On the classification of plane graphs representing structurally stable rational Newton flows

We study certain plane graphs, called Newton graphs, representing a special class of dynamical systems which are closely related to Newton's iteration method for finding zeros of (rational) functions defined on the complex plane. These Newton graphs are defined in terms of nonvanishing angles between edges at the same vertex. We derive necessary and sufficient conditions -of purely combinatorial nature- for an arbitrary plane graph in order to be topologically equivalent with a Newton graph. Finally, we analyse the structure of Newton graphs and prove the existence of a polynomial algorithm to recognize such graphs

Semi-infinite optimization: Structure and stability of the feasible set

The problem of the minimization of a functionf: ℝn→ℝ under finitely many equality constraints and perhaps infinitely many inequality constraints gives rise to a structural analysis of the feasible setM[H, G]={x∈ℝn¦H(x)=0,G(x, y)≥0,y∈Y} with compactY⊂ℝr. An extension of the well-known Mangasarian-Fromovitz constraint qualification (EMFCQ) is introduced. The main result for compactM[H, G] is the equivalence of the topological stability of the feasible setM[H, G] and the validity of EMFCQ. As a byproduct, we obtain under EMFCQ that the feasible set admits local linearizations and also thatM[H, G] depends continuously on the pair (H, G). Moreover, EMFCQ is shown to be satisfied generically

Newton flows for elliptic functions II:Structural stability: classification and representation

In our previous paper we associated to each non-constant elliptic function f on a torus T a dynamical system, the elliptic Newton flow corresponding to f. We characterized the functions for which these flows are structurally stable and showed a genericity result. In the present paper we focus on the classification and representation of these structurally stable flows. The phase portrait of a structurally stable elliptic Newton flow generates a connected, cellularly embedded graph G(f) on a torus T with r vertices, 2r edges and r faces that fulfil certain combinatorial properties (Euler, Hall) on some of its subgraphs. The graph G(f) determines the conjugacy class of the flow [classification]. A connected, cellularly embedded toroidal graph G with the above Euler and Hall properties, is called a Newton graph. Any Newton graph G can be realized as the graph G(f) of the structurally stable Newton flow for some function f. This leads to: up till conjugacy between flows and (topological) equivalency between graphs, there is a one to one correspondence between the structurally stable Newton flows and Newton graphs, both with respect to the same order r of the underlying functions f [representation]. Finally, we clarify the analogy between rational and elliptic Newton flows, and show that the detection of elliptic Newton flows is possible in polynomial time. The proofs of the above results rely on Peixoto’s characterization/classification theorems for structurally stable dynamical systems on compact 2-dimensional manifolds, Stiemke’s theorem of the alternatives, Hall’s theorem of distinct representatives, the Heffter–Edmonds–Ringer rotation principle for embedded graphs, an existence theorem on gradient dynamical systems by Smale, and an interpretation of Newton flows as steady streams

Newton flows for elliptic functions I Structural stability:characterization & genericity

Newton flows are dynamical systems generated by a continuous, desingularized Newton method for mappings from a Euclidean space to itself. We focus on the special case of meromorphic functions on the complex plane. Inspired by the analogy between the rational (complex) and the elliptic (i.e. doubly periodic meromorphic) functions, a theory on the class of so-called Elliptic Newton flows is developed. With respect to an appropriate topology on the set of all elliptic functions f of fixed order (Formula presented.) we prove: For almost all functions f, the corresponding Newton flows are structurally stable i.e. topologically invariant under small perturbations of the zeros and poles for f [genericity]. They can be described in terms of nondegeneracy-properties of f similar to the rational case [characterization]

Newton flows for elliptic functions

Newton flows are dynamical systems generated by a continuous, desingularized Newton method for mappings from a Euclidean space to itself. We focus on the special case of meromorphic functions on the complex plane. Inspired by the analogy between the rational (complex) and the elliptic (i.e., doubly periodic meromorphic) functions, a theory on the class of so-called Elliptic Newton flows is developed. With respect to an appropriate topology on the set of all elliptic functions $f$ of fixed order $r$ ($\geq$ 2) we prove: For almost all functions $f$, the corresponding Newton flows are structurally stable i.e., topologically invariant under small perturbations of the zeros and poles for $f$ [genericity]. The phase portrait of a structurally stable elliptic Newton flow generates a connected, cellularly embedded, graph $G(f)$ on $T$ with $r$ vertices, 2$r$ edges and $r$ faces that fulfil certain combinatorial properties (Euler, Hall) on some of its subgraphs. The graph $G(f)$ determines the conjugacy class of the flow [characterization]. A connected, cellularly embedded toroidal graph $G$ with the above Euler and Hall properties, is called a Newton graph. Any Newton graph $G$ can be realized as the graph $G(f)$ of the structurally stable Newton flow for some function $f$ [classification]. This leads to: up till conjugacy between flows and(topological) equivalency between graphs, there is a 1-1 correspondence between the structurally stable Newton flows and Newton graphs, both with respect to the same order $r$ of the underlying functions $f$ [representation]. In particular, it follows that in case $r$ = 2, there is only one (up to conjugacy) structurally stabe elliptic Newton flow, whereas in case $r$ = 3, we find a list of nine graphs, determining all possibilities. Moreover, we pay attention to the so-called nuclear Newton flows of order $r$, and indicate how - by a bifurcation procedure - any structurally stable elliptic Newton flow of order $r$ can be obtained from such a nuclear flow. Finally, we show that the detection of elliptic Newton flows is possible in polynomial time. The proofs of the above results rely on Peixoto's characterization/classication theorems for structurally stable dynamical systems on compact 2-dimensional manifolds, Stiemke's theorem of the alternatives, Hall's theorem of distinct representatives, the Heter-Edmonds-Ringer rotation principle for embedded graphs, an existence theorem on gradient dynamical systems by Smale, and an interpretation of Newton flows as steady streams

On the stratification of a class of specially structured matrices

We consider specially structured matrices representing optimization problems with quadratic objective functions and (finitely many) affine linear equality constraints in an n-dimensional Euclidean space. The class of all such matrices will be subdivided into subsets ['strata'], reflecting the features of the underlying optimization problems. From a differential-topological point of view, this subdivision turns out to be very satisfactory: Our strata are smooth manifolds, constituting a so-called Whitney Regular Stratification, and their dimensions can be explicitly determined. We indicate how, due to Thom's Transversality Theory, this setting leads to some fundamental results on smooth one-parameter families of linear-quadratic optimization problems with ( finitely many) equality and inequality constraints

One-parameter families of optimization problems: equality constraints

In this paper, we introduce generalized critical points and discuss their relationship with other concepts of critical points [resp., stationary points]. Generalized critical points play an important role in parametric optimization. Under generic regularity conditions, we study the set of generalized critical points, in particular, the change of the Morse index. We focus our attention on problems with equality constraints only and provide an indication of how the present theory can be extended to problems with inequality constraints as well

Critical sets in parametric optimization

We deal with one-parameter families of optimization problems in finite dimensions. The constraints are both of equality and inequality type. The concept of a ‘generalized critical point’ (g.c. point) is introduced. In particular, every local minimum, Kuhn-Tucker point, and point of Fritz John type is a g.c. point. Under fairly weak (even generic) conditions we study the set∑ consisting of all g.c. points. Due to the parameter, the set∑ is pieced together from one-dimensional manifolds. The points of∑ can be divided into five (characteristic) types. The subset of ‘nondegenerate critical points’ (first type) is open and dense in∑ (nondegenerate means: strict complementarity, nondegeneracy of the corresponding quadratic form and linear independence of the gradients of binding constraints). A nondegenerate critical point is completely characterized by means of four indices. The change of these indices along∑ is presented. Finally, the Kuhn-Tucker subset of∑ is studied in more detail, in particular in connection with the (failure of the) Mangasarian-Fromowitz constraint qualification