On implicit variables in optimization theory

Implicit variables of a mathematical program are variables which do not need to be optimized but are used to model feasibility conditions. They frequently appear in several different problem classes of optimization theory comprising bilevel programming, evaluated multiobjective optimization, or nonlinear optimization problems with slack variables. In order to deal with implicit variables, they are often interpreted as explicit ones. Here, we first point out that this is a light-headed approach which induces artificial locally optimal solutions. Afterwards, we derive various Mordukhovich-stationarity-type necessary optimality conditions which correspond to treating the implicit variables as explicit ones on the one hand, or using them only implicitly to model the constraints on the other. A detailed comparison of the obtained stationarity conditions as well as the associated underlying constraint qualifications will be provided. Overall, we proceed in a fairly general setting relying on modern tools of variational analysis. Finally, we apply our findings to different well-known problem classes of mathematical optimization in order to visualize the obtained theory.Comment: 33 page

On regular coderivatives in parametric equilibria with non-unique multipliers

This paper deals with the computation of regular coderivatives of solution maps associated with a frequently arising class of generalized equations. The constraint sets are given by (not necessarily convex) inequalities, and we do not assume linear independence of gradients to active constraints. The achieved results enable us to state several versions of sharp necessary optimality conditions in optimization problems with equilibria governed by such generalized equations. The advantages are illustrated by means of examples

On regular coderivatives in parametric equilibria with non-unique multipliers

This paper deals with the computation of regular coderivatives of solution maps associated with a frequently arising class of generalized equations. The constraint sets are given by (not necessarily convex) inequalities, and we do not assume linear independence of gradients to active constraints. The achieved results enable us to state several versions of sharp necessary optimality conditions in optimization problems with equilibria governed by such generalized equations. The advantages are illustrated by means of examples

Local strong maximal monotonicity and full stability for parametric variational systems

The paper introduces and characterizes new notions of Lipschitzian and H\"olderian full stability of solutions to general parametric variational systems described via partial subdifferential and normal cone mappings acting in Hilbert spaces. These notions, postulated certain quantitative properties of single-valued localizations of solution maps, are closely related to local strong maximal monotonicity of associated set-valued mappings. Based on advanced tools of variational analysis and generalized differentiation, we derive verifiable characterizations of the local strong maximal monotonicity and full stability notions under consideration via some positive-definiteness conditions involving second-order constructions of variational analysis. The general results obtained are specified for important classes of variational inequalities and variational conditions in both finite and infinite dimensions

Variational Analysis in Semi-Infinite and Infinite Programming, II: Necessary Optimality Conditions

This paper concerns applications of advanced techniques of variational analysis and generalized differentiation to problems of semi-infinite and infinite programming with feasible solution sets defined by parameterized systems of infinitely many linear inequalities of the type intensively studied in the preceding development [5] from our viewpoint of robust Lipschitzian stability. We present meaningful interpretations and practical examples of such models. The main results establish necessary optimality conditions for a broad class of semi-infinite and infinite programs, where objectives are generally described by nonsmooth and nonconvex functions on Banach spaces and where infinite constraint inequality systems are indexed by arbitrary sets. The results obtained are new in both smooth and nonsmooth settings of semi-infinite and infinite programming

Necessary Conditions in Multiobjective Optimization With Equilibrium Constraints

In this paper we study multiobjective optimization problems with equilibrium constraints (MOECs) described by generalized equations in the form 0 is an element of the set G(x,y) + Q(x,y), where both mappings G and Q are set-valued. Such models particularly arise from certain optimization-related problems governed by variational inequalities and first-order optimality conditions in nondifferentiable programming. We establish verifiable necessary conditions for the general problems under consideration and for their important specifications using modern tools of variational analysis and generalized differentiation. The application of the obtained necessary optimality conditions is illustrated by a numerical example from bilevel programming with convex while nondifferentiable data

Robust Stability and Optimality Conditions for Parametric Infinite and Semi-Infinite Programs

This paper primarily concerns the study of parametric problems of infinite and semi-infinite programming, where functional constraints are given by systems of infinitely many linear inequalities indexed by an arbitrary set T, where decision variables run over Banach (infinite programming) or finite-dimensional (semi-infinite case) spaces, and where objectives are generally described by nonsmooth and nonconvex cost functions. The parameter space of admissible perturbations in such problems is formed by all bounded functions on T equipped with the standard supremum norm. Unless the index set T is finite, this space is intrinsically infinite-dimensional (nonreflexive and nonseparable) of the l(infinity)-type. By using advanced tools of variational analysis and generalized differentiation and largely exploiting underlying specific features of linear infinite constraints, we establish complete characterizations of robust Lipschitzian stability (with computing the exact bound of Lipschitzian moduli) for parametric maps of feasible solutions governed by linear infinite inequality systems and then derive verifiable necessary optimality conditions for the infinite and semi-infinite programs under consideration expressed in terms of their initial data. A crucial part of our analysis addresses the precise computation of coderivatives and their norms for infinite systems of parametric linear inequalities in general Banach spaces of decision variables. The results obtained are new in both frameworks of infinite and semi-infinite programming