The fourth volume of the Journal of Nonsmooth Analysis and Optimization (2023)
In this paper, we extend the previous convergence results for the generalized alternating projection method applied to subspaces in [arXiv:1703.10547] to hold also for smooth manifolds. We show that the algorithm locally behaves similarly in the subspace and manifold settings and that the same rates are obtained. We also present convergence rate results for when the algorithm is applied to non-empty, closed, and convex sets. The results are based on a finite identification property that implies that the algorithm after an initial identification phase solves a smooth manifold feasibility problem. Therefore, the rates in this paper hold asymptotically for problems in which this identification property is satisfied. We present a few examples where this is the case and also a counter example for when this is not.
We address composite optimization problems, which consist in minimizing the sum of a smooth and a merely lower semicontinuous function, without any convexity assumptions. Numerical solutions of these problems can be obtained by proximal gradient methods, which often rely on a line search procedure as globalization mechanism. We consider an adaptive nonmonotone proximal gradient scheme based on an averaged merit function and establish asymptotic convergence guarantees under weak assumptions, delivering results on par with the monotone strategy. Global worst-case rates for the iterates and a stationarity measure are also derived. Finally, a numerical example indicates the potential of nonmonotonicity and spectral approximations.
Binary trust-region steepest descent (BTR) and combinatorial integral approximation (CIA) are two recently investigated approaches for the solution of optimization problems with distributed binary-/discrete-valued variables (control functions). We show improved convergence results for BTR by imposing a compactness assumption that is similar to the convergence theory of CIA. As a corollary we conclude that BTR also constitutes a descent algorithm on the continuous relaxation and its iterates converge weakly-$^*$ to stationary points of the latter. We provide computational results that validate our findings. In addition, we observe a regularizing effect of BTR, which we explore by means of a hybridization of CIA and BTR.
Motivated by fatigue damage models, this paper addresses optimal control problems governed by a non-smooth system featuring two non-differentiable mappings. This consists of a coupling between a doubly non-smooth history-dependent evolution and an elliptic PDE. After proving the directional differentiability of the associated solution mapping, an optimality system which is stronger than the one obtained by classical smoothening procedures is derived. If one of the non-differentiable mappings becomes smooth, the optimality conditions are of strong stationary type, i.e., equivalent to the primal necessary optimality condition.
Point source localisation is generally modelled as a Lasso-type problem on measures. However, optimisation methods in non-Hilbert spaces, such as the space of Radon measures, are much less developed than in Hilbert spaces. Most numerical algorithms for point source localisation are based on the Frank-Wolfe conditional gradient method, for which ad hoc convergence theory is developed. We develop extensions of proximal-type methods to spaces of measures. This includes forward-backward splitting, its inertial version, and primal-dual proximal splitting. Their convergence proofs follow standard patterns. We demonstrate their numerical efficacy.