Polynomial mechanics and optimal control

We describe a new algorithm for trajectory optimization of mechanical systems. Our method combines pseudo-spectral methods for function approximation with variational discretization schemes that exactly preserve conserved mechanical quantities such as momentum. We thus obtain a global discretization of the Lagrange-d'Alembert variational principle using pseudo-spectral methods. Our proposed scheme inherits the numerical convergence characteristics of spectral methods, yet preserves momentum-conservation and symplecticity after discretization. We compare this algorithm against two other established methods for two examples of underactuated mechanical systems; minimum-effort swing-up of a two-link and a three-link acrobot.Comment: Final version to EC

Optimization via Chebyshev Polynomials

This paper presents for the first time a robust exact line-search method based on a full pseudospectral (PS) numerical scheme employing orthogonal polynomials. The proposed method takes on an adaptive search procedure and combines the superior accuracy of Chebyshev PS approximations with the high-order approximations obtained through Chebyshev PS differentiation matrices (CPSDMs). In addition, the method exhibits quadratic convergence rate by enforcing an adaptive Newton search iterative scheme. A rigorous error analysis of the proposed method is presented along with a detailed set of pseudocodes for the established computational algorithms. Several numerical experiments are conducted on one- and multi-dimensional optimization test problems to illustrate the advantages of the proposed strategy.Comment: 26 pages, 6 figures, 2 table

On the completeness of solutions of Bethe's equations

We consider the Bethe equations for the isotropic spin-1/2 Heisenberg quantum spin chain with periodic boundary conditions. We formulate a conjecture for the number of solutions with pairwise distinct roots of these equations, in terms of numbers of so-called singular (or exceptional) solutions. Using homotopy continuation methods, we find all such solutions of the Bethe equations for chains of length up to 14. The numbers of these solutions are in perfect agreement with the conjecture. We also discuss an indirect method of finding solutions of the Bethe equations by solving the Baxter T-Q equation. We briefly comment on implications for thermodynamical computations based on the string hypothesis.Comment: 17 pages; 85 tables provided as supplemental material; v2: clarifications and references added; v3: numerical results extended to N=14, M=

Clustering Complex Zeros of Triangular Systems of Polynomials

This paper gives the first algorithm for finding a set of natural $\epsilon$-clusters of complex zeros of a triangular system of polynomials within a given polybox in $\mathbb{C}^n$, for any given $\epsilon>0$. Our algorithm is based on a recent near-optimal algorithm of Becker et al (2016) for clustering the complex roots of a univariate polynomial where the coefficients are represented by number oracles. Our algorithm is numeric, certified and based on subdivision. We implemented it and compared it with two well-known homotopy solvers on various triangular systems. Our solver always gives correct answers, is often faster than the homotopy solver that often gives correct answers, and sometimes faster than the one that gives sometimes correct results.Comment: Research report V6: description of the main algorithm update