We study the optimal control of a rate-independent system that is driven by a convex quadratic energy. Since the associated solution mapping is non-smooth, the analysis of such control problems is challenging. In order to derive optimality conditions, we study the regularization of the problem via a smoothing of the dissipation potential and via the addition of some viscosity. The resulting regularized optimal control problem is analyzed. By driving the regularization parameter to zero, we obtain a necessary optimality condition for the original, non-smooth problem.
In this article we study the regularization of optimization problems by Tikhonov regularization. The optimization problems are subject to pointwise inequality constraints in L²(Ω). We derive a-priori regularization error estimates if the regularization parameter as well as the noise
level tend to zero. We rely on an assumption that is a combination of a source condition and of a structural assumption on the active sets. Moreover, we introduce a strategy to choose the regularization parameter in dependence of the noise level. We prove convergence of this parameter choice rule with optimal order.
Optimization problems with convex but non-smooth cost functional subject to an elliptic partial differential equation are considered. The non-smoothness arises from a L1-norm in the objective functional. The problem is regularized to permit the use of the semi-smooth Newton method. Error estimates with respect to the regularization parameter are provided. Moreover, finite element approximations are studied. A-priori as well as a-posteriori error estimates are developed and confirmed by numerical experiments.
We consider the optimal control of a differential equation that involves the suprema of the state over some part of the history. In many applications, this non-smooth functional dependence is crucial for the successful modeling of real-world phenomena. We prove the existence of solutions and show that related problems may not possess optimal controls. Due to the non-smoothness in the state equation, we cannot obtain optimality conditions via standard theory. Therefore, we regularize the problem via a LogIntExp functional which generalizes the well-known LogSumExp. By passing to the limit with the regularization, we obtain an optimality system for the original problem. The theory is illustrated by some numerical experiments.
In this short note, we address the discretization of optimal control problems with higher order polynomials. We develop a necessary and sufficient condition to ensure that weak limits of discrete feasible controls are feasible for the original problem. We show by means of a simple counterexample that a naive discretization by higher order polynomials can lead to non-feasible limits of sequences of discrete solutions.
We study no-gap second-order optimality conditions for a non-uniformly
convex and non-smooth integral functional. The integral functional is extended to the space of measures. The obtained second-order derivatives contain integrals on lower-dimensional manifolds. The proofs utilize the convex pre-conjugate, which is an integral functional on the space of continuous functions. Application to non-smooth optimal control problems are given.
We provide sufficient optimality conditions for optimal control problems with bang-bang controls. Building on a structural assumption on the adjoint state, we additionally need a weak second-order condition. This second-order condition is formulated with functions from an extended critical cone, and it is equivalent to a formulation posed on measures supported on the set where the adjoint state vanishes. If our sufficient optimality condition is satisfied, we obtain a local quadratic growth condition in $L^1(\Omega)$.
We consider bilinear optimal control problems whose objective functionals do not depend on the controls. Hence, bang-bang solutions will appear. We investigate sufficient second-order conditions for bang-bang controls, which guarantee local quadratic growth of the objective functional in $L^1$. In addition, we prove that for controls that are not bang-bang, no such growth can be expected. Finally, we study the finite-element discretization and prove error estimates of bang-bang controls in $L^1$-norms.