IMSL C Math Library
min_uncon_multivar

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Minimizes a function f(x) of n variables using a quasi-Newton method.
Synopsis
#include <imsl.h>
float *imsl_f_min_uncon_multivar (float fcn(), int n, …, 0)
The type double function is imsl_d_min_uncon_multivar.
Required Arguments
float fcn (int n, float x[]) (Input/Output)
User-supplied function to evaluate the function to be minimized where n is the size of x, x is the point at which the function is evaluated, and fcn is the computed function value at the point x.
int n (Input)
Number of variables.
Return Value
A pointer to the minimum point x of the function. To release this space, use imsl_free. If no solution can be computed, then NULL is returned.
Synopsis with Optional Arguments
#include <imsl.h>
float *imsl_f_min_uncon_multivar (float fcn(), int n,
IMSL_XGUESS, float xguess[],
IMSL_GRAD, void grad(),
IMSL_, float xscale[],
IMSL_FSCALE, float fscale,
IMSL_GRAD_TOL, float grad_tol,
IMSL_STEP_TOL, float step_tol,
IMSL_MAX_STEP, float max_step,
IMSL_GOOD_DIGIT, int ndigit,
IMSL_MAX_ITN, int max_itn,
IMSL_MAX_FCN, int max_fcn,
IMSL_MAX_GRAD, int max_grad,
IMSL_INIT_HESSIAN, int ihess,
IMSL_RETURN_USER, float x[],
IMSL_FVALUE, float *fvalue,
IMSL_FCN_W_DATA, float fcn(), void *data,
IMSL_GRADIENT_W_DATA, void grad(), void *data,
0)
Optional Arguments
IMSL_XGUESS, float xguess[] (Input)
Array with n components containing an initial guess of the computed solution.
Default: xguess = 0
IMSL_GRAD, void grad (int n, float x[], float g[]) (Input/Output)
User-supplied function to compute the gradient at the point x where n is the size of x, x is the point at which the gradient is evaluated, and g is the computed gradient at the point x.
IMSL_XSCALE, float xscale[] (Input)
Array with n components containing the scaling vector for the variables. xscale is used mainly in scaling the gradient and the distance between two points. See keywords IMSL_GRAD_TOL and IMSL_STEP_TOL for more details.
Default: xscale[] = 1.0
IMSL_FSCALE, float fscale (Input)
Scalar containing the function scaling. fscale is used mainly in scaling the gradient. See keyword IMSL_GRAD_TOL for more details.
Default: fscale = 1.0
IMSL_GRAD_TOL, float grad_tol (Input)
Scaled gradient tolerance. The i-th component of the scaled gradient at x is calculated as
where g = ∇ f(x), s = xscale, and fs = fscale.
Default: grad_tol = , in double where ɛ is the machine precision.
IMSL_STEP_TOL, float step_tol (Input)
Scaled step tolerance. The i-th component of the scaled step between two points x and y is computed as
where s = xscale.
Default: step_tol = ɛ2/3
IMSL_MAX_STEP, float max_step (Input)
Maximum allowable step size.
Default: max_step = 1000 max (ɛ1, ɛ2) where,

ɛ2 = ∥s∥2, s = xscale, and t = xguess.
IMSL_GOOD_DIGIT, int ndigit (Input)
Number of good digits in the function. The default is machine dependent.
IMSL_MAX_ITN, int max_itn (Input)
Maximum number of iterations.
Default: max_itn = 100
IMSL_MAX_FCN, int max_fcn (Input)
Maximum number of function evaluations.
Default: max_fcn = 400
IMSL_MAX_GRAD, int max_grad (Input)
Maximum number of gradient evaluations.
Default: max_grad = 400
IMSL_INIT_HESSIAN, int ihess (Input)
Hessian initialization parameter. If ihess is zero, the Hessian is initialized to the identity matrix; otherwise, it is initialized to a diagonal matrix containing
on the diagonal where t = xguess, fs = fscale, and s = xscale.
Default: ihess = 0
IMSL_RETURN_USER, float x[] (Output)
User-supplied array with n components containing the computed solution.
IMSL_FVALUE, float *fvalue (Output)
Address to store the value of the function at the computed solution.
IMSL_FCN_W_DATA, float fcn (int n, float x[], void *data), void *data, (Input)
User supplied function to compute the value of the function to be minimized, which also accepts a pointer to data that is supplied by the user. data is a pointer to the data to be passed to the user-supplied function. See Passing Data to User-Supplied Functions in the introduction to this manual for more details.
IMSL_GRADIENT_W_DATA, void grad (int n, float x[], float g[], void *data), void *data, (Input)
User supplied function to compute the gradient at the point x, which also accepts a pointer to data that is supplied by the user. data is a pointer to the data to be passed to the user-supplied function. See Passing Data to User-Supplied Functions in the introduction to this manual for more details.
Description
The function f_min_uncon_multivar uses a quasi-Newton method to find the minimum of a function f(x) of n variables. The problem is stated as follows:
Given a starting point xc, the search direction is computed according to the formula
where B is a positive definite approximation of the Hessian, and gc is the gradient evaluated at xc. A line search is then used to find a new point
xn = xc + λd, λ > 0
such that
f(xn) ≤ f(xc) + agTd,α  ∈ (0, 0.5)
Finally, the optimality condition ∥g(x)∥ ≤ ɛ is checked where ɛ is a gradient tolerance.
When optimality is not achieved, B is updated according to the BFGS formula
where s = xn − xc and y = gn − gc. Another search direction is then computed to begin the next iteration. For more details, see Dennis and Schnabel (1983, Appendix A).
In this implementation, the first stopping criterion for imsl_f_min_uncon_multivar occurs when the norm of the gradient is less than the given gradient tolerance grad_tol. The second stopping criterion for imsl_f_min_uncon_multivar occurs when the scaled distance between the last two steps is less than the step tolerance step_tol.
Since by default, a finite-difference method is used to estimate the gradient for some single precision calculations, an inaccurate estimate of the gradient may cause the algorithm to terminate at a noncritical point. In such cases, high precision arithmetic is recommended; the keyword IMSL_GRAD should be used to provide more accurate gradient evaluation.
On some platforms, imsl_f_min_uncon_multivar can evaluate the user-supplied functions fcn and grad in parallel. This is done only if the function imsl_omp_options is called to flag user-defined functions as thread-safe. A function is thread-safe if there are no dependencies between calls. Such dependencies are usually the result of writing to global or static variables
Figure 8.6 — Plot of the Rosenbrock Function
Examples
Example 1
The function
is minimized. In the following plot, the solid circle marks the minimum.
 
#include <stdio.h>
#include <imsl.h>
 
int main()
{
int i, n=2;
float *result, fx;
static float rosbrk(int, float[]);
 
imsl_omp_options(IMSL_SET_FUNCTIONS_THREAD_SAFE, 1, 0);
/* Minimize Rosenbrock function */
 
result = imsl_f_min_uncon_multivar(rosbrk, n, 0);
fx = rosbrk(n, result);
 
/* Print results */
 
printf(" The solution is ");
for (i = 0; i < n; i++) printf("%8.3f", result[i]);
printf("\n\n The function value is %8.3f\n", fx);
} /* end of main */
 
 
static float rosbrk(int n, float x[])
{
float f1, f2;
 
f1 = x[1] - x[0]*x[0];
f2 = 1.0 - x[0];
 
return 100.0 * f1 * f1 + f2 * f2;
} /* end of function */
Output
 
The solution is 1.000 1.000
 
The function value is 0.000
Example 2
The function
is minimized with the initial guess x = (−1.2, 1.0). The initial guess is marked with an open circle in Plot of the Rosenbrock Function.
 
#include <stdio.h>
#include <imsl.h>
 
int main()
{
int i, n=2;
float *result, fx;
float rosbrk(int, float[]);
void rosgrd(int, float[], float[]);
static float xguess[2] = {-1.2e0, 1.0e0};
static float grad_tol = .0001;
 
imsl_omp_options(IMSL_SET_FUNCTIONS_THREAD_SAFE, 1, 0);
 
/* Minimize Rosenbrock function using initial guesses of -1.2 and 1.0 */
 
result = imsl_f_min_uncon_multivar(rosbrk, n, IMSL_XGUESS, xguess,
IMSL_GRAD, rosgrd,
IMSL_GRAD_TOL, grad_tol,
IMSL_FVALUE, &fx, 0);
 
/* Print results */
 
printf(" The solution is ");
for (i = 0; i < n; i++) printf("%8.3f", result[i]);
printf("\n\n The function value is %8.3f\n", fx);
} /* End of main */
 
 
static float rosbrk(int n, float x[])
{
float f1, f2;
 
f1 = x[1] - x[0]*x[0];
f2 = 1.0e0 - x[0];
 
return 100.0 * f1 * f1 + f2 * f2;
} /* End of function */
 
static void rosgrd(int n, float x[], float g[])
{
 
g[0] = -400.0*(x[1]-x[0]*x[0])*x[0] - 2.0*(1.0-x[0]);
g[1] = 200.0*(x[1]-x[0]*x[0]);
 
} /* End of function */
Output
 
The solution is 1.000 1.000
 
The function value is 0.000
Informational Errors
IMSL_STEP_TOLERANCE
Scaled step tolerance satisfied. The current point may be an approximate local solution, but it is also possible that the algorithm is making very slow progress and is not near a solution, or that step_tol is too big.
Warning Errors
IMSL_TOO_MANY_ITN
Maximum number of iterations exceeded.
IMSL_TOO_MANY_FCN_EVAL
Maximum number of function evaluations exceeded.
IMSL_TOO_MANY_GRAD_EVAL
Maximum number of gradient evaluations exceeded.
IMSL_UNBOUNDED
Five consecutive steps have been taken with the maximum step length.
IMSL_NO_FURTHER_PROGRESS
The last global step failed to locate a lower point than the current x value.
Fatal Errors
IMSL_FALSE_CONVERGENCE
False convergence—The iterates appear to be converging to a noncritical point. Possibly incorrect gradient information is used, or the function is discontinuous, or the other stopping tolerances are too tight.
IMSL_STOP_USER_FCN
Request from user supplied function to stop algorithm. User flag = "#".