<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><!DOCTYPE article  PUBLIC "-//NLM//DTD Journal Publishing DTD v3.0 20080202//EN" "http://dtd.nlm.nih.gov/publishing/3.0/journalpublishing3.dtd"><article xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" dtd-version="3.0" xml:lang="en" article-type="research article"><front><journal-meta><journal-id journal-id-type="publisher-id">OALibJ</journal-id><journal-title-group><journal-title>Open Access Library Journal</journal-title></journal-title-group><issn pub-type="epub">2333-9705</issn><publisher><publisher-name>Scientific Research Publishing</publisher-name></publisher></journal-meta><article-meta><article-id pub-id-type="doi">10.4236/oalib.1103511</article-id><article-id pub-id-type="publisher-id">OALibJ-76017</article-id><article-categories><subj-group subj-group-type="heading"><subject>Articles</subject></subj-group><subj-group subj-group-type="Discipline-v2"><subject>Biomedical&amp;Life Sciences</subject><subject> Business&amp;Economics</subject><subject> Chemistry&amp;Materials Science</subject><subject> Computer Science&amp;Communications</subject><subject> Earth&amp;Environmental Sciences</subject><subject> Engineering</subject><subject> Medicine&amp;Healthcare</subject><subject> Physics&amp;Mathematics</subject><subject> Social Sciences&amp;Humanities</subject></subj-group></article-categories><title-group><article-title>
 
 
  Global Optimization of Multivariate Holderian Functions Using Overestimators
 
</article-title></title-group><contrib-group><contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Amine</surname><given-names>Yahyaoui</given-names></name><xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1"><sup>1</sup></xref></contrib><contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Hamadi</surname><given-names>Ammar</given-names></name><xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2"><sup>2</sup></xref></contrib></contrib-group><aff id="aff2"><addr-line>Faculty of Economics and Management of Nabeul, Carthage University, Tunis, Tunisia</addr-line></aff><aff id="aff1"><addr-line>Faculty of Sciences of Bizerte, Carthage University, Tunis, Tunisia</addr-line></aff><pub-date pub-type="epub"><day>03</day><month>05</month><year>2017</year></pub-date><volume>04</volume><issue>05</issue><fpage>1</fpage><lpage>18</lpage><history><date date-type="received"><day>9,</day>	<month>March</month>	<year>2017</year></date><date date-type="rev-recd"><day>2,</day>	<month>May</month>	<year>2017</year>	</date><date date-type="accepted"><day>5,</day>	<month>May</month>	<year>2017</year></date></history><permissions><copyright-statement>&#169; Copyright  2014 by authors and Scientific Research Publishing Inc. </copyright-statement><copyright-year>2014</copyright-year><license><license-p>This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution International License (CC BY). http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/</license-p></license></permissions><abstract><p>
 
 
   
   This paper deals with the global optimization of several variables Holderian functions. An algorithm using a sequence of overestimators of a single variable objective function was developed converging to the maximum. Then by
    the use of 
   α
   -dense curves, we show how to implement this algorithm in a multidimensional optimization problem. Finally, we validate the algorithm by testing it on some test functions. 
  
 
</p></abstract><kwd-group><kwd>Global Optimization</kwd><kwd> Branch and Bound</kwd><kwd> Holderian Functions</kwd><kwd> Alienor  Method</kwd></kwd-group></article-meta></front><body><sec id="s1"><title>1. Introduction</title><p>When modeling economic, biologic, …, systems, we often meet situations where we are led to minimize or maximize objective multivariate functions [<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="scirp.76017-ref1">1</xref>] . Generally, we are seeking global optimums. It’s well known that global optimization algorithms are scare, when compared to the local optimization ones [<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="scirp.76017-ref2">2</xref>] , and when they exist, their implementation is not so obvious. This difficulty increases when the number of the decision variables gets higher.</p><p>In this paper, the objective function is deterministic and available and the variables are bounded but the derivative information is either unavailable or its manipulation is expensive.</p><p>When information derivative is not required, many authors have used the regularity of the objective function to elaborate algorithms giving the optimum [<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="scirp.76017-ref3">3</xref>] [<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="scirp.76017-ref4">4</xref>] .</p><p>Shubert [<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="scirp.76017-ref5">5</xref>] , Ammar and Cherruault [<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="scirp.76017-ref6">6</xref>] [<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="scirp.76017-ref7">7</xref>] , Evtushenko Ya. G., Malkova V. U. and Stanevichyus A. A. [<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="scirp.76017-ref8">8</xref>] , Gergel V. P. and Sergeyev Ya. D. [<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="scirp.76017-ref9">9</xref>] , Sergeyev Y. D. and Kvasov D. E. [<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="scirp.76017-ref10">10</xref>] considered the case where the objective function is lipschitzian. They developed methods generating sequences converging to the optimum. Other authors, Gourdin E. Jaumard B. and Ellaia R. [<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="scirp.76017-ref11">11</xref>] , Lera D. and Sergeyev Ya. D. [<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="scirp.76017-ref12">12</xref>] , Rahal M. and Ziadi A. [<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="scirp.76017-ref13">13</xref>] , processed the case of holderian functions by trying to elaborate a sequence to converge to the optimum; except that, here, obtaining a sequence, to converge to the optimum, is not so obvious.</p><p>In this paper, we are also interested in holderian objective functions. We will develop a technique to solve a multidimensional optimization problem.</p><p>In the first part of this paper we define a sequence of overestimators of a single variable function. Then we describe a global optimization algorithm suitable to such functions converging to the global maximum. Then after, we show how we can give an approximating value of the maximum of a several-variables holderian function. To do this, we introduce, in the second part, the Lissajous α-dense curve: the tool that allows to go from a multidimensional optimization problem to a single dimensional one. We end this paper by validating our algorithm testing it on some test functions [<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="scirp.76017-ref14">14</xref>] .</p></sec><sec id="s2"><title>2. Optimization of a Single Variable Hoderian Function</title><p>Let’s consider a single variable holderian function f defined on an interval</p><p>[ a , b ] ⊂ ℝ .</p><p>Let’s denote by (P) the following unidimensional optimization problem:</p><p>(P) { Maximize   f ( x ) x ∈ [ a , b ]</p><p>In fact, we will not search the exact solution x o p t of this problem, we just want to have its approximated value. To achieve this, we will develop a global optimization algorithm suited to holderian functions, that will give an approximation x * such that | f ( x o p t ) − f ( x * ) | ≤ ε 0 where ε 0 &gt; 0 , is the required accuracy a priori chosen. This algorithm is based on a sequence of overestimators.</p><sec id="s2_1"><title>2.1. Overestimator of a Holderian Function</title><p>Definition 1. A real multivariate function f is said to be holderian on a set X ⊂ ℝ n , if there exists k &gt; 0 and β &gt; 1 such that ∀ x ∈ X and y ∈ X :</p><p>| f ( x ) − f ( y ) | ≤ k | x − y | 1 β .</p><p>Definition 2. A function F is said to be an overestimator of a function f on a set X if:</p><p>∀ x ∈ X , F ( x ) ≥ f ( x ) .</p><p>Proposition 1. Let f be a holderian univariate function defined on the interval [ a , b ] and let y ∈ [ a , b ] . The function H defined on [ a , b ] by: ∀ x ∈ [ a , b ]</p><p>H ( x ) = f ( y ) + k | x − y | 1 β .</p><p>is an overestimator of f on [ a , b ] .</p><p>Proof. Let’s set y ∈ [ a , b ] , As f is holderian: ∀ x ∈ [ a , b ]</p><p>| f ( x ) − f ( y ) | ≤ k | x − y | 1 β .</p><p>This yields: f ( x ) − f ( y ) ≤ k | x − y | 1 β .</p><p>Hence, f ( x ) ≤ f ( y ) + k | x − y | 1 β = H ( x ) .</p></sec><sec id="s2_2"><title>2.2. Sequence of Overestimators</title><p>Let x 0 = a the left bound of [a, b] and let’s set:</p><p>F 0 ( x ) = f ( x 0 ) + k | x − x 0 | 1 β = G 0 ( x )</p><p>an overestimator of f whose representative curve is given by <xref ref-type="fig" rid="fig1">Figure 1</xref>.</p><p>The curve has one vertex V 1 ( u 1 = b , H 1 ) such that:</p><p>H 1 = f ( x 0 ) + k | b − x 0 | 1 β = max x ∈ [ a , b ] G 0 ( x )</p><p>Let’s set x 1 = arg max ( G 0 ( x ) ) . Here, x 1 = b . From the point that coordinates are ( x 1 , f ( x 1 ) ) , we plot the curve of the overestimator:</p><p>F 1 ( x ) = f ( x 1 ) + k | x − x 1 | 1 β</p><p>as shown in <xref ref-type="fig" rid="fig2">Figure 2</xref>. We set:</p><p>G 1 ( x ) = min ( F 1 ( x ) , G 0 ( x ) )</p><p>and x 2 = arg max ( G 1 ( x ) ) .</p><p>The vertex V 1 is anymore a vertex of the curve of G 1 . It’s replaced by a new vertex V ′ 1 ( x 2 , G 1 ( x 2 ) ) , given by the intersection of the curves of G 1 and F 1 .</p><p>The real x 2 is solution of the following equation:</p><p>f ( x 0 ) + k | x 2 − x 0 | 1 β = f ( x 1 ) + k | x 2 − x 1 | 1 β</p><p>In general, it is not easy to have the exact value of the solution of the equation above. For this reason, we will introduce an auxiliary function O 1 that allows to give a value nearby to x 2 that we also denote by x 2 .</p><p>The point V ′ 1 ( x 2 , G 1 ( x 2 ) ) is between two neighbouring points belonging to the curve of G 1 : one on its left L ( x 0 , f ( x 0 ) ) and one in its right R ( x 1 , f ( x 1 ) ) . We denote by:</p><p>・ M 1 = max ( f ( x 0 ) , f ( x 1 ) )</p><p>・ m 1 = min ( f ( x 0 ) , f ( x 1 ) )</p><p>・ μ 1 = arg max ( f ( x 0 ) , f ( x 1 ) )</p><p>・ ρ 1 = arg min ( f ( x 0 ) , f ( x 1 ) )</p><p>According to the <xref ref-type="fig" rid="fig2">Figure 2</xref>, and in this case, M 1 = f ( x 1 ) and m 1 = f ( x 0 ) . Let’s set z 1 in [ x 0 , x 1 ] such that: G 1 ( z 1 ) = M 1 and z 1 ≠ μ 1 . That yields that:</p><p>z 1 = x 0 + ( M 1 − m 1 k ) β</p><p>From the point L 1 ( z 1 , M 1 ) , we plot the representative curve of:</p><p>O 1 ( x ) = min ( M 1 + k | x − x 1 | 1 β , M 1 + k | x − μ 1 | 1 β ) 1 J 1 ( x )</p><p>where J 1 = [ min ( z 1 , μ 1 ) , max ( z 1 , μ 1 ) ] .</p><p>The new function:</p><p>G ′ 1 ( x ) = G 1 ( x ) 1 x ∉ J 1 + O 1 ( x )</p><p>is also an overestimator.</p><p>The curve of G ′ 1 has a new vertex, given by the curve of O 1 , denoted by:</p><p>V ″ ( u 1 , H ′ 1 ) such that: { H ′ 1 = M 1 + k | u 1 − z 1 | 1 β u 1 = z 1 + x 1 2 as indicated in <xref ref-type="fig" rid="fig3">Figure 3</xref>.</p><p>Hence, the vertex V 1 will be replaced by V ″ . The new vertex of the curve of G ′ 1 , now denoted by V 1 , will be identified by ( u 1 , L 1 , R 1 , H 1 ) with</p><p>H 1 = M 1 + k | u 1 − z 1 | 1 β and where L 1 ( z 1 , M 1 ) and R 1 ( x 1 , M 1 ) are, respectively,</p><p>the left and the right neighbours of V 1 .</p><p>Let set x 2 = arg max ( G ′ 1 ( x ) ) . Here, x 2 = u 1 . Let:</p><p>・ F 2 ( x ) = f ( x 2 ) + k | x − x 2 | 1 β</p><p>・ G 2 ( x ) = min ( F 2 ( x ) , G ′ 1 ( x ) )</p><p>Suppose f evaluated at x 0 , x 1 , ⋯ , x n and denote by:</p><p>φ n = max ( f ( x 0 ) , f ( x 1 ) , ⋯ , f ( x n ) )</p><p>The curve of G ′ n has n vertexes: V 0 ≤ V 1 ≤ ⋯ ≤ V n such that each of them is identified by:</p><p>{ itsleftneighbour     L i ( l i , M i ) itsrightneighbour     R i ( r i , M i ) itsabsciss     u i = l i + r i 2 itsordinate     H i = M i + k | u i − r i | 1 β for i from 1 to n. (1)</p><p>Let’s x n + 1 = arg max ( G ′ n ( x ) ) = u n , y n + 1 = f ( x n + 1 ) , φ n + 1 = max ( φ n , f ( x n + 1 ) ) and:</p><p>・ F n + 1 ( x ) = f ( x n + 1 ) + k | x − x n + 1 | 1 β</p><p>・ G n + 1 ( x ) = min ( G ′ n ( x ) , F n + 1 ( x ) )</p><p>For the curve of the overestimator G n + 1 , V n is anymore a summit, but two new vertexes appear from either side of V n : denoted by V L (in the left) and V R (in the right), as indicated in <xref ref-type="fig" rid="fig4">Figure 4</xref>. Set:</p><p>・ M n + 1 = max ( f ( x n + 1 ) , M n )</p><p>・ m n + 1 = min ( f ( x n + 1 ) , M n )</p><p>For the both vertexes V L and V R , it is not obvious to calculate their coordinates. Each of them will be replaced, respectively, by V ′ L and V ′ R as proceeded for G 1 .</p><p>Let’s determinate the coordinates of vertex V ′ L .</p><p>Set μ n + 1 L = arg ( M n + 1 ) and ρ n + 1 L = arg ( m n + 1 ) which belong to the set</p><p>{ x n + 1 , l n } where l n is the absciss of the left neighbour L n of V n , as mentioned in (1).</p><p>Let’s set z L in [ x n + 1 , μ n + 1 L ] such that: G n + 1 ( z L ) = M n + 1 and z L ≠ μ n + 1 L .</p><p>This involves:</p><p>z L = ρ n + 1 L + s i g n ( μ n + 1 L − ρ n + 1 L ) ( M n + 1 − m n + 1 k ) 1 β</p><p>where s i g n ( x ) = { + 1 ,     if   x ≥ 0 − 1 ,     if   x &lt; 0 . Let:</p><p>O n + 1 L ( x ) = min ( M n + 1 + k | x − z L | 1 β , M n + 1 + k | x − μ n + 1 L | 1 β ) 1 J n + 1 L ( x )</p><p>where J n + 1 L = [ min ( z L , μ n + 1 L ) , max ( z L , μ n + 1 L ) ] .</p><p>The part of the curve of G n + 1 relative to the interval</p><p>[ min ( z L , μ n + 1 L ) , max ( z L , μ n + 1 L ) ] is replaced by the one of O n + 1 L . That makes appear a new vertex ( V ′ L ) replacing V L such that:</p><p>・ Its absciss is u L = 1 2 ( z L + μ n + 1 L )</p><p>・ Its ordinate is H L = M n + 1 + k | μ n + 1 L − u L | 1 β</p><p>Furthermore, V ′ L will be identified by its neighbours:</p><p>・ The left neighbour L ( min ( z L , μ n + 1 L ) , M n + 1 )</p><p>・ The right neighbour R ( max ( z L , μ n + 1 L ) , M n + 1 )</p><p>Those values will be saved in memory.</p><p>Similarly, V R will be replaced by V ′ R determined as follows:</p><p>Set μ n + 1 R = arg ( M n + 1 ) and ρ n + 1 R = arg ( m n + 1 ) which belong to the set</p><p>{ x n + 1 , r n } where r n is the absciss of the right neighbour of V n . Let:</p><p>&#252; z R = ρ n + 1 R + s i g n ( μ n + 1 R − ρ n + 1 R ) ( M n + 1 − m n + 1 k ) 1 β</p><p>&#252; O n + 1 R ( x ) = min ( M n + 1 + k | x − z R | 1 β , M n + 1 + k | x − μ n + 1 R | 1 β ) 1 J n + 1 R ( x )</p><p>where J n + 1 R = [ min ( z R , μ n + 1 R ) , max ( z R , μ n + 1 R ) ] .</p><p>The vertex V ′ R that will replace V R has the following coordinates:</p><p>・ Its absciss is u R = 1 2 ( z R + μ n + 1 R )</p><p>・ Its ordinate is H R = M n + 1 + k | μ n + 1 R − u R | 1 β</p><p>V ′ R will also be identified by its neighbours:</p><p>・ The left neighbour L ( min ( z R , μ n + 1 R ) , M n + 1 )</p><p>・ The right neighbour R ( max ( z R , μ n + 1 R ) , M n + 1 )</p><p>Let’s set:</p><p>G ′ n + 1 ( x ) = G n + 1 L ( x ) + G n + 1 R ( x ) + G n + 1 ( x ) 1 x ∈ J n + 1 ( x )</p><p>where J n + 1 = [ min ( z L , μ n + 1 L ) , max ( z R , μ n + 1 R ) ] = J n + 1 L ∪ J n + 1 R .</p><p>Furthermore, the vertex V n is eliminated and replaced by V ′ R and V ′ L . Hence, we have n + 1 simmits that we organize in an increasing order, that yields:</p><p>V 1 ≤ V 2 ≤ ⋯ ≤ V n + 1</p></sec><sec id="s2_3"><title>2.3. Convergence Theorem</title><p>Theorem 1. Let f a ( C , 1 β ) -holderian function defined on the interval</p><p>[ a , b ] . The sequence ( H n ) n ∈ ℕ , defined above, decreases to the maximum of f .</p><p>Proof. Denote by φ = max x ∈ [ a , b ] f ( x ) and Φ = { x ∈ [ a , b ] ; f ( x ) = φ } ,</p><p>∀ x ∈ [ a , b ] , G n ( x ) ≥ f ( x ) for all n ∈ ℕ . This involves that:</p><p>H n = max x ∈ [ a , b ] G n ( x ) ≥ max x ∈ [ a , b ] ( x ) = φ</p><p>As φ n + 1 = max ( f ( x 0 ) , ⋯ , f ( x n + 1 ) ) and by the construction of M n , we deduce that:</p><p>M n + 1 ≤ φ n + 1 ≤ H n + 1</p><p>Hence:</p><p>| H n + 1 − φ n + 1 | ≤ | H n + 1 − M n + 1 | ≤ k | x L n + 1 − x n + 1 | 1 β ≤ k | 1 2 ( x L n + 1 − x R n + 1 ) | 1 β ≤ k | 1 2 2 ( x L n − x R n ) | 1 β ≤ k | 1 2 n ( x L 1 − x R 1 ) | 1 β</p><p>which vanishes to 0.</p><p>As ( φ n ) is an increasing bounded sequence, it converges. Suppose that φ n converges to μ ≠ φ . As f ( [ a , b ] ) is a compact, μ ∈ f ( [ a , b ] ) . Let y n ∈ [ a , b ] such that φ n = f ( y n ) . As [ a , b ] is a compact, the sequence ( y n ) admits a subsequence ( y n k ) that converges to z in [ a , b ] . The continuity of f involves that f ( z ) = μ .</p><p>Let ε = φ − μ . Since ( y n k ) converges to z , ∃ K , ∀ k ≥ K , | y n k − z | &lt; ( ε 2 C ) β . The property of Holder involves that: | f ( y n k ) − f ( z ) | ≤ C | y n k − z | 1 β ≤ ε 2 . This</p><p>means that ∀ k ≥ K :</p><p>φ n k = f ( y n k ) ≤ f ( z ) + ε 2 = μ + ε 2 .</p><p>On the other hand, ∀ n ≥ n k :</p><p>G n ( x ) ≤ G n k ( x ) = f ( y n k ) + C | x − y n k | 1 β = φ n k + C | x − y n k | 1 β .</p><p>Hence, ∀ x ∈ [ a , b ] and ∀ n ≥ n k such that | x − y n k | &lt; ( ε 2 C ) β , we have:</p><p>G n ( x ) = φ n k + ε 2 ≤ μ + ε 2 + ε 2 = φ</p><p>The real z ∈ ] y n k − ( ε 2 C ) β , y n k + ( ε 2 C ) β [ , then ∃ j &gt; K such that:</p><p>| y n j − y n K | &lt; ( ε 2 C ) β .</p><p>This means that H n j = G n j ( y n j ) &lt; φ . This is absurd. Then ( y n k ) converges to φ .</p></sec><sec id="s2_4"><title>2.4. Description of the Algorithm</title><sec id="s2_4_1"><title>2.4.1. Initialization</title><p>x 0 = a , x 1 = b , n = 1 .</p><p>・ M 1 = max ( f ( x 0 ) , f ( x 1 ) )</p><p>・ m 1 = min ( f ( x 0 ) , f ( x 1 ) )</p><p>・ μ 1 = arg max ( f ( x 0 ) , f ( x 1 ) )</p><p>・ V 1 ( u 1 = z 1 + x 1 2 , H 1 = M 1 + k | u 1 − z 1 | 1 β )</p><p>L 1 ( z 1 , M 1 ) and R 1 ( x 1 , M 1 )</p></sec><sec id="s2_4_2"><title>2.4.2. Iterative Steps</title><p>・ φ n = max ( f ( x 0 ) , f ( x 1 ) , ⋯ , f ( x n ) )</p><p>・ x n + 1 = u n</p><p>・ M n + 1 = max ( f ( x n + 1 ) , M n )</p><p>・ m n + 1 = min ( f ( x n + 1 ) , M n )</p><p>・ V ′ L { u L = 1 2 ( z L + μ n + 1 L ) H L = M n + 1 + k | μ n + 1 L − u L | L ( min ( z L , μ n + 1 L ) , M n + 1 ) R ( max ( z L , μ n + 1 L ) , M n + 1 )</p><p>・ V ′ R { u R = 1 2 ( z R + μ n + 1 R ) H R = M n + 1 + k | μ n + 1 R − u R | L ( min ( z R , μ n + 1 R ) , M n + 1 ) R ( max ( z R , μ n + 1 R ) , M n + 1 )</p><p>Organize in an increasing order V 1 , V 2 , ⋯ , V n − 1 , V ′ L , V ′ R : V 1 ≤ V 2 ≤ ⋯ ≤ V n ≤ V n + 1 .</p></sec><sec id="s2_4_3"><title>2.4.3. Stopping Criterion</title><p>If | H n + 1 − φ n + 1 | ≤ ε 0 , then stop, else, n = n + 1 and back to iterative steps.</p></sec></sec></sec><sec id="s3"><title>3. α-Dense Curves</title><p>The principal tool that enables one to apply the algorithm above for a multivariate function is the α-dense curves [<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="scirp.76017-ref15">15</xref>] [<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="scirp.76017-ref16">16</xref>] [<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="scirp.76017-ref17">17</xref>] .</p><sec id="s3_1"><title>3.1. The α-Dense Curves</title><p>Definition 3. Let X be a non empty set and S a subset of X . S is said to be α-dense in X , if:</p><p>∀ M ∈ X , ∃ M ′ ∈ S : d ( M , M ′ ) ≤ α</p><p>Among the α-dense curves, we have chosen the Lissajous curves.</p></sec><sec id="s3_2"><title>3.2. Lissajous Curve</title><p>In mathematics, a Lissajous curve, also known as Lissajous figure or Bowditch curve, is the graph of a system of parametric equations which describe complex harmonic motion.</p><sec id="s3_2_1"><title>3.2.1. Bidimensional Case</title><p>In the bidimensional case, a Lissajous figure can be defined by the following parametric equations:</p><p>{ x ( t ) = a sin ( t ) y ( t ) = b sin ( n t + ϕ ) where 0 ≤ ϕ ≤ π 2 and n ≥ 1 .</p><p>The number n is named the parameter of the curve. If n is rational, it can</p><p>be expressed in the form n = p q . Hence, the parametric equation describing the</p><p>curve becomes:</p><p>{ x ( t ) = a sin ( p t ) y ( t ) = b sin ( q t + ϕ ) 0 ≤ t ≤ 2 π where: 0 ≤ ϕ ≤ π 2 p</p><p>In what follows, we set ϕ = 0 and let consider the following function Γ defined by:</p><p>Γ : [ 0 , 2 π ] → [ 0 , 2 π ] &#215; [ 0 , 2 π ]                 t ↦ Γ ( t ) = ( Γ 1 ( t ) , Γ 2 ( t ) ) (2)</p><p>where { Γ 1 ( t ) = π sin ( p t ) + π Γ 2 ( t ) = π sin ( q t ) + π such that: p is an even number and q = p + 1 , of which the representative curve is given by <xref ref-type="fig" rid="fig5">Figure 5</xref>;</p><p>Theorem 2. If α = π sin ( π p ) , the Lissajous curve Γ , given by (2), is α-dense</p><p>in [ 0 , 2 π ] 2 .</p><p>Proof. Let M 0 ( x , y ) any point in [ 0 , 2 π ] 2 . Let show that there exists t ∈ [ 0 , 2 π ] such that:</p><p>d ( M 0 , Γ ( t ) ) ≤ π sin ( π p )</p><p>We Set: { Γ 1 ( t ) = π sin ( p t ) + π Γ 2 ( t ) = π sin ( q t ) + π .</p><p>p is an even number and q = p + 1 .</p><p>Let’s set t in [ 0 , 2 π ] . Notice that the function Γ 1 is 2π p periodic. Let</p><p>t ′ = t + 2π p .</p><p>Consider the points M ( Γ 1 ( t ) , Γ 2 ( t ) ) and M ′ ( Γ 1 ( t ′ ) , Γ 2 ( t ′ ) ) . The points M and M ′ have the same abscissa.</p><p>d ( M , M ′ ) 2 = ( Γ 2 ( t ′ ) − Γ 2 ( t ) ) 2 = π 2 ( sin ( q t ′ ) − sin ( q t ) ) 2 = 4 π 2 sin 2 ( q 2 ( t ′ − t ) ) cos 2 ( q 2 ( t + t ′ ) ) = 4 π 2 sin 2 ( q π p ) cos 2 ( q t + q π p ) = 4 π 2 sin 2 ( π p ) cos 2 ( q t + π p )</p><p>This distance reaches its maximum value when cos 2 ( q t + π p ) = 1 , for</p><p>t = 1 q ( k π + π p ) where k ∈ { 1 , 2 , ⋯ , 2 q } .</p><p>Hence, d ( M , M ′ ) ≤ 2 π sin ( π p ) .</p><p>As Γ 1 is surjective from [ 0 , 2π p ] on [ 0 , 2 π ] , there exists t 1 ∈ [ 0 , 2 π p ] such</p><p>that x = Γ 1 ( t 1 ) .</p><p>As Γ 2 is surjective from [ 0 , 2π p ] on [ 0 , 2 π ] , there exists t 2 ∈ [ 0 , 2 π p ] such</p><p>that y = Γ 2 ( t 2 ) .</p><p>There exists k ∈ { 0 , 1 , ⋯ , p − 1 } such that: either</p><p>Γ 2 ( t 1 + 2 k π p ) ≤ Γ 2 ( t 2 ) ≤ Γ 2 ( t 1 + 2 ( k + 1 ) π p )</p><p>or</p><p>Γ 2 ( t 1 + 2 k π p ) ≥ Γ 2 ( t 2 ) ≥ Γ 2 ( t 1 + 2 ( k + 1 ) π p )</p><p>This does not occur only when y = 0 or y = 2 π , that means that when the point M in on the boundary.</p><p>This yields that M 0 is in the segment:</p><p>[ M k ( Γ ( t 1 + 2 k π p ) ) , M k + 1 ( Γ ( t 1 + 2 ( k + 1 ) π p ) ) ] .</p><p>So that, any point M 0 can be framed between two points of type M k and M k + 1 .</p><p>Hence, we can approximate any point of [ 0 , 2 π ] 2 by a point of the Lissajous curve.</p><p>When trying to α-densify [ 0 , 2 π ] 2 using the parametric curve Γ ( t ) , we choose the coefficient p such that:</p><p>α = π sin ( π p ) .</p><p>Generally, let a &gt; 0 and set a curve h that parametric equation is:</p><p>h : [ 0 , 2 π ] → [ − a , a ] &#215; [ − a , a ]                       t ↦ { h 1 ( t ) = a π Γ 1 ( t ) − a = a sin ( p t ) h 2 ( t ) = a π Γ 2 ( t ) − a = a sin ( q t )</p><p>Corollary 1. For α = a sin ( π p ) , any point in [ − a , a ] 2 can be approximated,</p><p>with a precision α , by at least one point of h .</p><p>∀ M ∈ [ − a , a ] 2 , there exists t ∈ [ 0 , 2 π ] such that d ( M , h ( t ) ) ≤ α .</p></sec><sec id="s3_2_2"><title>3.2.2. Multidimensional Case</title><p>&#252; In dimension two, we defined the Lissajous curve by:</p><p>Γ : [ 0 , 2 π ] → [ 0 , 2 π ] &#215; [ 0 , 2 π ]                       t ↦ { Γ 1 ( t ) = π sin ( p t ) + π Γ 2 ( t ) = π sin ( q t ) + π</p><p>with: p a given even number and q = p + 1 .</p><p>&#252; In dimension three, let’s consider ( x 1 , x 2 , x 3 ) ∈ [ 0 , 2 π ] 3 , We first link x 1 and x 2 as done in the bidimensional case: that means:</p><p>x 1 = Γ 1 ( t * ) and x 2 = Γ 2 ( t * )</p><p>with t * in [ 0 , 2 π ] , then we link t * and x 3 , similarly, by setting:</p><p>t * = Γ 1 ( t ) and x 3 = Γ 2 ( t )</p><p>with t in [ 0 , 2 π ] . This involves:</p><p>{ x 1 = Γ 1 ( t * ) = Γ 1 ( Γ 1 ( t ) ) x 2 = Γ 2 ( t * ) = Γ 2 ( Γ 1 ( t ) ) x 3 = Γ 2 ( t )</p><p>Hence, we obtain parametric curve H ( t ) = ( H 1 ( t ) , H 2 ( t ) , H 3 ( t ) ) defined by the following expression:</p><p>{ H 1 ( t ) = Γ 1 ∘ Γ 1 ( t ) H 2 ( t ) = Γ 2 ∘ Γ 1 ( t ) H 3 ( t ) = Γ 2 ( t )</p><p>with t ∈ [ 0 , 2 π ] .</p><p>&#252; We can generalize this process to n variables ( x 1 , x 2 , ⋯ , x n ) by linking two by two by the same manner. At the end of the process, we get the new variable t belonging to [ 0 , 2 π ] that all variables will be expressed by:</p><p>x i = H i ( t ) ,     i = 1 , ⋯ , n</p><p>where H i ( t ) are defined as follows:</p><p>{ H 1 ( t ) = Γ 1 n − 1 ( t ) = Γ 1 ∘ Γ 1 ∘ ⋯ ∘ Γ 1 ︸ n − 1   times ( t ) H i ( t ) = Γ 2 ∘ Γ 1 n − i ( t )     ∀ i = 2 , ⋯ , n</p><p>Then, let’s consider the parametric curve H defined by:</p><p>H : [ 0 , 2 π ] → [ 0 , 2 π ] n                 t ↦ ( H 1 ( t ) , H 2 ( t ) , ⋯ , H n ( t ) )</p><p>Theorem 3. Let α = π sin ( π p ) .</p><p>The parametric curve defined by H ( t ) = ( H 1 ( t ) , H 2 ( t ) , ⋯ , H n ( t ) ) such that:</p><p>{ H 1 ( t ) = Γ 1 n − 1 ( t ) H i ( t ) = Γ 2 ∘ Γ 1 n − i ( t )     ∀ i = 2 , ⋯ , n</p><p>for t ∈ [ 0 , 2 π ] is α-dense on [ 0 , 2 π ] n .</p><p>Proof. Let H ( t ) and H ( t + 2 π p ) two points of the curve H . As the function Γ 1 is 2 π p periodic, the ( n − 1 ) first coordinates of these two points are</p><p>equal. As proceeded in the second part of the proof of the previous theorem, we show that:</p><p>d ( H ( t ) , H ( t + 2 π p ) ) ≤ 2 π sin ( π p )</p><p>Therefore, any point M 0 ( x 1 , x 2 , ⋯ , x n ) can be framed between two points of the curve of type:</p><p>H ( t + 2 k π p ) and H ( t + 2 ( k + 1 ) π p ) where t ∈ [ 0 , 2 π ] .</p><p>Generally, let a &gt; 0 and set a curve h that parametric equation is:</p><p>h : [ 0 , 2 π ] → [ − a , a ] n                 t ↦ ( h 1 ( t ) , h 2 ( t ) , ⋯ , h n ( t ) )</p><p>{ h 1 ( t ) = a π Γ 1 n − 1 ( t ) − a h j ( t ) = a π Γ 2 ∘ Γ 1 n − j ( t ) − a       for   j = 2 , ⋯ , n</p><p>Corollary 2. For α = a sin ( π p ) , any point in [ − a , a ] n can be approximated,</p><p>with a precision α, by at least one point of the parametric curve given by h .</p><p>∀ M ∈ [ − a , a ] n , there exists t ∈ [ 0 , 2 π ] such that d ( M , h ( t ) ) ≤ α .</p></sec></sec></sec><sec id="s4"><title>4. Optimization of a Multivariate Holderian Function</title><p>Let f be a multivariate holderian function with constants of Holder are: k &gt; 0 and β &gt; 1 .</p><p>Let us consider the following multidimensional optimization problem:</p><p>( P n )     Min x ∈ [ − a , a ] n f ( x )</p><p>In fact, we don’t look for the exact value of the minimum value of f , we’d just want an approximating value of that minimum value with a given accuracy ε .</p><p>By means of an α-dense Lissajous curve on [ − a , a ] n , we convert the initial multidimensional problem ( P n ) into an unidimensional one as follows:</p><p>( P 1 )     Min t ∈ [ 0 , 2 π ] f * ( t )</p><p>where: f * = f ∘ h , the single variable function approximating the multivariate function f . (where ( h 1 , h 2 , ⋯ , h n ) defined above)</p><p>Proposition 2. If f is ( k , 1 β ) -holderian and h i = 1 , n is ( k ′ i , 1 β ′ ) -holderian, then f * = f ∘ h is holderian where the constant is “ k ( ∑ i = 1 n k ′ i 2 ) 1 2 β ” and the exponent is “ 1 β β ′ ”.</p><p>Proof. | f * ( x ) − f * ( y ) | = | f ∘ h ( x ) − f ∘ h ( y ) | = | f ( h ( x ) ) − f ( h ( y ) ) | ≤ k ‖ h ( x ) − h ( y ) ‖ 1 β ≤ k ( ∑ i = 1 n ( h i ( x ) − h i ( y ) ) 2 ) 1 β ≤ k ( ∑ i = 1 n ( k ′ i | x − y | 1 β ′ ) 2 ) 1 β ≤ k ( ∑ i = 1 n k ′ i 2 | x − y | 1 β ′ ) 1 β ≤ k ( ∑ i = 1 n   k ′ i 2 ) 1 2 β | x − y | 1 β β ′ ,       t ∈ [ 0 , 2 π ]</p><p>Let x o p t = arg min ( f ) and t o p t = arg min ( f * ) .</p><p>Theorem 4. If α = ( ε k ) β then | f ( x o p t ) − f * ( t o p t ) | ≤ ε .</p><p>Remark 1. The knowledge of the minimum of f * allows us to surround the minimum value of f in the interval [ f * ( t o p t ) − ε , f * ( t o p t ) + ε ] .</p><p>Proof. We set: x o p t = arg min x ∈ [ − a , a ] n f ( x )</p><p>As x o p t ∈ [ − a , a ] n , the α-density guarantees the existence of t * ∈ [ 0 , 2 π ] such that | x o p t − h ( t * ) | ≤ α</p><p>| f ( x o p t ) − f * ( t * ) | = | f ( x o p t ) − f ( h ( t * ) ) | ≤ k ‖ x o p t − h ( t * ) ‖ 1 β ≤ k α 1 β = ε</p><p>Hence, if we want to estimate the optimum with an accuracy ε , we just have</p><p>to take α = ( ε k ) β .</p><p>Suppose that there exists x 0 ∈ [ − a , a ] n such that:</p><p>f ( x 0 ) &lt; f * ( t o p t ) − ε</p><p>So that:</p><p>f ( x 0 ) + ε &lt; f * ( t o p t ) (*)</p><p>The α-density involves that there exists t 0 ∈ [ 0 , 2 π ] such that ‖ x 0 − h ( t 0 ) ‖ &lt; α</p><p>| f ( x 0 ) − f ( h ( t 0 ) ) | ≤ k ‖ x 0 − h ( t 0 ) ‖ 1 β ≤ ε</p><p>f ( x 0 ) − ε ≤ f ( h ( t 0 ) ) ≤ f ( x 0 ) + ε</p><p>Considering (*) involves:</p><p>f * ( t 0 ) = f ( h ( t 0 ) ) ≤ f ( x 0 ) + ε &lt; f * ( t o p t )</p><p>This is absurd.</p></sec><sec id="s5"><title>5. Numerical Tests (Figures 6-9)</title><p>1) f 1 ( x ) = 1 − x 2 ,   x ∈ [ − 0.25 , 0.5 ]</p><p>The holderian constants are = 2 , β = 2 . The accuracy is: ε = 10 − 5 .</p><p>The result is:</p><p>{ ⇛ x * = 0.5 ⇛ f 1 ( x * ) = 0.866 f 1 o p t ∈ [ f 1 ( x * ) − ε , f 1 ( x * ) ]</p><p>2) f 2 ( x ) = ∑ k = 1 5 k | sin ( ( 3 k + 1 ) x + k ) | | x − k | 1 5 ,   x ∈ [ 0 , 10 ]</p><p>k = 77 , β = 5 , ε = 0.003</p><p>{ ⇛ x * = 2.829917922 ⇛ x * = 2.829917922</p><p>3) f 3 ( x , y ) = | x + y − 0.25 | 2 3 − 3 cos ( x 2 ) ,   ( x , y ) ∈ [ − 1 2 , 1 2 ] 2</p><p>k = 2.42 , β = 3 2 , ε = 0.01</p><p>{ ⇛ x * = ( − 0.004 , 0.253 ) ⇛ f 3 ( x * ) = − 2.99 f 3 o p t ∈ [ f 3 ( x * ) − ε , f 3 ( x * ) ]</p><p>4) f 4 ( x , y ) = ∑ k = 1 3 1 k | cos ( ( 3 k + 1 ) ( x + 5 ) + 1 k ) | | x − y | 1 3 , ( x , y ) ∈ [ − 5 , 5 ] 2</p><p>k = 14.77 , β = 3 , ε = 0.1</p><p>{ ⇛ x * = ( − 4.499796 , − 4.500100 ) ⇛ f 4 ( x * ) = 0.067788</p><p>5) f 5 ( x , y ) = − cos x cos y exp ( 1 − x 2 + y 2 π ) ,   ( x , y ) ∈ [ − 6 , 6 ] 2</p><p>k = 45.265 , β = 1 2 , ε = 0.03</p><p>{ ⇛ x * = ( 0.023391875 , − 0.01321677 ) ⇛ f 5 ( x * ) = − 2.694161027</p><p>6) f 6 ( x 1 , x 2 , x 3 ) = 1 2 ∑ i = 1 3 ( x i 4 − 16 x i 2 + 5 x i ) ,   ( x 1 , x 2 , x 3 ) ∈ [ − 5 , 5 ] 3</p><p>k = 180 , β = 7 , ε = 0.02</p><p>{ ⇛ x * = ( − 2.899891 , − 3.000102 , − 2.923504 ) ⇛ f 6 ( x * ) = − 117.3248028</p><p>7) Let the following functions test. In [<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="scirp.76017-ref10">10</xref>] , RPS method was used to optimize them.</p><p>{ ∘ f 1 ( x 1 , x 2 ) = − 4 | sin ( x 1 ) cos ( x 2 ) exp ( | cos ( x 1 2 + x 2 2 200 ) | ) | ,   ( x 1 , x 2 ) ∈ [ − 10 , 10 ] 2 ∘ f 2 ( x 1 , x 2 ) = − | cos ( x 1 ) cos ( x 2 ) exp ( | 1 − ( x 1 2 + x 2 2 π ) | ) | ,   ( x 1 , x 2 ) ∈ [ − 10 , 10 ] 2 ∘ f 3 ( x 1 , x 2 ) = − exp ( − | cos ( x 1 ) cos ( x 2 ) exp ( | 1 − ( x 1 2 + x 2 2 π ) | ) | − 1 ) ,   ( x 1 , x 2 ) ∈ [ − 11 , 11 ] 2</p><p>In what follows, we compare our method with the RPS one (The Particle Swarm Method of Global Optimization)</p></sec><sec id="s6"><title>Cite this paper</title><p>Yahyaoui, A. and Ammar, H. (2017) Global Optimization of Multivariate Holderian Functions Using Overestimators. 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