An interior point algorithm for global optimal solutions and KKT points

Although various optimization methods for solving single-objective problems have been developed in the last few decades, these methods have lost their eligibility due to the fact that today’s engineering problems are toward multiple objective optimization problems, in real applications. For single-objective optimization problems, for example, in case of a minimization problem, this value is the decision vector giving the smallest objective that can be achieved within the specified constraints. Hence the minimum decision vector within all possible (feasible) solution vectors is the so-called optimal solution and/or optimal design. However, in multi-objective optimization problems, since a different objective value is generated against each decision vector, the superiority of the solutions over each other is determined by considering the trade-off among the objective values. Therefore, the solution of multi-objective optimization problems, unlike single-objective problems, is a set of vectors rather than a single decision vector. In multi-objective optimization problems, especially if there are intricate objectives, the computational cost of the problem increases. In other words, while synchronously trying to maximize one of the objectives and to minimize another one makes it difficult to find the global optimum design. One of the important techniques used in multi-objective optimization problems is Pareto optimality which enables to select the global optimum solution taking into account the trade-off among all objectives. In this context, using of derivative-based methods has decreased, but the use of metaheuristic methods has increased due to the rapid availability of global optimum solution. This is because the improvements in the field of optimization are progressing in proportion to technology and varying according to the needs. In this chapter, one of the recent metaheuristic optimization methods based on swarm intelligence that is so-called a Pareto-based bat algorithm inspired by the behavior of determining the direction and distance of an object using the echo of the sound called the echolocation of bats is used in order to obtain optimum solutions for multi-objective engineering design problems. In this regard, a four-bar planar truss, a real-sized welded steel beam as well as a multi-layer radar absorber are selected as multi-objective engineering design optimization problems. In case the obtained results (optimal designs) are examined, the potency and the reliability of the proposed multi-objective Pareto-based bat algorithm are demonstrated.

Global optimization problems widely exist in the fields of economic model, finance, engineering design and control. Since it is easy to fall into multiple local optimal solutions that are different from the global optimal solution, how to obtain the global optimal solution is a very important subject. Inspired by the recently proposed deterministic global optimization method – Granular Sieving (GrS) algorithm, this paper proposes a parallel method for global optimization – P-GrS. Supported by the mathematical theory of GrS, P-GrS can theoretically guarantee to find the global optimum and the complete set of global optimal solutions through the parallel design of GrS. The method has better performance than the traditional GrS in most bench mark functions, and the results show the feasibility and effectiveness of the algorithm.

This paper considers the locally and globally optimal solutions of the global optimisation problem whose objective function is a max‐plus vector‐valued function and constraint function is a real affine function. The formulas about global optimisation in the existing work are further explained and simplified. The necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence and uniqueness of locally optimal solutions of a single objective are established, which are then used to deduce these of globally optimal solutions. Furthermore, the general formulas of locally and globally optimal solutions are presented, respectively. The local optimisation is then applied to solve the load distribution problem of distributed systems with no globally optimal solution, and the optimal allocation scheme is proposed to complete the overall task at the earliest time. The proposed method is constructive, and the obtained results are illustrated by the numerical examples.

Particle swarm optimization (PSO) is a recently developed optimization method that has attracted interest of researchers in various areas. PSO has been shown to be effective in solving a variety of complex optimization problems. With properly chosen parameters, PSO can converge to local optima. However, conventional PSO does not have global convergence. Empirical evidences indicate that the PSO algorithm may fail to reach global optimal solutions for complex problems. We propose to combine the branch-and-bound framework with the particle swarm optimization algorithm. With this integrated approach, convergence to global optimal solutions is theoretically guaranteed. We have developed and implemented the BB-PSO algorithm that combines the efficiency of PSO and effectiveness of the branch-and-bound method. The BB-PSO method was tested with a set of standard benchmark optimization problems. Experimental results confirm that BB-PSO is effective in finding global optimal solutions to problems that may cause difficulties for the PSO algorithm.

Virulence Optimization Algorithm

Recent advances in networked control and distributed systems require the development of scalable algorithms that consider the decentralized characteristic of the problem and communication restrictions. The interest in solving distributed consensus optimization problems of multi-agent systems has been growing. Distributed consensus optimization problems are modeled as minimizing a global objective function by multiple agents over a network. The formulation of distributed consensus optimization has been paid extensive attention due to its widespread applications, e.g., large-scale machine learning [1, 2], model predictive control [3], cognitive networks [4, 5], source localization [6, 7], resource allocation or scheduling [8], message routing [9], distributed spectrum sensing [5], statistical inference and learning [6, 10, 11, 12]. In these applications, without need of putting all the parameters together which define the optimization problem, decentralized nodes that only have a local subcollection of such parameters, collaboratively achieve the minimizer of the global objective function. In light of commonly used distributed optimization algorithms, by introducing a large number of nodes with a certain ability of calculation and communication, a complex global optimization problem is spit and distributed to those nodes. Through locally calculating and communicating with neighboring nodes, global optimal solutions can be obtained.

We consider a class of problems where a given number p of facility locations must be selected from a set of s potential locations so as to optimize a pre-determined fitness function. There exist outstanding location problems in this class, such as the p-median, max-covering, MAXCAP, and MAXPROFIT problems. These location problems may contain more than a single global optimal solution. Obtaining multiple global optimal solutions allows us to consider other characteristics in the process of selecting the preferred solution. In [B. Pelegrín, J. Redondo, P. Fernández, I. García, and P. Ortigosa, GASUB: Finding global optima to discrete location problems by a genetic-like algorithm, J. Glob. Optim. 38 (2007), pp. 249–264], a new ‘multimodal’ algorithm (gasub) was presented for solving the previously mentioned location problems. In the paper, the algorithm was fine-tuned to obtain a single global optimum (with 100% success) as fast as possible, and it was compared with two widely used techniques, that is, the standard optimizer Xpress-MP [Xpress-MP, Dashoptimization, 2004.] and the Multi Start Heuristic. In this paper, we propose a new set of parameter values so that gasub can explore the space more deeply and consequently find several alternative global optimal solutions. Moreover, two coarse-grain parallelizations of gasub are presented, cggasub and cggasub_mo. cggasub is able to reduce the computational time of gasub where solutions of the same quality are generated, while cggasub_mo finds more alternative global optima than the sequential version and spending similar computational time in the process. gasub, with the new parameter setting and also the parallel algorithms, will be evaluated using a comprehensive computational set of experiments. Additionally, some criteria can also be used to select one of the known global optimal solutions when several alternatives optimize the corresponding objective function.

The minimum concave cost transportation problem is the benchmark problem in numerical computing and it has been used widely in the schedule of smart transportation. In this paper, a deterministic annealing neural network algorithm is proposed to solve the minimum concave cost transportation problem. The algorithm is derived from two neural network models and Lagrange-barrier functions. The Lagrange function is used to handle linear equality constraints and the barrier function is used to force the solution to move to the global or near-global optimal solution. The computer simulations on test problem are made and the results indicate that the proposed algorithm always generates global or near global optimal solutions.

Global optimization of Savonius-type vertical axis wind turbine with multiple circular-arc blades using validated 3D CFD model

GGA: A modified genetic algorithm with gradient-based local search for solving constrained optimization problems

In this paper, a class of Nonlinear Programming problem is modeled with gradient based system of fractional order differential equations in Caputo's sense. To see the overlap between the equilibrium point of the fractional order dynamic system and theoptimal solution of the NLP problem in a longer timespan the Multistage Variational ?teration Method isapplied. The comparisons among the multistage variational iteration method, the variationaliteration method and the fourth order Runge-Kutta method in fractional and integer order showthat fractional order model and techniques can be seen as an effective and reliable tool for finding optimal solutions of Nonlinear Programming problems.

In the paper, a necessary and sufficient criterion it provided such that any local optimal solution is also global in a not necessarily differentiable constrained optimization problem. This criterion is compared to others earlier appeared in the literature, which are sufficient but not necessary for a local optimal solution to be global. The importance of the established criterion is illustrated by suitable examples of nonconvex optimization problems presented in the paper.

The following article has been included in a multiple retraction: Canonical Duality Theory for Solving Nonconvex/Discrete Constrained Global Optimization Problems; Ning Ruan, David Y Gao. http://mms.sagepub.com/content/early/2015/07/08/1081286515591087.abstract In 2015 SAGE were made aware of concerns regarding the Special Issue of Mathematics & Mechanics of Solids on Advances in Canonical Duality Theory, guest-edited by Professor David Gao. At the request of the Guest Editor, the Special Issue has been retracted, due to conflict of interest regarding Professor Gao’s role as Guest Editor and co-author on a number of submitted papers. In addition the peer review process was less rigorous than the journal requires. The Guest Editor takes full responsibility for the retraction. The following articles that were due to appear in the Special Issue have therefore been retracted: Canonical Duality-Triality: Bridge between Nonconvex Analysis/Mechanics and Global Optimization in complex systems; David Y Gao, Ning Ruan, and Vittorio Latorre. http://mms.sagepub.com/content/early/2015/02/24/1081286514566533.abstract Canonical Dual Approach for Contact Mechanics Problems with Friction; Vittorio Latorre, Simone Sagratella, David Y Gao. http://mms.sagepub.com/content/early/2015/01/20/1081286514566534.abstract Canonical Duality Theory for Solving Non-Monotone Variational Inequality Problems; Guoshan Liu, David Y Gao, Shouyang Wang. http://mms.sagepub.com/content/early/2015/02/04/1081286514566535.abstract Double Well Potential Function and Its Optimization in The n-dimensional Real Space. Part I; Shu-Cherng Fang, David Y Gao, Gang-Xuan Lin, Ruey-Lin Sheu, Wen-Xun Xing. http://mms.sagepub.com/content/early/2015/02/24/1081286514566704.abstract Double Well Potential Function and Its Optimization in The n-dimensional Real Space. Part II; Yong Xia, Ruey-Lin Sheu, Shu-Cherng Fang, Wenxun Xing. http://mms.sagepub.com/content/early/2015/02/09/1081286514566723.abstract Analytic Solutions to 3-D Finite Deformation Problems Governed by St Venant-Kirchhoff Material; David Y Gao and E. Hajilarov. http://mms.sagepub.com/content/early/2015/07/06/1081286515591084.abstract Triality Theory and Complete Post-buckling Solutions of Large Deformed Beam by Canonical Dual Finite Element Method; Kun Cai, David Y Gao, Qinghua Qin. http://mms.sagepub.com/content/early/2015/06/28/1081286515591085.abstract Global Solutions to Spherically Constrained Quadratic Minimization via Canonical Duality Theory; Yi Chen, David Y Gao. http://mms.sagepub.com/content/early/2015/04/08/1081286515577122.abstract Unified Canonical Duality Methodology for Global Optimization; Vittorio Latorre, David Y Gao and N. Ruan. http://mms.sagepub.com/content/early/2015/07/06/1081286515591305.abstract A Framework of Canonical Dual Algorithms for Global Optimization; Xiaojun Zhou, David Y Gao, Chunhua Yang. http://mms.sagepub.com/content/early/2015/07/22/1081286515592190.abstract Canonical Duality Theory for Solving Nonconvex/Discrete Constrained Global Optimization Problems; Ning Ruan, David Y Gao. http://mms.sagepub.com/content/early/2015/07/08/1081286515591087.abstract Global Optimization Solutions to a Class of Non-convex Quadratic Minimization Problems with Quadratic Constraints; Yubo Yuan. http://mms.sagepub.com/content/early/2015/07/06/1081286515591086.abstract On Minimal Distance between Two Non-Convex Surfaces; Daniel Morales-Silva, David Y Gao. http://mms.sagepub.com/content/early/2015/07/27/1081286515592949.abstract The Editor-in-Chief and SAGE strive to uphold the very highest standards of publication ethics and are committed to supporting the high standards of integrity of Mathematics & Mechanics of Solids. Authors, reviewers, editors and interested readers are encouraged to consult SAGE’s ethics statements and the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) website for guidelines on publication ethics.

Global optimal solutions for nonconvex problems are found by using the Function Imbedding Technique to imbed a nonconvex function into a higher dimensional convex function so that the original problem can be transformed into the problem of finding the mini-max solution of a related Lagrangian function. The Lagrangian function is chesen so that the associate dual cost function is concave, and so that the global optimal solution can be obtained from the saddle point of the Lagrangian, which can be found using ordinary numerical methods. A general theory is developed for determining when the duality gap vanishes.

Thermal and hydraulic impacts consideration in refinery crude preheat train cleaning scheduling using recent stochastic optimization methods