Qiji J. Zhu

Exact Penalization and Necessary Optimality Conditions for Generalized Bilevel Programming Problems

The generalized bilevel programming problem (GBLP) is a bilevel mathematical program where the lower level is a variational inequality. In this paper we prove that if the objective function of a GBLP is uniformly Lipschitz continuous in the lower level decision variable with respect to the upper level decision variable, then using certain uniform parametric error bounds as penalty functions gives single level problems equivalent to the GBLP. Several local and global uniform parametric error bounds are presented, and assumptions guaranteeing that they apply are discussed. We then derive Kuhn--Tucker-type necessary optimality conditions by using exact penalty formulations and nonsmooth analysis.

A survey of subdifferential calculus with applications

This survey is an account of the current status of subdifferential research. It is intended to serve as an entry point for researchers and graduate students in a wide variety of pure and applied analysis areas who might profitably use subdifferentials as tools.

Viscosity Solutions and Viscosity Subderivatives in Smooth Banach Spaces with Applications to Metric Regularity

In Gâteaux or bornologically differentiable spaces there are two natural generalizations of the concept of a Frechet subderivative. In this paper we study the viscosity subderivative (which is the more robust of the two) and establish refined fuzzy sum rules for it in a smooth Banach space. These rules are applied to obtain comparison results for viscosity solutions of Hamilton--Jacobi equations in smooth spaces. A unified treatment of metric regularity in smooth spaces completes the paper. This illustrates the flexibility of viscosity subderivatives as a tool for analysis.

Nonsmooth analysis on smooth manifolds

We study infinitesimal properties of nonsmooth (nondifferentiable) functions on smooth manifolds. The eigenvalue function of a matrix on the manifold of symmetric matrices gives a natural example of such a nonsmooth function. A subdifferential calculus for lower semicontinuous functions is developed here for studying constrained optimization problems, nonclassical problems of calculus of variations, and generalized solutions of first-order partial differential equations on manifolds. We also establish criteria for monotonicity and invariance of functions and sets with respect to solutions of differential inclusions.

Multiobjective optimization problem with variational inequality constraints

Abstract. We study a general multiobjective optimization problem with variational inequality, equality, inequality and abstract constraints. Fritz John type necessary optimality conditions involving Mordukhovich coderivatives are derived. They lead to Kuhn-Tucker type necessary optimality conditions under additional constraint qualifications including the calmness condition, the error bound constraint qualification, the no nonzero abnormal multiplier constraint qualification, the generalized Mangasarian-Fromovitz constraint qualification, the strong regularity constraint qualification and the linear constraint qualification. We then apply these results to the multiobjective optimization problem with complementarity constraints and the multiobjective bilevel programming problem.

Implicit Multifunction Theorems

We prove a general implicit function theorem for multifunctions with a metric estimate on the implicit multifunction and a characterization of its coderivative. Traditional open covering theorems, stability results, and sufficient conditions for a multifunction to be metrically regular or pseudo-Lipschitzian can be deduced from this implicit function theorem. We prove this implicit multifunction theorem by reducing it to an implicit function/solvability theorem for functions. This approach can also be used to prove the Robinson–Ursescu open mapping theorem. As a tool for this alternative proof of the Robinson–Ursescu theorem, we also establish a refined version of the multidirectional mean value inequality which is of independent interest.

Trend Following Trading under a Regime Switching Model

This paper is concerned with the optimality of a trend following trading rule. The idea is to catch a bull market at its early stage, ride the trend, and liquidate the position at the first evidence of the subsequent bear market. We characterize the bull and bear phases of the markets mathematically using the conditional probabilities of the bull market given the up to date stock prices. The optimal buying and selling times are given in terms of a sequence of stopping times determined by two threshold curves. Numerical experiments are conducted to validate the theoretical results and demonstrate how they perform in a marketplace.

An Extended Extremal Principle with Applications to Multiobjective Optimization

We develop an extended version of the extremal principle in variational analysis that can be treated as a variational counterpart to the classical separation results in the case of nonconvex sets and which plays an important role in the generalized differentiation theory and its applications to optimization-related problems. The main difference between the conventional extremal principle and the extended version developed below is that, instead of the translation of sets involved in the extremal systems, we allow deformations. The new version seems to be more flexible in various applications and covers, in particular, multiobjective optimization problems with general preference relations. In this way we obtain new necessary optimality conditions for constrained problems of multiobjective optimization with nonsmooth data and also for multiplayer multiobjective games.

The Equivalence of Several Basic Theorems for Subdifferentials

Several different basic tools are used for studying subdifferentials. They are a nonlocal fuzzy sum rule in (Borwein et al., 1996; Zhu, 1996), a multidirectional mean value theorem in (Clarke and Ledyaev, 1994; Clarke et al., 1998), local fuzzy sum rules in (Ioffe, 1984, 1990) and an extremal principle in (Kruger and Mordukhovich, 1980; Mordukhovich, 1976, 1980, 1994). We show that all these basic results are equivalent and discuss some interesting consequences of this equivalence.

Necessary Conditions for Constrained Optimization Problems with Semicontinuous and Continuous Data

We consider nonsmooth constrained optimization problems with semicontinuous and continuous data in Banach space and derive necessary conditions {\sl without} constraint qualification in terms of smooth subderivatives and normal cones. These results, in different versions, are set in reflexive and smooth Banach spaces.