This book provides a concise introduction to convex duality in financial mathematics. Convex duality plays an essential role in dealing with financial problems and involves maximizing concave utility functions and minimizing convex risk measures. Recently, convex and generalized convex dualities have shown to be crucial in the process of the dynamic hedging of contingent claims. Common underlying principles and connections between different perspectives are developed; results are illustrated through graphs and explained heuristically. This book can be used as a reference and is aimed toward graduate students, researchers and practitioners in mathematics, finance, economics, and optimization. Topics include: Markowitz portfolio theory, growth portfolio theory, fundamental theorem of asset pricing emphasizing the duality between utility optimization and pricing by martingale measures, risk measures and its dual representation, hedging and super-hedging and its relationship with linear programming duality and the duality relationship in dynamic hedging of contingent claims

This book contains different developments of infinite dimensional convex programming in the context of convex analysis, including duality, minmax and Lagrangians, and convexification of nonconvex optimization problems in the calculus of variations (infinite dimension). It also includes the theory of convex duality applied to partial differential equations; no other reference presents this in a systematic way. The minmax theorems contained in this book have many useful applications, in particular the robust control of partial differential equations in finite time horizon. First published in English in 1976, this SIAM Classics in Applied Mathematics edition contains the original text along with a new preface and some additional references.

Provides a relatively brief introduction to conjugate duality in both finite- and infinite-dimensional problems. An emphasis is placed on the fundamental importance of the concepts of Lagrangian function, saddle-point, and saddle-value. General examples are drawn from nonlinear programming, approximation, stochastic programming, the calculus of variations, and optimal control.

Here is a book devoted to well-structured and thus efficiently solvable convex optimization problems, with emphasis on conic quadratic and semidefinite programming. The authors present the basic theory underlying these problems as well as their numerous applications in engineering, including synthesis of filters, Lyapunov stability analysis, and structural design. The authors also discuss the complexity issues and provide an overview of the basic theory of state-of-the-art polynomial time interior point methods for linear, conic quadratic, and semidefinite programming. The book's focus on well-structured convex problems in conic form allows for unified theoretical and algorithmical treatment of a wide spectrum of important optimization problems arising in applications.

Discrete Convex Analysis is a novel paradigm for discrete optimization that combines the ideas in continuous optimization (convex analysis) and combinatorial optimization (matroid/submodular function theory) to establish a unified theoretical framework for nonlinear discrete optimization. The study of this theory is expanding with the development of efficient algorithms and applications to a number of diverse disciplines like matrix theory, operations research, and economics. This self-contained book is designed to provide a novel insight into optimization on discrete structures and should reveal unexpected links among different disciplines. It is the first and only English-language monograph on the theory and applications of discrete convex analysis.

An accessible introduction to convex algebraic geometry and semidefinite optimization. For graduate students and researchers in mathematics and computer science.

Introducing Financial Mathematics: Theory, Binomial Models, and Applications seeks to replace existing books with a rigorous stand-alone text that covers fewer examples in greater detail with more proofs. The book uses the fundamental theorem of asset pricing as an introduction to linear algebra and convex analysis. It also provides example computer programs, mainly Octave/MATLAB functions but also spreadsheets and Macsyma scripts, with which students may experiment on real data.The text's unique coverage is in its contemporary combination of discrete and continuous models to compute implied volatility and fit models to market data. The goal is to bridge the large gaps among nonmathematical finance texts, purely theoretical economics texts, and specific software-focused engineering texts.

Convex optimization problems arise frequently in many different fields. This book provides a comprehensive introduction to the subject, and shows in detail how such problems can be solved numerically with great efficiency. The book begins with the basic elements of convex sets and functions, and then describes various classes of convex optimization problems. Duality and approximation techniques are then covered, as are statistical estimation techniques. Various geometrical problems are then presented, and there is detailed discussion of unconstrained and constrained minimization problems, and interior-point methods. The focus of the book is on recognizing convex optimization problems and then finding the most appropriate technique for solving them. It contains many worked examples and homework exercises and will appeal to students, researchers and practitioners in fields such as engineering, computer science, mathematics, statistics, finance and economics.

An insightful, concise, and rigorous treatment of the basic theory of convex sets and functions in finite dimensions, and the analytical/geometrical foundations of convex optimization and duality theory. Convexity theory is first developed in a simple accessible manner, using easily visualized proofs. Then the focus shifts to a transparent geometrical line of analysis to develop the fundamental duality between descriptions of convex functions in terms of points, and in terms of hyperplanes. Finally, convexity theory and abstract duality are applied to problems of constrained optimization, Fenchel and conic duality, and game theory to develop the sharpest possible duality results within a highly visual geometric framework. This on-line version of the book, includes an extensive set of theoretical problems with detailed high-quality solutions, which significantly extend the range and value of the book. The book may be used as a text for a theoretical convex optimization course; the author has taught several variants of such a course at MIT and elsewhere over the last ten years. It may also be used as a supplementary source for nonlinear programming classes, and as a theoretical foundation for classes focused on convex optimization models (rather than theory). It is an excellent supplement to several of our books: Convex Optimization Algorithms (Athena Scientific, 2015), Nonlinear Programming (Athena Scientific, 2017), Network Optimization(Athena Scientific, 1998), Introduction to Linear Optimization (Athena Scientific, 1997), and Network Flows and Monotropic Optimization (Athena Scientific, 1998).

Convex optimization has an increasing impact on many areas of mathematics, applied sciences, and practical applications. It is now being taught at many universities and being used by researchers of different fields. As convex analysis is the mathematical f