Questions on the optimization functions of Mathematica such as FindMinimum/FindMaximum, Minimize/Maximize, NMinimize/NMaximize, etc.

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18
votes
1answer
758 views

Identifying critical points of 2/3D image/cubes

Upshot I am interested in identifying critical points of a 3D field/cubes (maxima, minima, tube-like and wall-like saddle points) and 2D field/image (maxima, minima, saddle points). I.e. the ...
7
votes
3answers
204 views

How can I efficiently check if a graph is unit distance?

A unit distance graph is a graph that is embeddable in the plane so that every edge has length 1. ...
1
vote
2answers
591 views

Find the dimensions of a cylindrical can that will minimize the cost of the material

A cylindrical can is to be made to hold 1 L of oil. Find the dimensions that will minimize the cost of the metal to manufacture the can. This is a standard calculus problem. The volume of the ...
3
votes
1answer
226 views

parameter optimization

Does anybody know of any tutorial material that explains how to use Mathematica to fit parameter values used in a set of ordinary differential equations to experimental values stored in a comma ...
3
votes
0answers
170 views

Semidefinite Programming

I want to solve a numerical optimization problem using semi-definite programming. Is there a package or add-on that equips mathematica with this functionality?
2
votes
0answers
190 views

Having difficulty with the Minimize command

I am having trouble getting an answer to this question...Am I missing something that anybody can see. ...
3
votes
2answers
484 views

optimization problem with NDSolve

I want to minimize the function fcc. When fcc is calculated for a specified point the answer is correct: ...
3
votes
1answer
297 views

Optimizing a function involving NDSolve results in error messages

I want to minimize a function f with NMinimize but an error occurs that says: ...
5
votes
2answers
258 views

What alternative notation of subscripts/superscripts that are also treated as SYMBOLS in Mathematica?

I tried to avoid using the subscript $A_0$ in the Module, and get an error with $A[0]$. ...
0
votes
0answers
72 views

How to Clear a symbol with subscript in Mathematica? [duplicate]

Possible Duplicate: Clear complains that a variable is not a symbol or a string? I want to clear $\lambda_0$ which is assigned to be $\lambda_0=1$. From the reference here, Clear ...
15
votes
1answer
420 views

Optimization with assumptions

I have the following problem, when I am trying to optimize function with pre-defined assumptions. I am using Mathematica 8 and I wrote the following simple code ...
4
votes
1answer
324 views

How to solve a quadratic integer programming problem?

I want to solve a quadratic integer programming problem in Mathematica. My first attempt looks like this: ...
6
votes
1answer
217 views

Numerical problems with calculation of function

I have a problem with a calculation which I try to do with Mathematica (8.0.1). I have the following function which describes a cone (with half opening angle ...
4
votes
1answer
137 views

Assumptions seem not to be considered

In the following a,b is a probability distribution, i.e. a+b==1 with ...
28
votes
3answers
3k views

How to find all the local minima/maxima in a range

I want to find : all local maxima in range all local minima in range From those points I can interpolate and combine functions upper and lower boundary. What I am really interested in, is the ...
5
votes
1answer
260 views

Defining a non-linear optimization-problem

Consider the following non-linear optimisation problem: ...
42
votes
2answers
2k views

Shaving the last 50 ms off NMinimize

The background: I have to fit an objective function for ~10 000 datasets in near real time (with near real time being on the order of about 10 seconds). I compile the huge objective function, so that ...
9
votes
3answers
237 views

Strange domain dependency with Maximize

I'm using Mathematica 8 and strangely enough this code: Maximize[{x*(1-0.01 x),x>0},x,Integers] produces the result ...
10
votes
2answers
417 views

Maximizing a function with assumptions

Using f[s_] := Log[(s/r)^α ((α - 2) n0 r^α + 2 π Pmax ρ r^2) /((α - 2) n0 s^α + 2 π Pmax ρ s^2)]/s When I run the following line: ...
12
votes
4answers
1k views

Minimizing a function of many coordinates

I'm trying to obtain a series of points on the unit sphere with a somewhat homogeneous distribution, by minimizing a function depending on distances (I took $\exp(-d)$). My points are represented by ...
8
votes
1answer
929 views

Solve Lagrange multipliers optimization problem

I have two nested solid figure, where $V(a,h,\tau)$ defines the volume and $A(a,h,t)$ defines the surface. The outer solid figure is parametrized in $a_s$,$h_s$ and $t_s$ (they share a common center). ...
14
votes
1answer
361 views

Obtain approximate Hessian using FindMinimum

According to the documentation, when FindMinimum is told to use the method "QuasiNewton" on a unconstrained problem, it uses the ...
4
votes
1answer
161 views

Why is this minimization with Boole functions failing?

I am running this command in Mathematica 8.0.4.0: ...
0
votes
1answer
292 views

Symbolic Optimisation

I'm trying to solve symbolically the following optimisation: $$ \min_{q_uu}\ \Biggl[ q_u q_{uu}\psi B_{uu} + q_u q_{ud}\psi B_{ud} + q_d q_{du}\psi B_{ud} + q_d q_{dd}\psi B_{dd} $$ $$ + ...
10
votes
2answers
366 views

Is it possible to use the LevenbergMarquardt algorithm for fitting a black-box residual function?

I have a black-box multiargument multiparametric function of the type SRD[dataPoint_List,params_List] which accepts experimental data along with the parameters of ...
7
votes
1answer
347 views

Using Mathematica to help to determine the consistency of and numerically solve systems of non-linear equations

The formal problem The question I am about to ask is applicable to many scientific and engineering problems. In short, I am bout to ask for pointers and practical advice for Mathematica beginners who ...
29
votes
7answers
991 views

Character edge finding

The following line of code finds the edge of a character: ...
12
votes
3answers
510 views

Strategies to avoid LessEqual::nord in NMinimize?

When using NMinimize on functions with complex intermediate expressions (but a real end result), quite often one gets the error ...
8
votes
1answer
538 views

Combined numerical minimization and maximization

I want to numerically calculate the maximum of a function defined by the minimization of another function, like the following: ...

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