276 research outputs found
A D.C. Algorithm via Convex Analysis Approach for Solving a Location Problem Involving Sets
We study a location problem that involves a weighted sum of distances to
closed convex sets. As several of the weights might be negative, traditional
solution methods of convex optimization are not applicable. After obtaining
some existence theorems, we introduce a simple, but effective, algorithm for
solving the problem. Our method is based on the Pham Dinh - Le Thi algorithm
for d.c. programming and a generalized version of the Weiszfeld algorithm,
which works well for convex location problems
A Look at the Generalized Heron Problem through the Lens of Majorization-Minimization
In a recent issue of this journal, Mordukhovich et al.\ pose and solve an
interesting non-differentiable generalization of the Heron problem in the
framework of modern convex analysis. In the generalized Heron problem one is
given closed convex sets in \Real^d equipped with its Euclidean norm
and asked to find the point in the last set such that the sum of the distances
to the first sets is minimal. In later work the authors generalize the
Heron problem even further, relax its convexity assumptions, study its
theoretical properties, and pursue subgradient algorithms for solving the
convex case. Here, we revisit the original problem solely from the numerical
perspective. By exploiting the majorization-minimization (MM) principle of
computational statistics and rudimentary techniques from differential calculus,
we are able to construct a very fast algorithm for solving the Euclidean
version of the generalized Heron problem.Comment: 21 pages, 3 figure
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