# Which methods are available for NMinimize?

I can't find in the documentation the list of methods available to NMinimize[]. Is there a way to get this? The NMinimize page in Documentation Center mentions only Method -> "DifferentialEvolution".

-
If you click on "Details and Options" you'll see the whole list. – b.gatessucks Nov 6 '13 at 11:25
Indeed, the last bullet of that sections reads: Possible settings for the Method option include "NelderMead", "DifferentialEvolution", "SimulatedAnnealing", and "RandomSearch". I note that it uses the tantalizing words "possible" and "includes", suggesting there might be many more settings. – Sjoerd C. de Vries Nov 6 '13 at 11:29
Yes, it is not very clear. I have also found on the page tutorial/ConstrainedOptimizationGlobalNumerical the following line: NMinimize and NMaximize have several optimization methods available: Automatic, "DifferentialEvolution", "NelderMead", "RandomSearch", and "SimulatedAnnealing". I assumed there could be more methods available. – shrx Nov 6 '13 at 11:31
You should read these tutorials Numerical Nonlinear Global Optimization and Numerical Nonlinear Global Optimization Examples. – Artes Nov 6 '13 at 11:31
An other question would be: Is it possible to use something like foo::Method in order to know the different methods available? – Öskå Nov 6 '13 at 11:44

The complete list of possible methods is given by OptimizationNMinimizeDump$Methods: OptimizationNMinimizeDump$Methods

As you can see, there is one undocumented method: NonlinearInteriorPoint. The probable reason for its being undocumented is that by itself it is not very effective as a global minimizer, so it is used instead as a postprocessing step for the other methods in order to ensure that constraints are properly enforced.