Necessary conditions for a linear program

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Homework Help Overview

The discussion revolves around necessary conditions for a local minimum in a constrained optimization problem involving functions g, h, and q. The original poster presents a problem where these functions must satisfy specific inequalities and equalities at a point xbar.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Assumption checking

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • Participants explore the implications of the conditions on the functions g, h, and q, particularly their differentiability and the nature of the region around xbar. There is a focus on the first-order conditions and the behavior of the objective function f near xbar.

Discussion Status

Some participants have raised questions about the differentiability of the functions involved and the implications of the optimization setup. There is an ongoing exploration of the necessary conditions without a clear consensus on the specific requirements.

Contextual Notes

Participants note the lack of explicit equations or proofs in the problem statement, which may affect the clarity of the discussion. The original poster expresses confusion about the nature of the region defined by the constraints.

sdevoe
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Homework Statement



Consider the following optimization problem:

min f(x)

s.t. g(x) ≥ 0
h(x) ≤ 0
q(x) = 0

Let xbar satisfy g(x) = h(x) = q(x) = 0.
a)State and prove a set of necessary and sufficient conditions for x to be a local minimum.

b)How would the conditions change if g(x) = q(x) = 0; h(x) < 0? You do not have to
present the proof for this case. Just write down the new set of conditions.

Homework Equations



NONE

The Attempt at a Solution



I am completely stumped on this one. Besides the obvious x must lie within the region. Is there something to do with the region only being one point and not an actual region
 
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sdevoe said:

Homework Statement



Consider the following optimization problem:

min f(x)

s.t. g(x) ≥ 0
h(x) ≤ 0
q(x) = 0

Let xbar satisfy g(x) = h(x) = q(x) = 0.
a)State and prove a set of necessary and sufficient conditions for x to be a local minimum.

b)How would the conditions change if g(x) = q(x) = 0; h(x) < 0? You do not have to
present the proof for this case. Just write down the new set of conditions.

Homework Equations



NONE

The Attempt at a Solution



I am completely stumped on this one. Besides the obvious x must lie within the region. Is there something to do with the region only being one point and not an actual region

In such problems, the standard approach is to look at points near xbar. That is, let \textbf{x} = \bar{\textbf{x}} + t \textbf{p}, \; t &gt; 0, \; t \text{ small }, and to look at conditions of first order in small t (that is, taking first differentials). What are the conditions on \textbf{p} in order that g(\bar{\textbf{x}} + t \textbf{p}) \geq 0, \text{ that } h(\bar{\textbf{x}} + t \textbf{p}) \leq 0, \text{ and that } q(\bar{\textbf{x}} + t \textbf{p}) = 0? For all such \textbf{p}, what are the conditions on f that guarantee f(\bar{\textbf{x}} + t \textbf{p}) \geq f(\bar{\textbf{x}})?

RGV
 
The only thing that I can come up with is maybe the P must be positive definite.
 
sdevoe said:
The only thing that I can come up with is maybe the P must be positive definite.

Absolutely not. The object p is a vector, not a matrix. And, anyway, you still need to answer the questions about g, h and q.

RGV
 
Must g,h and q be differentiable around those points where p(x)=h(x)=q(x)=0?
 
sdevoe said:
Must g,h and q be differentiable around those points where p(x)=h(x)=q(x)=0?

I think that must be assumed. I don't know what the precise statement was of the problem you were given, but normally in such discussions we assume at least once continuously-differentiable functions.

RGV
 
I am obviously lost. What direction should I be looking in?
 

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