Analysis of a Belgian Chocolate Stabilization Problem

James V. Burke (burkemath.washington.edu)
Didier Henrion (henrionlaas.fr)
Adrian S. Lewis (aslewisorie.cornell.edu)
Michael L. Overton (overtoncs.nyu.edu)

Abstract: We give a detailed numerical and theoretical analysis of a stabilization problem posed by V. Blondel in 1994. Our approach illustrates the effectiveness of a new gradient sampling algorithm for finding local optimizers of nonsmooth, nonconvex optimization problems arising in control, as well as the power of nonsmooth analysis for understanding variational problems involving polynomial roots and eigenvalues.

Keywords: Nonsmooth analysis, polynomial, abscissa, gradient sampling

Category 1: Convex and Nonsmooth Optimization (Nonsmooth Optimization )

Category 2: Applications -- Science and Engineering (Control Applications )

Citation: Submitted to IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control

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Entry Submitted: 02/22/2005
Entry Accepted: 02/22/2005
Entry Last Modified: 02/22/2005

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