# Questions tagged [convexity]

For questions related to convex functions and convex sets, especially as they relate to optimization problems.

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### How to convexify log(convex) function?

I have the following optimization problem: \begin{align}\max_x&\quad\log_2(1+|a+bx|^2+cx^2)\\\text{s.t.}&\quad0\le x\le1\\&\quad(1-x^2)\ge\text{constant}\end{align} where $a$ and $b$ are ...
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### Is $\min \ x^3 \ \mathrm{s.t.}\ x \geq 0$ a convex problem?

The problem $$\min \ x^3 \ \mathrm{s.t.} \ x \geq 0$$ is sometimes said to be a convex optimization problem. $f(x) = x^3$ is not a convex function. However, in the domain of $x\geq 0$ it is convex. So ...
81 views

### Proving convexity for a function with summation and integer variable

I would like to show that the function $f$ is convex in $\rho\in [0,1)$ under $s\in \mathbb{Z}^+$. When I use Sympy packages of Python to find $\displaystyle\frac{\partial^2 f(\rho)}{d\rho^2}$. I get ...
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### How to evaluate the convexity of an optimal control problem?

Can we consider an optimal control problem, a convex optimization problem like static optimization problems? If it is possible, under what conditions, will this problem be a convex problem? For ...
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### $\nabla_y\nabla_vf(x^*)\geq0$ for any concave $f$ if and only if $y=-v$

$f:\mathbb R^3\to\mathbb R$ is an arbitrary concave function. $H$ is a plane. $v$ is a given vector on $H$. $x^*=\max_{x\in H} f(x)$ Prove that $\nabla_y\nabla_vf(x^*)\geq 0$ if and only if $y=-v$. I ...
64 views

### Quasi-convex function must be “partially monotonic”?

$f(x)$ is quasi-convex, $$x^*\in\arg\min_{x\in C}f(x).$$ How to prove that, for any $a\in C$, $f(x)$ is weakly monotonic in the direction of $(x^*-a)$? Is this simple result a part of an ancient ...
134 views

### Convexity of the variance of a mixture distribution

$X$ is a random variable that is sampled from the mixture of uniform distributions. In other words: $$X \sim \sum_{i=1}^N w_i \cdot \mathbb{U}(x_i, x_{i+1}),$$ where $\mathbb{U}(x_i, x_{i+1})$ denotes ...
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### Existence of Optimal Solution

Assume we are solving $\min\{f(x) \ | \ x \in S \}$. If $f: \mathbb{R}^n \mapsto \mathbb{R}$ is a proper closed convex function, and $S$ is a non-empty closed convex set, does this imply that the ...
I would like to show that this function $$2x^2 + 8y^2$$ is convex or concave by using the definition $$f(θx+(1−θ)y) \le θf(x)+(1−θ)f(y)$$ From my understanding, using the Hessian matrix, I believe ...