Alternative algorithms for solving nonlinear function and functional inequalities (Q2640323)

In the first part of the paper, nonlinear function inequalities of the form \(g_ j(x)\geq 0\), \(j=1,...,m\), are considered, where \(g_ j: {\mathbb{R}}^ n\to {\mathbb{R}}\) are continuously differentiable functions. Efficient algorithms are available in the literature for finding a feasible point \(x\in {\mathbb{R}}^ n\) in a finite number of iterations. The authors describe an alternative approach by reformulating the problem as a standard unconstrained optimization problem via a differentiable transcription. Because of the special structure of the transcription, the unconstrained problem can also be solved in a finite number of steps. In the second part of the paper, this approach is extended to solving nonlinear functional inequalities (involving singular values) of the form \(g_ j(x,\omega)\geq 0\), \(\omega\in \Omega\), \(j=1,...,m\), where \(\Omega\) is a compact subset of \({\mathbb{R}}\). Several numerical examples are given.