Convexity of images of convex sets under smooth maps (Q2577251)

Let \(C\subset \mathbb{R}^n\) be a convex set and \(f:C\to \mathbb{R}^m\) a map. Convexity conditions for the image \(f(C)\) are examined in the paper. Necessary and sufficient convexity conditions for the closed set are presented without proofs in the first four theorems. A local convexity is introduced and used -- see also Polyak's paper [Set-valued Anal. 9, 159--168 (2001; Zbl 1006.52001)]. The mentioned conditions are applied in the proofs of main theorems instead of the definition of convexity. Sufficient convexity conditions for the image \(f(C)\) are presented in six main theorems under various assumptions. The typical one is that \(f\) is differentiable at every point and its derivative satisfies the local Lipschitz condition. Overall, the authors in this precisely written paper present remarkable results in convex set theory. The applications of the results to nonlinear programming, which the summary announces, are not discussed.