A Tensor Analogy of Yuan's Theorem of the Alternative and Polynomial Optimization with Sign structure

Yuan's theorem of the alternative is an important theoretical tool in optimization, which provides a checkable certificate for the infeasibility of a strict inequality system involving two homogeneous quadratic functions. In this paper, we provide a tractable extension of Yuan's theorem of the alternative to the symmetric tensor setting. As an application, we establish that the optimal value of a class of nonconvex polynomial optimization problems with suitable sign structure (or more explicitly, with essentially non-positive coefficients) can be computed by a related convex conic programming problem, and the optimal solution of these nonconvex polynomial optimization problems can be recovered from the corresponding solution of the convex conic programming problem. Moreover, we obtain that this class of nonconvex polynomial optimization problems enjoy exact sum-of-squares relaxation, and so, can be solved via a single semidefinite programming problem.Comment: acceted by Journal of Optimization Theory and its application, UNSW preprint, 22 page

A polynomial-size extended formulation for the multilinear polytope of beta-acyclic hypergraphs

We consider the multilinear polytope defined as the convex hull of the set of binary points satisfying a collection of multilinear equations. The complexity of the facial structure of the multilinear polytope is closely related to the acyclicity degree of the underlying hypergraph. We obtain a polynomial-size extended formulation for the multilinear polytope of beta-acyclic hypergraphs, hence characterizing the acyclic hypergraphs for which such a formulation can be constructed

Approximate matrix and tensor diagonalization by unitary transformations: convergence of Jacobi-type algorithms

We propose a gradient-based Jacobi algorithm for a class of maximization problems on the unitary group, with a focus on approximate diagonalization of complex matrices and tensors by unitary transformations. We provide weak convergence results, and prove local linear convergence of this algorithm.The convergence results also apply to the case of real-valued tensors

Multilinear Superhedging of Lookback Options

In a pathbreaking paper, Cover and Ordentlich (1998) solved a max-min portfolio game between a trader (who picks an entire trading algorithm, $\theta(\cdot)$) and "nature," who picks the matrix $X$ of gross-returns of all stocks in all periods. Their (zero-sum) game has the payoff kernel $W_\theta(X)/D(X)$, where $W_\theta(X)$ is the trader's final wealth and $D(X)$ is the final wealth that would have accrued to a $\$1$ deposit into the best constant-rebalanced portfolio (or fixed-fraction betting scheme) determined in hindsight. The resulting "universal portfolio" compounds its money at the same asymptotic rate as the best rebalancing rule in hindsight, thereby beating the market asymptotically under extremely general conditions. Smitten with this (1998) result, the present paper solves the most general tractable version of Cover and Ordentlich's (1998) max-min game. This obtains for performance benchmarks (read: derivatives) that are separately convex and homogeneous in each period's gross-return vector. For completely arbitrary (even non-measurable) performance benchmarks, we show how the axiom of choice can be used to "find" an exact maximin strategy for the trader.Comment: 41 pages, 3 figure