Semi-infinite programming (briefly: SIP) is an exciting part of mathematical programming. SIP problems include finitely many variables and, in contrast to finite optimization problems, infinitely many inequality constraints. Prob lems of this type naturally arise in approximation theory, optimal control, and at numerous engineering applications where the model contains at least one inequality constraint for each value of a parameter and the parameter, repre senting time, space, frequency etc., varies in a given domain. The treatment of such problems requires particular theoretical and numerical techniques. The theory in SIP as well as the number of numerical SIP methods and appli cations have expanded very fast during the last years. Therefore, the main goal of this monograph is to provide a collection of tutorial and survey type articles which represent a substantial part of the contemporary body of knowledge in SIP. We are glad that leading researchers have contributed to this volume and that their articles are covering a wide range of important topics in this subject. It is our hope that both experienced students and scientists will be well advised to consult this volume. We got the idea for this volume when we were organizing the semi-infinite pro gramming workshop which was held in Cottbus, Germany, in September 1996.

Semi-infinite programming (SIP) deals with optimization problems in which either the number of decision variables or the number of constraints is finite. This book presents the state of the art in SIP in a suggestive way, bringing the powerful SIP tools close to the potential users in different scientific and technological fields. The volume is divided into four parts. Part I reviews the first decade of SIP (1962-1972). Part II analyses convex and generalised SIP, conic linear programming, and disjunctive programming. New numerical methods for linear, convex, and continuously differentiable SIP problems are proposed in Part III. Finally, Part IV provides an overview of the applications of SIP to probability, statistics, experimental design, robotics, optimization under uncertainty, production games, and separation problems. Audience: This book is an indispensable reference and source for advanced students and researchers in applied mathematics and engineering.

A linear semi-infinite program is an optimization problem with linear objective functions and linear constraints in which either the number of unknowns or the number of constraints is finite. The many direct applications of linear semi-infinite optimization (or programming) have prompted considerable and increasing research effort in recent years. The authors' aim is to communicate the main theoretical ideas and applications techniques of this fascinating area, from the perspective of convex analysis. The four sections of the book cover: * Modelling with primal and dual problems - the primal problem, space of dual variables, the dual problem. * Linear semi-infinite systems - existence theorems, alternative theorems, redundancy phenomena, geometrical properties of the solution set. * Theory of linear semi-infinite programming - optimality, duality, boundedness, perturbations, well-posedness. * Methods of linear semi-infinite programming - an overview of the main numerical methods for primal and dual problems. Exercises and examples are provided to illustrate both theory and applications. The reader is assumed to be familiar with elementary calculus, linear algebra and general topology. An appendix on convex analysis is provided to ensure that the book is self-contained. Graduate students and researchers wishing to gain a deeper understanding of the main ideas behind the theory of linear optimization will find this book to be an essential text.

This textbook provides an introduction to convex duality for optimization problems in Banach spaces, integration theory, and their application to stochastic programming problems in a static or dynamic setting. It introduces and analyses the main algorithms for stochastic programs, while the theoretical aspects are carefully dealt with. The reader is shown how these tools can be applied to various fields, including approximation theory, semidefinite and second-order cone programming and linear decision rules. This textbook is recommended for students, engineers and researchers who are willing to take a rigorous approach to the mathematics involved in the application of duality theory to optimization with uncertainty.

A real matrix is positive semidefinite if it can be decomposed as A = BBOC . In some applications the matrix B has to be elementwise nonnegative. If such a matrix exists, A is called completely positive. The smallest number of columns of a nonnegative matrix B such that A = BBOC is known as the cp- rank of A . This invaluable book focuses on necessary conditions and sufficient conditions for complete positivity, as well as bounds for the cp- rank. The methods are combinatorial, geometric and algebraic. The required background on nonnegative matrices, cones, graphs and Schur complements is outlined. Contents: Preliminaries: Matrix Theoretic Background; Positive Semidefinite Matrices; Nonnegative Matrices and M -Matrices; Schur Complements; Graphs; Convex Cones; The PSD Completion Problem; Complete Positivity: Definition and Basic Properties; Cones of Completely Positive Matrices; Small Matrices; Complete Positivity and the Comparison Matrix; Completely Positive Graphs; Completely Positive Matrices Whose Graphs are Not Completely Positive; Square Factorizations; Functions of Completely Positive Matrices; The CP Completion Problem; CP Rank: Definition and Basic Results; Completely Positive Matrices of a Given Rank; Completely Positive Matrices of a Given Order; When is the CP-Rank Equal to the Rank?. Readership: Upper level undergraduates, graduate students, academics and researchers interested in matrix theory."

This book covers the fundamental principles of optimization in finite dimensions. It develops the necessary material in multivariable calculus both with coordinates and coordinate-free, so recent developments such as semidefinite programming can be dealt with.

This book gathers the outcomes of the thirteenth Workshop on the Algorithmic Foundations of Robotics (WAFR), the premier event for showcasing cutting-edge research on algorithmic robotics. The latest WAFR, held at Universidad Politécnica de Yucatán in Mérida, México on December 9–11, 2018, continued this tradition. This book contains fifty-four papers presented at WAFR, which highlight the latest research on fundamental algorithmic robotics (e.g., planning, learning, navigation, control, manipulation, optimality, completeness, and complexity) demonstrated through several applications involving multi-robot systems, perception, and contact manipulation. Addressing a diverse range of topics in papers prepared by expert contributors, the book reflects the state of the art and outlines future directions in the field of algorithmic robotics.

This book gathers a selection of peer-reviewed papers presented at the International Conference on Operations Research (OR 2019), which was held at Technische Universität Dresden, Germany, on September 4-6, 2019, and was jointly organized by the German Operations Research Society (GOR) the Austrian Operations Research Society (ÖGOR), and the Swiss Operational Research Society (SOR/ASRO). More than 600 scientists, practitioners and students from mathematics, computer science, business/economics and related fields attended the conference and presented more than 400 papers in plenary presentations, parallel topic streams, as well as special award sessions. The respective papers discuss classical mathematical optimization, statistics and simulation techniques. These are complemented by computer science methods, and by tools for processing data, designing and implementing information systems. The book also examines recent advances in information technology, which allow big data volumes to be processed and enable real-time predictive and prescriptive business analytics to drive decisions and actions. Lastly, it includes problems modeled and treated while taking into account uncertainty, risk management, behavioral issues, etc.

Computer Science and Applied Mathematics: Constrained Optimization and Lagrange Multiplier Methods focuses on the advancements in the applications of the Lagrange multiplier methods for constrained minimization. The publication first offers information on the method of multipliers for equality constrained problems and the method of multipliers for inequality constrained and nondifferentiable optimization problems. Discussions focus on approximation procedures for nondifferentiable and ill-conditioned optimization problems; asymptotically exact minimization in the methods of multipliers; duality framework for the method of multipliers; and the quadratic penalty function method. The text then examines exact penalty methods, including nondifferentiable exact penalty functions; linearization algorithms based on nondifferentiable exact penalty functions; differentiable exact penalty functions; and local and global convergence of Lagrangian methods. The book ponders on the nonquadratic penalty functions of convex programming. Topics include large scale separable integer programming problems and the exponential method of multipliers; classes of penalty functions and corresponding methods of multipliers; and convergence analysis of multiplier methods. The text is a valuable reference for mathematicians and researchers interested in the Lagrange multiplier methods.

Semidefinite programs constitute one of the largest classes of optimization problems that can be solved with reasonable efficiency - both in theory and practice. They play a key role in a variety of research areas, such as combinatorial optimization, approximation algorithms, computational complexity, graph theory, geometry, real algebraic geometry and quantum computing. This book is an introduction to selected aspects of semidefinite programming and its use in approximation algorithms. It covers the basics but also a significant amount of recent and more advanced material. There are many computational problems, such as MAXCUT, for which one cannot reasonably expect to obtain an exact solution efficiently, and in such case, one has to settle for approximate solutions. For MAXCUT and its relatives, exciting recent results suggest that semidefinite programming is probably the ultimate tool. Indeed, assuming the Unique Games Conjecture, a plausible but as yet unproven hypothesis, it was shown that for these problems, known algorithms based on semidefinite programming deliver the best possible approximation ratios among all polynomial-time algorithms. This book follows the “semidefinite side” of these developments, presenting some of the main ideas behind approximation algorithms based on semidefinite programming. It develops the basic theory of semidefinite programming, presents one of the known efficient algorithms in detail, and describes the principles of some others. It also includes applications, focusing on approximation algorithms.