5 research outputs found
Zero-Convex Functions, Perturbation Resilience, and Subgradient Projections for Feasibility-Seeking Methods
The convex feasibility problem (CFP) is at the core of the modeling of many
problems in various areas of science. Subgradient projection methods are
important tools for solving the CFP because they enable the use of subgradient
calculations instead of orthogonal projections onto the individual sets of the
problem. Working in a real Hilbert space, we show that the sequential
subgradient projection method is perturbation resilient. By this we mean that
under appropriate conditions the sequence generated by the method converges
weakly, and sometimes also strongly, to a point in the intersection of the
given subsets of the feasibility problem, despite certain perturbations which
are allowed in each iterative step. Unlike previous works on solving the convex
feasibility problem, the involved functions, which induce the feasibility
problem's subsets, need not be convex. Instead, we allow them to belong to a
wider and richer class of functions satisfying a weaker condition, that we call
"zero-convexity". This class, which is introduced and discussed here, holds a
promise to solve optimization problems in various areas, especially in
non-smooth and non-convex optimization. The relevance of this study to
approximate minimization and to the recent superiorization methodology for
constrained optimization is explained.Comment: Mathematical Programming Series A, accepted for publicatio
Accelerating two projection methods via perturbations with application to Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy
Constrained convex optimization problems arise naturally in many real-world
applications. One strategy to solve them in an approximate way is to translate
them into a sequence of convex feasibility problems via the recently developed
level set scheme and then solve each feasibility problem using projection
methods. However, if the problem is ill-conditioned, projection methods often
show zigzagging behavior and therefore converge slowly.
To address this issue, we exploit the bounded perturbation resilience of the
projection methods and introduce two new perturbations which avoid zigzagging
behavior. The first perturbation is in the spirit of -step methods and uses
gradient information from previous iterates. The second uses the approach of
surrogate constraint methods combined with relaxed, averaged projections.
We apply two different projection methods in the unperturbed version, as well
as the two perturbed versions, to linear feasibility problems along with
nonlinear optimization problems arising from intensity-modulated radiation
therapy (IMRT) treatment planning. We demonstrate that for all the considered
problems the perturbations can significantly accelerate the convergence of the
projection methods and hence the overall procedure of the level set scheme. For
the IMRT optimization problems the perturbed projection methods found an
approximate solution up to 4 times faster than the unperturbed methods while at
the same time achieving objective function values which were 0.5 to 5.1% lower.Comment: Accepted for publication in Applied Mathematics & Optimizatio
A generalized projection-based scheme for solving convex constrained optimization problems
In this paper we present a new algorithmic realization of a projection-based
scheme for general convex constrained optimization problem. The general idea is
to transform the original optimization problem to a sequence of feasibility
problems by iteratively constraining the objective function from above until
the feasibility problem is inconsistent. For each of the feasibility problems
one may apply any of the existing projection methods for solving it. In
particular, the scheme allows the use of subgradient projections and does not
require exact projections onto the constraints sets as in existing similar
methods.
We also apply the newly introduced concept of superiorization to optimization
formulation and compare its performance to our scheme. We provide some
numerical results for convex quadratic test problems as well as for real-life
optimization problems coming from medical treatment planning.Comment: Accepted to publication in Computational Optimization and
Application