Sufficient conditions for unique global solutions in optimal control of semilinear equations with C1−C^1-nonlinearity

We consider a $C^1-$semilinear elliptic optimal control problem possibly subject to control and/or state constraints. Generalizing previous work we provide a condition which guarantees that a solution of the necessary first order conditions is a global minimum. A similiar result also holds at the discrete level where the corresponding condition can be evaluated explicitly. Our investigations are motivated by G\"unter Leugering, who raised the question whether our previous results can be extended to the nonlinearity $\phi(s)=s|s|$. We develop a corresponding analysis and present several numerical test examples demonstrating its usefulness in practice

Second order optimality conditions and their role in PDE control

If f : Rn R is twice continuously differentiable, f’(u) = 0 and f’’(u) is positive definite, then u is a local minimizer of f. This paper surveys the extension of this well known second order suffcient optimality condition to the case f : U R, where U is an infinite-dimensional linear normed space. The reader will be guided from the case of finite-dimensions via a brief discussion of the calculus of variations and the optimal control of ordinary differential equations to the control of nonlinear partial differential equations, where U is a function space. In particular, the following questions will be addressed: Is the extension to infinite dimensions straightforward or will unexpected difficulties occur? How second order sufficient optimality conditions must be modified, if simple inequality constraints are imposed on u? Why do we need second order conditions and how can they be applied? If they are important, are we able to check if they are fulfilled order sufficient optimality condition to the case f : U R, where U is an infinite-dimensional linear normed space. The reader will be guided from the case of finite-dimensions via a brief discussion of the calculus of variations and the optimal control of ordinary differential equations to the control of nonlinear partial differential equations, where U is a function space. In particular, the following questions will be addressed: Is the extension to infinite dimensions straightforward or will unexpected difficulties occur? How second order sufficient optimality conditions must be modified, if simple inequality constraints are imposed on u? Why do we need second order conditions and how can they be applied? If they are important, are we able to check if they are fulfilled? It turns out that infinite dimensions cause new difficulties that do not occur in finite dimensions. We will be faced with the surprising fact that the space, where f’’(u) exists can be useless to ensure positive definiteness of the quadratic form v f’’(u)v2. In this context, the famous two-norm discrepancy, its consequences, and techniques for overcoming this difficulty are explained. To keep the presentation simple, the theory is developed for problems in function spaces with simple box constraints of the form a = u = ß. The theory of second order conditions in the control of partial differential equations is presented exemplarily for the nonlinear heat equation. Different types of critical cones are introduced, where the positivity of f’’(u) must be required. Their form depends on whether a so-called Tikhonov regularization term is part of the functional f or not. In this context, the paper contains also new results that lead to quadratic growth conditions in the strong sense. As a first application of second-order sufficient conditions, the stability of optimal solutions with respect to perturbations of the data of the control problem is discussed. Second, their use in analyzing the discretization of control problems by finite elements is studied. A survey on further related topics, open questions, and relevant literature concludes the paper.The first author was partially supported by the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad under project MTM2011-22711, the second author by DFG in the framework of the Collaborative Research Center SFB 910, project B6

SUFFICIENT OPTIMALITY CONDITIONS FOR THE MOREAU-YOSIDA TYPE REGULARIZATION CONCEPT APPLIED TO SEMILINEAR ELLIPTIC OPTIMAL CONTROL PROBLEMS WITH POINTWISE STATE CONSTRAINTS

We develop sufficient optimality conditions for a Moreau-Yosidaregularized optimal control problem governed by a semilinear ellipticPDE with pointwise constraints on the state and the control. We makeuse of the equivalence of a setting of Moreau-Yosida regularization to a special setting of the virtual control concept,for which standard second order sufficient conditions have been shown. Moreover, we present a numerical example,solving a Moreau-Yosida regularized model problem with an SQP method

Sparse optimal control for a semilinear heat equation with mixed control-state constraints - regularity of Lagrange multipliers

An optimal control problem for a semilinear heat equation with distributed control is discussed, where two-sided pointwise box constraints on the control and two-sided pointwise mixed control-state constraints are given. The objective functional is the sum of a standard quadratic tracking type part and a multiple of the L1-norm of the control that accounts for sparsity. Under a certain structural condition on almost active sets of the optimal solution, the existence of integrable Lagrange multipliers is proved for all inequality constraints. For this purpose, a theorem by Yosida and Hewitt is used. It is shown that the structural condition is fulfilled for all sufficiently large sparsity parameters. The sparsity of the optimal control is investigated. Eventually, higher smoothness of Lagrange multipliers is shown up to Hölder regularity.The first author was partially supported by Spanish Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad under research project MTM2017-83185-P

Regularization error estimates for semilinear elliptic optimal control problems with pointwise state and control constraints

In this paper a class of semilinear elliptic optimal control problem with pointwise state and control constraints is studied. A sufficient second order optimality condition and uniqueness of the dual variables are assumed for that problem. Sufficient second order optimality conditions are shown for regularized problems with small regularization parameter. Moreover, error estimates with respect to the regularization parameter are derived