borwein) for problems with VOSs from new standpoints. The relationships among the introduced notions are studied, and some scalarization approaches are developed to characterize these solutions. These scalarization results based on new functionals defined by elements from the dual cones are given. Moreover, some existing results are addressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the design of antenna arrays which require fast and robust flat‐top beam synthesis, computationally efficient methods are preferred. This feature is usually met by analytical techniques or simple optimisation procedures. On the other hand, in the flat‐top beam synthesis, a common requirement is the ability to control beamwidth or sidelobe level. However, this can result in a high dynamic range ratio (DRR) of array's excitation coefficients. In this paper, a straightforward method for the design of symmetrical flat‐top arrays with controllable sidelobe level or DRR is proposed. The method is based on quadratic and cubic transforms of Gaussian excitations. In addition, the method utilises zero coefficients whose positions are used to control the DRR, including the ability to achieve its minimum. Compared to other flat‐top arrays with analytically shaped beams, the proposed arrays have lower DRRs for the same sidelobe level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the field of reinforcement learning, we propose a Correct Proximal Policy Optimization (CPPO) algorithm based on the modified penalty factor β and relative entropy in order to solve the robustness and stationarity of traditional algorithms. Firstly, In the process of reinforcement learning, this paper establishes a strategy evaluation mechanism through the policy distribution function. Secondly, the state space function is quantified by introducing entropy, whereby the approximation policy is used to approximate the real policy distribution, and the kernel function estimation and calculation of relative entropy is used to fit the reward function based on complex problem. Finally, through the comparative analysis on the classic test cases, we demonstrated that our proposed algorithm is effective, has a faster convergence speed and better performance than the traditional PPO algorithm, and the measure of the relative entropy can show the differences. In addition, it can more efficiently use the information of complex environment to learn policies. At the same time, not only can our paper explain the rationality of the policy distribution theory, the proposed framework can also balance between iteration steps, computational complexity and convergence speed, and we also introduced an effective measure of performance using the relative entropy concept. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, to introduce approximate efficiency notions in variable ordering structures, some coradiant-valued maps are dealt with. Approximate nondominated and minimal elements are defined and some of their properties are studied. Corresponding to these concepts, necessary and sufficient conditions are provided. To obtain such conditions, some scalarization methods are investigated. The paper also investigates possible relationships between the Pascoletti-Serafini radial scalarization, approximate efficiency, approximate nondominance, and minimality utilizing some coradiant-valued maps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Total variation (TV) is a one of the most popular regularizers for stabilizing the solution of ill-posed inverse problems. This paper proposes a novel proximal-gradient algorithm for minimizing TV regularized least-squares cost functionals. Unlike traditional methods that require nested iterations for computing the proximal step of TV, our algorithm approximates the latter with several simple proximals that have closed form solutions. We theoretically prove that the proposed parallel proximal method achieves the TV solution with arbitrarily high precision at a global rate of converge that is equivalent to the fast proximal-gradient methods. The results in this paper have the potential to enhance the applicability of TV for solving very large-scale imaging inverse problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Continuity of the objective functions and compactness of their domain are classical assumptions widely used to obtain existence results for solutions of optimization problems. Due to the lack of compactness in general spaces, under some moderate assumptions concerning the objective function and the feasible set, we derive existence results for vector-valued optimization problems and corresponding results for associated scalarized problems in this paper. Furthermore, we apply our results to special vector-valued approximation problems, especially to multi-objective location problems where the whole set of efficient solutions can be generated by a geometric primal-dual algorithm. Moreover, by using the nonlinear scalarizing functional introduced by Gerstewitz, we perform an optimization according to the preferences of a decision maker on the generated set of efficient solutions from which we derive a single solution of this set that corresponds to the preferences of the decision maker. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

JPEG compression based on the discrete cosine transform is a key building block in low-power multimedia applications. Approximate computation techniques are used to exploit the error tolerance of JPEG. An image-dependent framework is proposed in this paper to design optimized approximate hardware with variable approximate bit-widths for a user-specified error budget. The proposed method can dynamically adjust the extent of approximation in the system depending on the pixel values of the input image, thus leveraging the inherent sparsity of certain images. This novel technique not only improves the power-delay product by $3.4{\times }$ over the base case, i.e., where the JPEG hardware is accurate but also significantly outperforms the image-independent approximation case, which is solely based on the error tolerance of the JPEG algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The optimal feedrate planning on five-axis parametric tool path with multi-constraints remains challenging due to the variable curvature of tool path curves and the nonlinear relationships between the Cartesian space and joint space. The methods for solving this problem are very limited at present. The optimal feedrate associated with a programmed tool path is crucial for high speed and high accuracy machining. This paper presents a novel feedrate optimisation method for feedrate planning on five-axis parametric tool paths with preset multi-constraints including chord error constraint, tangential kinematic constraints and axis kinematic constraints. The proposed method first derives a linear objective function for feedrate optimisation by using a discrete format of primitive continuous objective function. Then, the preset multi-constraints are converted to nonlinear constraint conditions on the decision variables in the linear objective function and are then linearised with an approximation strategy. A linear model for feedrate optimisation with preset multiple constraints is then constructed, which can be solved by well-developed linear programming algorithms. Finally, the optimal feedrate can be obtained from the optimal solution and fitted to the smooth spline curve as the ultimate feedrate profile. Experiments are conducted on two parametric tool paths to verify the feasibility and applicability of the proposed method that show both the planning results and computing efficiency are satisfactory when the number of sampling positions is appropriately determined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we consider a projected gradient method for constrained multiobjective optimization problems. Under suitable assumptions, we show that the sequence generated by the method converges to a Pareto stationary point (or a weak Pareto optimal point) of the problem when the multiobjective function is quasiconvex (or pseudoconvex). Furthermore, in the case that the multiobjective function is convex, by using some approximate conditions that are imposed on the gradients of the objective functions and the search directions, we obtain the linear convergence result for this method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we propose a new method, called the pairwise similarity method, for assessing the similarity of instances of optimization problems. This method is a generalization of the metric approach proposed earlier for scheduling problems. It relaxes the requirements to the structure of the problem constraints. The method involves a dissimilarity function for the comparison of instances. It identifies "simple" instances that can be solved in polynomial time and uses them to get good approximations for other instances. We apply the pairwise similarity method to two discrete optimization problems: the majority domination problem and the maximum cut problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces necessary and sufficient conditions that surrogate functions must satisfy to properly define frontiers of nondominated solutions in multiobjective optimization (MOO) problems. These new conditions work directly on the objective space, and thus are agnostic about how the solutions are evaluated. Therefore, real objectives or user-designed objectives’ surrogates are allowed, opening the possibility of linking independent objective surrogates. To illustrate the practical consequences of adopting the proposed conditions, we use Gaussian processes (GPs) as surrogates endowed with monotonicity soft constraints and with an adjustable degree of flexibility, and compare them to regular GPs and to a frontier surrogate method in the literature that is the closest to the method proposed in this paper. Results show that the necessary and sufficient conditions proposed here are finely managed by the constrained GP, guiding to high-quality surrogates capable of suitably synthesizing an approximation to the Pareto frontier in challenging instances of MOO, while an existing approach that does not take the theory proposed in consideration defines surrogates which greatly violate the conditions to describe a valid frontier. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this paper, we investigate the approximate efficient solution and minimal sets of vector optimization problems. Firstly, we propose a new scalar function through the Gerstewitz function and discuss some of its properties. Secondly, we apply this scalar function to address the connectedness of the approximate efficient solution sets. Finally, the connectedness of the minimal sets is studied based on the above results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an analysis of an efficient parallel implementation of the active-set Newton algorithm (ASNA), which is used to estimate the nonnegative weights of linear combinations of the atoms in a large-scale dictionary to approximate an observation vector by minimizing the Kullback–Leibler divergence between the observation vector and the approximation. The performance of ASNA has been proved in previous works against other state-of-the-art methods. The implementations analysed in this paper have been developed in C, using parallel programming techniques to obtain a better performance in multicore architectures than the original MATLAB implementation. Also a hardware analysis is performed to check the influence of CPU frequency and number of CPU cores in the different implementations proposed. The new implementations allow ASNA algorithm to tackle real-time problems due to the execution time reduction obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In [16], T. Oikhberg introduced and studied variants of the greedy and weak greedy algorithms for sequences with gaps. In this paper, we extend some of the notions that appear naturally in connection with these algorithms to the context of sequences with gaps. In particular, we will consider sequences of natural numbers for which the inequality nk+1 ≤ Cnk or nk+1 ≤ C+nk holds for a positive constant C and all k, and find conditions under which the extended notions are equivalent their regular counterparts. In this context, we study an extension of democratic bases, proving that if n = (nk)k=1∞ is an increasing sequence of natural numbers such that either (nk+1 -nk=1∞ is bounded and (ek)k=1∞ is a Markushevich basis or (nk+1/nk)k=1∞ is bounded and (ek)k=1∞ is a Schauder basis, then n-democracy is equivalent to democracy. Additionally, we give examples proving that these results are optimal, and we obtain similar results for some of the other properties that appear naturally in the study of the greedy algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we propose a deep neural network-based numerical method for solving contact problems. Focusing on a static frictionless unilateral contact problem, we derive its weak formulation and prove that the solution of the weak formulation is also the minimizer of the corresponding energy functional. By converting the original contact problem into a minimization problem, a deep neural network is adopted to approximate the solution and solve the minimization problem. Numerical results demonstrate the effectiveness and accuracy of our method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we consider a modified version of the control problem in a model free Markov decision process (MDP) setting with large state and action spaces. The control problem most commonly addressed in the contemporary literature is to find an optimal policy which maximizes the value function, i.e., the long run discounted reward of the MDP. The current settings also assume access to a generative model of the MDP with the hidden premise that observations of the system behaviour in the form of sample trajectories can be obtained with ease from the model. In this paper, we consider a modified version, where the cost function is the expectation of a non-convex function of the value function without access to the generative model. Rather, we assume that a sample trajectory generated using a priori chosen behaviour policy is made available. In this restricted setting, we solve the modified control problem in its true sense, i.e., to find the best possible policy given this limited information. We propose a stochastic approximation algorithm based on the well-known cross entropy method which is data (sample trajectory) efficient, stable, robust as well as computationally and storage efficient. We provide a proof of convergence of our algorithm to a policy which is globally optimal relative to the behaviour policy. We also present experimental results to corroborate our claims and we demonstrate the superiority of the solution produced by our algorithm compared to the state-of-the-art algorithms under appropriately chosen behaviour policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tuning noninteger-order controllers using parametric optimization remains a subject of ongoing research. One of the areas of focus concerns analysis of performance indicators ensuring desired behavior. In this paper we analyze linear, quadratic and quartic performance indicators as tools for finding parameters of PD and PI controllers in ladder system of fourth order. Proposed optimization method uses the Laguerre Impulse Response Approximation (LIRA) method and ensures the stability of noninteger closed-loop system. The results were compared with classic PID controllers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates a meta-heuristic (MH) for the Pareto-optimal dissimilar path problem (DPP) (PDPP) whose solution is a set composed of at least two different paths. The objective vector of a PDPP includes some conflicting objectives: on the one hand, the average path measures such as the length and risk of paths in a solution must be kept low and, on the other hand, the dissimilarity among these paths should be kept high. The dissimilarity of the DPP is a measure of a paths set with cardinality no less than two. However, just one path can be extracted from a chromosome in the existing MHs for various path problems. This results in a great difficulty to evaluate the chromosome in the existing MHs when we apply them to solve DPP and, consequently, there exists no MH for solving the DPP so far. In this paper, a new decoding approach of a chromosome is first explored and, with this approach, a set of paths can be extracted from a chromosome. By combining the simulated annealing (SA), in which the new decoding approach is adopted, with the well-known greedy randomized adaptive search procedure (GRASP), a SA-based GRASP for the PDPP is proposed. The proposed algorithm is compared against a most recent heuristic, whose performance is better than all of the early approaches, for the PDPP and the experimental results show that the proposed algorithm is able to quickly create superior approximation of the efficient set of the PDPP than the existing solution approaches for the PDPP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The originality of this paper is to deal with the particular case of null infimum jump costs in the infinite horizon impulse control problem. The value function of such problems is a viscosity solution of the classic quasi-variational inequality (QVI) associated, but not the unique one. This is a drawback to characterize it. In this paper, a new QVI for which the value function is the unique viscosity solution is given. This allows us to approximate the value function. So, we give some discrete approximations of the new QVI and prove that the approximate value function converges locally uniformly, toward the value function of the impulse control problem with zero lower bound of impulse cost. We choose the classic example of continuous time inventory control in Rn to illustrate the results of this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces a novel technique to approximate a given continuous function f defined on a real compact interval by a new class of zipper α -fractal functions which contain a scaling vector and a binary vector or signature. For specific choices of scaling and signature vectors, the corresponding zipper fractal functions simultaneously interpolate and approximate f. When signature is zero, the proposed zipper fractal functions coincide with existing α -fractal functions. Hence, the zipper approximation proposed in this manuscript generalizes the existing fractal and classical approximations. Zipper fractal analogue of some elementary results in the classical approximation theory are obtained. Using convex optimization technique, we investigate the existence of optimal zipper fractal function for a given continuous function. The parameter identification problems for zipper α -fractal approximants are investigated. We derive sufficient conditions on the parameters of zipper α -fractal functions so that these functions preserve the positivity, monotonicity and convexity of the original function f. Also, we have studied the constructions of k-times continuously differentiable zipper α -fractal functions and one sided zipper fractal approximants for f. Numerical illustrations are provided to support the proposed theoretical results on zipper α -fractal functions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces an efficient algorithm for finding the dominant generalized eigenvectors of a pair of symmetric matrices. Combining tools from approximation theory and convex optimization, we develop a simple scalable algorithm with strong theoretical performance guarantees. More precisely, the algorithm retains the simplicity of the well-known power method but enjoys the asymptotic iteration complexity of the powerful Lanczos method. Unlike these classic techniques, our algorithm is designed to decompose the overall problem into a series of subproblems that only need to be solved approximately. The combination of good initializations, fast iterative solvers, and appropriate error control in solving the subproblems lead to a linear running time in the input sizes compared to the superlinear time for the traditional methods. The improved running time immediately offers acceleration for several applications. As an example, we demonstrate how the proposed algorithm can be used to accelerate canonical correlation analysis, which is a fundamental statistical tool for learning of a low-dimensional representation of high-dimensional objects. Numerical experiments on real-world datasets confirm that our approach yields significant improvements over the current state of the art. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we consider the problem of fitting the B-spline curves to a set of ordered points, by finding the control points and the location parameters. The presented method takes two main steps: specifying initial B-spline curve and optimization. The method determines the number and the position of control points such that the initial B-spline curve is very close to the target curve. The proposed method introduces a length parameter in which this allows us to adjust the number of the control points and increases the precision of the initial B-spline curve. Afterwards, the scaled BFGS algorithm is used to optimize the control points and the foot points simultaneously and generates the final curve. Furthermore, we present a new procedure to insert a new control point and repeat the optimization method, if it is necessary to modify the fitting accuracy of the generated B-spline fitting curve. Associated examples are also offered to show that the proposed approach performs accurately for complex shapes with a large number of data points and is able to generate a precise fitting curve with a high degree of approximation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we consider k-echelon extensions of the deterministic one warehouse multi-retailer problem. We give constant factor approximation algorithms for some of these extensions when k is fixed. We focus first on the case without backorders and we give a (2k-1)-approximation algorithm under general assumptions on the evolution of the holding costs as products move toward the final customers. We then improve this result to a k-approximation when the holding costs are monotonically non-increasing or non-decreasing (which is a natural situation in practice). Finally we address problems with backorders: we give a 3-approximation for the one-warehouse multi-retailer problem with backlog and a k-approximation algorithm for the k-level Joint Replenishment Problem with backlog (a variant where inventory can only be kept at the final retailers). Ours results are the first constant approximation algorithms for those problems. In addition, we demonstrate the potential of our approach on a practical case. Our preliminary experiments show that the average optimality gap is around 15%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Computation of Loss of Load Probability (LOLP) is a challenge in Generation Expansion Planning (GEP) problem. This paper presents a dynamic GEP model considering LOLP as a reliability criterion. The objective function of the proposed dynamic GEP model includes the discounted total costs of investment cost, operation cost, and maintenance cost. The proposed LOLP constrained GEP problem is formulated as a mixed integer nonlinear programming (MINLP) problem. The MINLP formulation of GEP problem is then converted to a mixed integer linear programming (MIP) problem by applying several approximations to LOLP constraint. The utilized approximations are divided into two clusters for low and high order outages. A test case containing 12 types of installed and 5 types of candidate plants with a 14-year planning horizon is used to validate the efficiency of the proposed dynamic GEP problem. The developed MIP-based GEP model is solved using CPLEX solver and the obtained results are compared with the conventional LOLP-constrained GEP model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, by taking advantage of evolutionary multiobjective optimization techniques in diversity preservation, the means of multiobjectivization has attracted increasing interest in the studies of multimodal optimization (MMO). While most existing work of multiobjectivization aims to find all optimal solutions simultaneously, in this paper, we propose to approximate multimodal fitness landscapes via multiobjectivization, thus providing an estimation of potential optimal areas. To begin with, an MMO problem is transformed into a multiobjective optimization problem (MOP) by adding an adaptive diversity indicator as the second optimization objective, and an approximate fitness landscape is obtained via optimization of the transformed MOP using a multiobjective evolutionary algorithm. Then, on the basis of the approximate fitness landscape, an adaptive peak detection method is proposed to find peaks where optimal solutions may exist. Finally, local search is performed inside the detected peaks on the approximate fitness landscape. To assess the performance of the proposed algorithm, extensive experiments are conducted on 20 multimodal test functions, in comparison with three state-of-the-art algorithms for MMO. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm not only shows promising performance in benchmark comparisons, but also has good potential in assisting preference-based decision-making in MMO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mobile edge computing is a new computing paradigm, which pushes cloud computing capabilities away from the centralized cloud to the network edge. However, with the sinking of computing capabilities, the new challenge incurred by user mobility arises: since end users typically move erratically, the services should be dynamically migrated among multiple edges to maintain the service performance, i.e., user-perceived latency. Tackling this problem is non-trivial since frequent service migration would greatly increase the operational cost. To address this challenge in terms of the performance-cost tradeoff, in this paper, we study the mobile edge service performance optimization problem under long-term cost budget constraint. To address user mobility which is typically unpredictable, we apply Lyapunov optimization to decompose the long-term optimization problem into a series of real-time optimization problems which do not requirea prioriknowledge such as user mobility. As the decomposed problem is NP-hard, we first design an approximation algorithm based on Markov approximation to seek a near-optimal solution. To make our solution scalable and amenable to future fifth-generation application scenario with large-scale user devices, we further propose a distributed approximation scheme with greatly reduced time complexity, based on the technique of the best response update. Rigorous theoretical analysis and extensive evaluations demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed centralized and distributed schemes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing popularity of location-based applications creates new opportunities for users to travel together. In this paper, we study a novel spatio-social optimization problem, i.e., Optimal Group Route, for multi-user itinerary planning. With our problem formulation, users can individually specify sources and destinations, preferences on the Point-of-interest (POI) categories, as well as the distance constraints. The goal is to find a itinerary that can be traversed by all the users while maximizing the group’s preference of POI categories in the itinerary. Our work advances existing group trip planning studies by maximizing the group’s social experience. To this end, individual preferences of POI categories are aggregated by considering the agreement and disagreement among group members. Furthermore, planning a multi-user itinerary on large road networks is computationally challenging. We propose two efficient greedy algorithms with bounded approximation ratio, one exact solution which computes the optimal itinerary by exploring a limited number of paths in the road network, and a scaled approximation algorithm to speed up the dynamic programming employed by the exact solution. We conduct extensive empirical evaluations on two real-world road network/POI datasets and our results confirm the effectiveness and efficiency of our solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Day-Ahead Unit Commitment (UC) is an important problem faced by Independent System Operators (ISOs). Midcontinent ISO as the largest ISO in US, solves a complicated UC problem involving over 45,000 buses and 1,400 generation resources. With the increasing number of combined cycle units (CCs) represented by configuration-based modeling, solving the problem becomes more challenging. The state-of-the-practice branch-and-cut method suffers from poor performance when there are a large number of CCs. The goal of this paper is to solve such large UC problems with near-optimal solutions within time limits. In this paper, our recently developed Surrogate Lagrangian Relaxation, which overcomes major difficulties of Lagrangian Relaxation by not requiring dual optimal costs, is significantly enhanced through adding quadratic penalties on constraint violations to accelerate convergence. Quadratic penalty terms are linearized through a novel use of absolute value functions. Therefore, resource-level subproblems can be formulated and solved by branch-and-cut. Complicated constraints within a CC unit are thus handled within a subproblem. Subproblem solutions are then effectively coordinated. Computational improvements on key aspects are also incorporated to fine tune the algorithm. As demonstrated by MISO cases, the method provides near-optimal solutions within a time limit, and significantly outperforms branch-and-cut. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chance constrained optimal power flow (OPF) has been recognized as a promising framework to manage the risk from variable renewable energy (VRE). In the presence of VRE uncertainties, this paper discusses a distributionally robust chance constrained approximate ac-OPF. The power flow model employed in the proposed OPF formulation combines an exact ac power flow model at the nominal operation point and an approximate linear power flow model to reflect the system response under uncertainties. The ambiguity set employed in the distributionally robust formulation is the Wasserstein ball centered at the empirical distribution. The proposed OPF model minimizes the expectation of the quadratic cost function w.r.t. the worst-case probability distribution and guarantees the chance constraints satisfied for any distribution in the ambiguity set. The whole method is data-driven in the sense that the ambiguity set is constructed from historical data without any presumption on the type of the probability distribution, and more data leads to smaller ambiguity set and less conservative strategy. Moreover, special problem structures of the proposed problem formulation are exploited to develop an efficient and scalable solution approach. Case studies are carried out on the IEEE 14 and 118 bus systems to show the accuracy and necessity of the approximate ac model and the attractive features of the distributionally robust optimization approach compared with other methods to deal with uncertainties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adjustable robust optimization (ARO) generally produces better worst-case solutions than static robust optimization (RO). However, ARO is computationally more difficult than RO. In this paper, we provide conditions under which the worst-case objective values of ARO and RO problems are equal. We prove that when the uncertainty is constraint-wise, the problem is convex with respect to the adjustable variables and concave with respect to the uncertain parameters, the adjustable variables lie in a convex and compact set and the uncertainty set is convex and compact, then robust solutions are also optimal for the corresponding ARO problem. Furthermore, we prove that if some of the uncertain parameters are constraint-wise and the rest are not, then under a similar set of assumptions there is an optimal decision rule for the ARO problem that does not depend on the constraint-wise uncertain parameters. Also, we show for a class of problems that using affine decision rules that depend on all of the uncertain parameters yields the same optimal objective value as when the rules depend solely on the non-constraint-wise uncertain parameters. Finally, we illustrate the usefulness of these results by applying them to convex quadratic and conic quadratic problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is concerned with-gain optimisation of input-affine nonlinear systems controlled by analytic fuzzy logic system. Unlike the conventional fuzzy-based strategies, the non-conventional analytic fuzzy control method does not require an explicit fuzzy rule base. As the first contribution of this paper, we prove, by using the Stone–Weierstrass theorem, that the proposed fuzzy system without rule base is universal approximator. The second contribution of this paper is an algorithm for solving a finite-horizon minimax problem for-gain optimisation. The proposed algorithm consists of recursive chain rule for first- and second-order derivatives, Newton’s method, multi-step Adams method and automatic differentiation. Finally, the results of this paper are evaluated on a second-order nonlinear system. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this paper, we introduce an efficient conjugate gradient method for solving nonsmooth optimization problems by using the Moreau-Yosida regularization approach. The search directions generated by our proposed procedure satisfy the sufficient descent property, and more importantly, belong to a suitable trust region. Our proposed method is globally convergent under mild assumptions. Our numerical comparative results on a collection of test problems show the efficiency and superiority of our proposed method. We have also examined the ability and the effectiveness of our approach for solving some real-world engineering problems from image processing field. The results confirm better performance of our method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) in ac alternating magnetic fields will produce a sufficient amount of heats owing to the Néel and Brown relaxations. Magnetic fluid hyperthermia (MFH), based on this mechanism, is a new promising approach for tumor treatments. The temperature field distribution in the cancer and its neighbor regions have a significant effect on the therapeutic effect of MFH. As a result, it is generally required to maintain the temperature in the cancer in the range of 42 °C–90 °C while guaranteeing a sharp temperature gradient in the neighbor regions of the cancer and healthy tissues. This paper provides an automated shape and MNP volume fraction solid design optimization methodology with finite element analysis, coupled field analysis, and an enhanced multiobjective quantum particle swarm optimization, to realize the aforementioned two ultimate goals. Moreover, an optimal radial basis function approximation technique is proposed to approximate the distribution of the optimized nanoparticles volume fraction solids to give a smooth and implementable nanoparticles distribution. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper presents a real-time solution method of the maximum divert trajectory optimization problem for planetary landing. In mid-course, the vehicle is to abort and retarget to a landing site as far from the nominal as physically possible. The divert trajectory must satisfy velocity constraints in the range and cross range directions and a total speed constraint. The thrust magnitude is bounded above and below so that once on, the engine cannot be turned off. Because this constraint is not convex, it is relaxed to a convex constraint and lossless convexification is proved. A transformation of variables is introduced in the nonlinear dynamics and an approximation is made so that the problem becomes a second-order cone problem, which can be solved to global optimality in polynomial time whenever a feasible solution exists. A number of examples are solved to illustrate the effectiveness and efficiency of the solution method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper describes a method for solving multi-objective optimization problems with box constraints. Unlike existing approaches, the proposed method not only constructs a finite approximation of Pareto frontier, but also proves its ϵ-optimality. The paper gives a detailed explanation of basic theoretical concepts behind the method and describes the algorithmic implementation. A practically important application of the proposed method to finding the working space of a robotic manipulator is presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we propose a method for solving systems of nonlinear inequalities with predefined accuracy based on nonuniform covering concept formerly adopted for global optimization. The method generates inner and outer approximations of the solution set. We describe the general concept and three ways of numerical implementation of the method. The first one is applicable only in a few cases when a minimum and a maximum of the constraints convolution function can be found analytically. The second implementation uses a global optimization method to find extrema of the constraints convolution function numerically. The third one is based on extrema approximation with Lipschitz under- and overestimations. We obtain theoretical bounds on the complexity and the accuracy of the generated approximations as well as compare proposed approaches theoretically and experimentally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Decomposition via scalarization is a basic concept for multiobjective optimization. The weighted sum (WS) method, a frequently used scalarizing method in decomposition-based evolutionary multiobjective (EMO) algorithms, has good features such as computationally easy and high search efficiency, compared to other scalarizing methods. However, it is often criticized by the loss of effect on nonconvex problems. This paper seeks to utilize advantages of the WS method, without suffering from its disadvantage, to solve many-objective problems. A novel decomposition-based EMO algorithm called multiobjective evolutionary algorithm based on decomposition LWS (MOEA/D-LWS) is proposed in which the WS method is applied in a local manner. That is, for each search direction, the optimal solution is selected only amongst its neighboring solutions. The neighborhood is defined using a hypercone. The apex angle of a hypervcone is determined automatically in a priori. The effectiveness of MOEA/D-LWS is demonstrated by comparing it against three variants of MOEA/D, i.e., MOEA/D using Chebyshev method, MOEA/D with an adaptive use of WS and Chebyshev method, MOEA/D with a simultaneous use of WS and Chebyshev method, and four state-of-the-art many-objective EMO algorithms, i.e., preference-inspired co-evolutionary algorithm, hypervolume-based evolutionary, \boldsymbol \theta -dominance-based algorithm, and SPEA2+SDE for the WFG benchmark problems with up to seven conflicting objectives. Experimental results show that MOEA/D-LWS outperforms the comparison algorithms for most of test problems, and is a competitive algorithm for many-objective optimization. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

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The aim of this paper is to open up a new perspective on set and shape optimization by establishing a theory of Galerkin approximations to the space of convex and compact subsets of R d with favorable properties, both from a theoretical and from a computational perspective. Galerkin spaces consisting of polytopes with fixed facet normals are first explored in depth and then used to solve optimization problems in the space of convex and compact subsets of R d approximately. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers the numerical approximation for the optimal supporting position and related optimal control of a catalytic reaction system with some control and state constraints, which is governed by a nonlinear partial differential equations with given initial and boundary conditions. By the Galerkin finite element method, the original problem is projected into a semi-discrete optimal control problem governed by a system of ordinary differential equations. Then the control parameterization method is applied to approximate the control and reduce the original system to an optimal parameter selection problem, in which both the position and related control are taken as decision variables to be optimized. This problem can be solved as a nonlinear optimization problem by a particle swarm optimization algorithm. The numerical simulations are given to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed numerical approximation method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers a class of vector variational inequalities. First, we present an equivalent formulation, which is a scalar variational inequality, for the deterministic vector variational inequality. Then we concentrate on the stochastic circumstance. By noting that the stochastic vector variational inequality may not have a solution feasible for all realizations of the random variable in general, for tractability, we employ the expected residual minimization approach, which aims at minimizing the expected residual of the so-called regularized gap function. We investigate the properties of the expected residual minimization problem, and furthermore, we propose a sample average approximation method for solving the expected residual minimization problem. Comprehensive convergence analysis for the approximation approach is established as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The location of knot points and estimation of the number of knots are undoubtedly known as one of the most difficult problems in B-Spline curve approximation. In the literature, different researchers have been seen to use more than one optimization algorithm in order to solve this problem. In this paper, Big Bang-Big Crunch method (BB-BC) which is one of the evolutionary based optimization algorithms was introduced and then the approximation of B-Spline curve knots was conducted by this method. The technique of reverse engineering was implemented for the curve knot approximation. The detection of knot locations and the number of knots were randomly selected in the curve approximation which was performed by using BB-BC method. The experimental results were carried out by utilizing seven different test functions for the curve approximation. The performance of BB-BC algorithm was examined on these functions and their results were compared with the earlier studies performed by the researchers. In comparison with the other studies, it was observed that though the number of the knot in BB-BC algorithm was high, this algorithm approximated the B-Spline curves at the rate of minor error. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Often decision makers have to cope with a programming problem with unknown quantitities. Then they will estimate these quantities and solve the problem as it then appears-the 'approximate problem'. Thus there is a need to establish conditions which will ensure that the solutions to the approximate problem will come close to the solutions to the true problem in a suitable manner. Confidence sets, i.e. sets that cover the true sets with a given prescribed probability, provide useful quantitative information. In this paper we consider multiobjective problems and derive confidence sets for the sets of efficient points, weakly efficient points, and the corresponding solution sets. Besides the crucial convergence conditions for the objective and/or constraint functions, one approach for the derivation of confidence sets requires some knowledge about the true problem, which may be not available. Therefore also another method, called relaxation, is suggested. This approach works without any knowledge about the true problem. The results are applied to the Markowitz model of portfolio optimization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The tolerance of an element of a combinatorial optimization problem with respect to its optimal solution is the maximum change of the cost of the element while preserving the optimality of the given optimal solution and keeping all other input data unchanged. Tolerances play an important role in the design of exact and approximation algorithms, but the computation of tolerances requires additional computational time. In this paper, we concentrate on combinatorial optimization problems for which the computation of all tolerances and an optimal solution have almost the same computational complexity as of finding an optimal solution only. We summarize efficient computational methods for computing tolerances for these problems and determine their time complexity experimentally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modern problems of optimization, estimation, signal and image processing, pattern recognition, etc., deal with huge-dimensional data; this necessitates elaboration of efficient methods of processing such data. The idea of building low-dimensional approximations to huge data arrays is in the heart of the modern data analysis. One of the most appealing methods of compact data representation is the statistical method referred to as the principal component analysis; however, it is sensitive to uncertainties in the available data and to the presence of outliers. In this paper, robust versions of the principle component analysis approach are proposed along with numerical methods for their implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In advanced tomographic experiments, large detector sizes and large numbers of acquired datasets can make it difficult to process the data in a reasonable time. At the same time, the acquired projections are often limited in some way, for example having a low number of projections or a low signal-to-noise ratio. Direct analytical reconstruction methods are able to produce reconstructions in very little time, even for large-scale data, but the quality of these reconstructions can be insufficient for further analysis in cases with limited data. Iterative reconstruction methods typically produce more accurate reconstructions, but take significantly more time to compute, which limits their usefulness in practice. In this paper, we present the application of the SIRT-FBP method to large-scale real-world tomographic data. The SIRT-FBP method is able to accurately approximate the simultaneous iterative reconstruction technique (SIRT) method by the computationally efficient filtered backprojection (FBP) method, using precomputed experiment-specific filters. We specifically focus on the many implementation details that are important for application on large-scale real-world data, and give solutions to common problems that occur with experimental data. We show that SIRT-FBP filters can be computed in reasonable time, even for large problem sizes, and that precomputed filters can be reused for future experiments. Reconstruction results are given for three different experiments, and are compared with results of popular existing methods. The results show that the SIRT-FBP method is able to accurately approximate iterative reconstructions of experimental data. Furthermore, they show that, in practice, the SIRT-FBP method can produce more accurate reconstructions than standard direct analytical reconstructions with popular filters, without increasing the required computation time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reliability-based design optimization (RBDO) has been widely used to design engineering products with minimum cost function while meeting reliability constraints. Although uncertainties, such as aleatory uncertainty and epistemic uncertainty, have been well considered in RBDO, they are mainly considered for model input parameters. Model uncertainty, i.e., the uncertainty of model bias indicating the inherent model inadequacy for representing the real physical system, is typically overlooked in RBDO. This paper addresses model uncertainty approximation in a product design space and further integrates the model uncertainty into RBDO. In particular, a copula-based bias modeling approach is proposed and results are demonstrated by two vehicle design problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stress-related problems have not been given the same attention as the minimum compliance topological optimization problem in the literature. Continuum structural topological optimization with stress constraints is of wide engineering application prospect, in which there still are many problems to solve, such as the stress concentration, an equivalent approximate optimization model and etc. A new and effective topological optimization method of continuum structures with the stress constraints and the objective function being the structural volume has been presented in this paper. To solve the stress concentration issue, an approximate stress gradient evaluation for any element is introduced, and a total aggregation normalized stress gradient constraint is constructed for the optimized structure under the r−th load case. To obtain stable convergent series solutions and enhance the control on the stress level, two p-norm global stress constraint functions with different indexes are adopted, and some weighting p-norm global stress constraint functions are introduced for any load case. And an equivalent topological optimization model with reduced stress constraints is constructed,being incorporated with the rational approximation for material properties, an active constraint technique, a trust region scheme, and an effective local stress approach like the qp approach to resolve the stress singularity phenomenon. Hence, a set of stress quadratic explicit approximations are constructed, based on stress sensitivities and the method of moving asymptotes. A set of algorithm for the one level optimization problem with artificial variables and many possible non-active design variables is proposed by adopting an inequality constrained nonlinear programming method with simple trust regions, based on the primal-dual theory, in which the non-smooth expressions of the design variable solutions are reformulated as smoothing functions of the Lagrange multipliers by using a novel smoothing function. Finally, a two-level optimization design scheme with active constraint technique, i.e. varied constraint limits, is proposed to deal with the aggregation constraints that always are of loose constraint (non active constraint) features in the conventional structural optimization method. A novel structural topological optimization method with stress constraints and its algorithm are formed, and examples are provided to demonstrate that the proposed method is feasible and very effective. © 2016 The Authors. International Journal for Numerical Methods in Engineering published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper is concerned with the necessary and sufficient conditions of optimality for third-order polyhedral optimization described by polyhedral discrete and differential inclusions (PDIs). In the first part of the paper, the discrete polyhedral problemis reduced to convex minimization problem and the necessary and sufficient condition for optimality is derived. Then the necessary and sufficient conditions of optimality for discrete-approximation problemare formulated using the transversality condition and approximation method for the continuous polyhedral problemgoverned by PDI. On the basis on the obtained results in Section 3, we prove the sufficient conditions of optimality for the problem. It turns out that the concerned method requires some special equivalence theorem, which allow us to make a bridge betweenandproblems. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]