Thesis (Ph. D.)--Stanford University, 1987. / "June 1987." This research was supported in part by Joseph Oliger under Office of Naval Research contract N00014-82-K-0335, by Stanford Linear Accelerator Center and the Systems Optimization Laboratory under Army Research Office contract DAAG29-84-K-0156. Includes bibliographies.

The purpose of this dissertation was to provide a review of the theory of Optimization, in particular quadratic programming, and the algorithms suitable for solving both convex and non-convex quadratic programming problems. Optimization problems arise in a wide variety of fields and many can be effectively modeled with linear equations. However, there are problems for which linear models are not sufficient thus creating a need for non-linear systems. This dissertation includes a literature study of the formal theory necessary for understanding optimization and an investigation of the algorithms available for solving a special class of the non-linear programming problem, namely the quadratic programming problem. It was not the intention of this dissertation to discuss all possible algorithms for solving the quadratic programming problem, therefore certain algorithms for convex and non-convex quadratic programming problems were selected for a detailed discussion in the dissertation. Some of the algorithms were selected arbitrarily, because limited information was available comparing the efficiency of the various algorithms. Algorithms available for solving general non-linear programming problems were also included and briefly discussed as they can be used to solve quadratic programming problems. A number of algorithms were then selected for evaluation, depending on the frequency of use in practice and the availability of software implementing these algorithms. The evaluation included a theoretical and quantitative comparison of the algorithms. The quantitative results were analyzed and discussed and it was shown that the results supported the theoretical comparison. It was also shown that it is difficult to conclude that one algorithm is better than another as the efficiency of an algorithm greatly depends on the size of the problem, the complexity of an algorithm and many other implementation issues. Optimization problems arise continuously in a wide range of fields and thus create the need for effective methods of solving them. This dissertation provides the fundamental theory necessary for the understanding of optimization problems, with particular reference to quadratic programming problems and the algorithms that solve such problems. Keywords: Quadratic Programming, Quadratic Programming Algorithms, Optimization, Non-linear Programming, Convex, Non-convex.

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A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Science School of Computational and Applied Mathematics, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. April 27, 2013. / In a number of situations the derivative of the objective function of an optimization problem is not available. This thesis presents a novel algorithm for solving mixed integer programs when this is the case. The algorithm is the first developed for problems of this type which uses a trust region methodology. Three implementations of the algorithm are developed and deterministic proofs of convergence to local minima are provided for two of the implementations. In the development of the algorithm several other contributions are made. The derivative free algorithm requires the solution of several mixed integer quadratic programming subproblems and novel methods for solving nonconvex instances of these problems are developed in this thesis. Additionally, it is shown that the current definitions of local minima for mixed integer programs are deficient and a rigorous approach to developing possible definitions is proposed. Using this approach we propose a new definition which improves on those currently used in the literature. Other components of this thesis are an overview of derivative based mixed integer non-linear programming, extensive reviews of mixed integer quadratic programming and deterministic derivative free optimization and extensive computational results illustrating the effectiveness of the contributions mentioned in the previous paragraphs.

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Johannesburg, 2015. / I would like to acknowledge a number of people who contributed towards the completion of this thesis. Firstly, I thank my supervisor Professor Montaz Ali for his patience, enthusiasm, guidance and teachings. The skills I have acquired during this process have infiltrated every aspect of my life. I remain forever grateful. Secondly, I would like to say a special thank you to Professor Jan Snyman for his assistance, which contributed immensely towards this thesis. I would also like to thank Professor Dominque Orban for his willingness to assist me for countless hours with the installation of CUTEr, as well as Professor Jose Mario Martinez for his email correspondence. A heartfelt thanks goes out to my family and friends at large, for their prayers, support and faith in me when I had little faith in myself. Thank you also to my colleagues who kept me sane and motivated, as well as all the support staff who played a pivotal roll in this process. Above all, I would like to thank God, without whom none of this would have been possible.

Ng, Chi Kong. / "May 2003." / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 175-187). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, MI : ProQuest Information and Learning Company, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / Abstracts in English and Chinese.

Wang, Chongyu. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 74-78). / Abstract also in Chinese. / Abstract --- p.1 / Abstract in Chinese --- p.3 / Acknowledgement --- p.4 / Contents --- p.5 / List of Tables --- p.7 / List of Figures --- p.8 / Chapter 1. --- Introduction --- p.9 / Chapter 2. --- Conventional Dynamic Programming --- p.15 / Chapter 2.1. --- Principle of optimality and decomposition --- p.15 / Chapter 2.2. --- Backward dynamic programming --- p.17 / Chapter 2.3. --- Forward dynamic programming --- p.20 / Chapter 2.4. --- Curse of dimensionality --- p.23 / Chapter 3. --- Surrogate Constraint Formulation --- p.26 / Chapter 3.1. --- Surrogate constraint formulation --- p.26 / Chapter 3.2. --- Singly constrained dynamic programming --- p.28 / Chapter 3.3. --- Surrogate dual search --- p.29 / Chapter 4. --- Distance Confined Path Algorithm --- p.34 / Chapter 4.1. --- Yen´ةs algorithm for the kth shortest path problem --- p.35 / Chapter 4.2. --- Application of Yen´ةs method to integer programming --- p.36 / Chapter 4.3. --- Distance confined path problem --- p.42 / Chapter 4.4. --- Application of distance confined path formulation to integer programming --- p.50 / Chapter 5. --- Convergent Surrogate Dual Search --- p.59 / Chapter 5.1. --- Algorithm for convergent surrogate dual search --- p.62 / Chapter 5.2. --- "Solution schemes for (Pμ{αk,αβ)) and f(x) = αk" --- p.63 / Chapter 5.3. --- Computational Results and Analysis --- p.68 / Chapter 6. --- Conclusions --- p.72 / Bibliography --- p.74

This work is concerned with the theoretical study and the implementation of algorithms for solving two particular types of nonlinear optimization problems, namely unconstrained and simple-bound constrained optimization problems. For unconstrained optimization, we develop a new algorithm which uses a filter technique and a trust-region method in order to enforce global convergence and to improve the efficiency of traditional approaches. We also analyze the effect of approximate first and second derivatives on the performance of the filter-trust-region algorithm. We next extend our algorithm to simple-bound constrained optimization problems by combining these ideas with a gradient-projection method. Numerical results follow the proposed methods and indicate that they are competitive with more classical trust-region algorithms.

A radiolocation/navigation system is considered in which mobile nodes use ultra-wideband (UWB) radios to obtain inter-node ranges via round-trip travel time (RTT). Each node is also assumed to contain an inertial measurement unit (IMU) which generates 2D position estimates subject to Gaussian drift and additive noise errors. The key problem in such a system is obtaining 2 or 3-D position estimates from the nonlinear UWB range measurements and fusing the resulting UWB and IMU estimates. The system presented uses a Steepest Descent Random Start (SDRS) algorithm to solve the nonlinear positioning problem. It is shown that SDRS is a stable algorithim under a realistic communications reciprocity assumption. The SDRS estimates are then treated as measurements by the navigation Kalman filter. The navigation filter also processes separate IMU-derived position estimates to update node position/velocity. Simulation results for an urban corridor are given showing < 6 m. rms position errors.

Thesis (M. Phil.)--University of Hong Kong, 2008. / Also available in print.