Convex and Discrete Optimization - Lecture 1
Convex and Discrete Optimization - Lecture 1
Optimization
P R O F. P. C . J H A
D E PA RT M E N T O F O P E R AT I O N A L R E S EA RC H
FA C U LT Y O F M AT H E MAT I C A L S C I E N C ES
U N I V E RS I T Y O F D E L H I
Convex Set
Mathematically:
A set C is a convex set if and only if the convex combination of
points in C lie in C.
The convex combination of points 𝑥1 , 𝑥2 , . . . , 𝑥𝑘 ∈ 𝐶 is any
point of the form
1 x1 + 2 x2 + ... + k xk
k
Where i 0, i = 1, 2,..., k and
i =1
i =1
Geometrically:
A set C is convex if the line segment between any two points
in C lies in C.
Convex Function
Mathematically
Let S R n be a convex set and f : S → R . Then f ( x)
is called a convex function if x, u S and 0 1,
we have
f [ x + (1 − )u ] f ( x) + (1 − ) f (u )
Examples
x ln x, x 0
x , x
Concave Function
Mathematically
Let S R n be a convex set and f : S → R . Then f ( x)
is called a concave function if x, u S and 0 1,
we have
f [ x + (1 − )u ] f ( x) + (1 − ) f (u )
Examples
− x2 , x R
log x, 0 x
− x ,xR
Convex/ Concave Function
Geometrically:
1. If a function is convex (Fig1)/ concave (Fig2),
the midpoint B of each chord A1A2 lies above/
below the corresponding point A0 of the graph
of the function or coincides with this point.
2. The function f(x) is convex (Fig3)/ concave
(Fig4) on the interval [a, b] if and only if its
graph does not lie below/ above the tangent
drawn to it at any point x0 of the segment [a, b].
Properties of Convex Functions
•A linear function is both convex as well as concave.
•A function may neither be convex nor concave.
•The domain of a convex function has to be a convex set.
•A convex function may not be differentiable.
•A convex function may not be continuous. But they are continuous in the interior of their
domain.
•Let f and g be two convex functions defined over a convex set S R n then (i) f + g, (ii) f , 0
and (iii) h( x) = Max( f ( x), g ( x)) are also convex functions.
xS
Epigraph
Let S R n be a convex set and f : S → R . Then the set E f R given by
n +1
Level Set/α-cut
Let S R n be a convex set and f : S → R . Let R . Then the set R given by
n
= {x S : f ( x) }
is called the α-level set or the α-cut of the function f.
Hypograph
n +1
Let S R n be a convex set and f : S → R . Then the set G f R given by
Theorem 2:
Let S R n be a convex set and f : S → R . Then f be a convex function. Then for all R , its α-
level sets are convex.
Proof: Let x, u ( R ). Then by the convexity of f, we have for 0 1
f ( x + (1 − )u ) f ( x) + (1 − ) f (u ) + (1 − ) = ,
i.e. x + (1 − )u . Hence 𝛤𝛼 is a convex set. Since α is arbitrary, the result holds for all R
Directional Derivatives
Theorem 3:
Let S R n be an open convex set and f : S → R be differentiable. Then f is a convex function on S iff
for any x, u S , we have
f ( x) − f (u ) ( x − u )T f (u ). for all x S .
𝑃𝑟𝑜𝑜𝑓: 𝐵𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑣𝑒𝑥𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑓 𝑜𝑛 𝑆, 𝑤𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 0 ≤ 𝜆 ≤ 1,
𝑓 𝜆𝑥 + 1 − 𝜆 𝑢 ≤ 𝜆𝑓 𝑥 + 1 − 𝜆 𝑓 𝑢 ,
𝑖. 𝑒.
𝑓 𝑢+𝜆 𝑥−𝑢 −𝑓 𝑢
𝑓 𝑥 −𝑓 𝑢 ≥ ______(1)
𝜆
𝐵𝑢𝑡 𝑤𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑓 𝑖𝑠 𝑑𝑖𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑜𝑛 𝑆, 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ 𝑏𝑦 𝑑𝑒𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛𝑠
𝑓 𝑢 + 𝑤 = 𝑓 𝑢 + 𝑤 𝑇 ∇𝑓 𝑢 + 𝛼 𝑢, 𝑤 𝑤 , ______(2)
𝑓 𝑢 + 𝜆 𝑥 − 𝑢 𝑇 ∇𝑓 𝑢 + 𝛼 𝑢, 𝜆 𝑥 − 𝑢 𝜆 𝑥 − 𝑢 − 𝑓 𝑢
𝑓 𝑥 −𝑓 𝑢 ≥ ,
𝜆
𝑖. 𝑒. 𝑓 𝑥 − 𝑓(𝑢) ≥ 𝑥 − 𝑢 𝑇 ∇𝑓 𝑢 + 𝛼 𝑢, 𝜆 𝑥 − 𝑢 𝜆 𝑥 − 𝑢
𝑓 𝑥 − 𝑓 𝑢 ≥ 𝑥 − 𝑢 𝑇 ∇𝑓 𝑢 .
(Sufficiency)