Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg
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- Bilevel optimization (8)
- Optimal control (7)
- Gas networks (6)
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- Robust optimization (5)
- robust optimization (5)
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The optimal control problems for the wave equation are considered on networks. The turnpike property is shown for the state equation, the adjoint state equation as well as the optimal cost. The shape and topology optimization is performed for the network with the shape functional given by the optimality system of the control problem. The set of admissible shapes for the network is compact in finite dimensions, thus the use of turnpike property is straightforward. The topology optimization is analysed for an example of nucleation of a small cycle at the internal node of network. The topological derivative of the cost is introduced and evaluated in the framework of domain decomposition technique. Numerical examples are provided.
We consider the Euler equations for a pipeline flow of a mixture of two gases. An important application is hydrogen blending. Existence and uniqueness of semi-global solutions is shown and possible boundary conditions are analyzed.
Secondly, we consider classes of associated optimal control problems and show existence of solutions.
In the operation of pipeline networks, compressors play a crucial role in ensuring the network’s functionality for various scenarios. In this contribution we address the important question of finding the optimal location of the compressors. This problem is of a novel structure, since it is related
with the gas dynamics that governs the network flow. That results in non-convex mixed integer stochastic optimization problems with probabilistic constraints.
Using a steady state model for the gas flow in pipeline networks including compressor control and uncertain loads given by certain probability distributions, the problem of finding the optimal location for the
control on the network, s.t. the control cost is minimal and the gas pressure stays within given bounds, is considered.
In the deterministic setting, explicit bounds for the pipe length and the inlet pressure, s.t. a unique optimal compressor location with minimal control cost exists, are presented. In the probabilistic setting,
an existence result for the optimal compressor location is presented and the uniqueness of the solution is discussed depending on the probability distribution. For Gaussian distributed loads a uniqueness result
for the optimal compressor location is presented.
Further the problem of finding the optimal compressor locations on networks including the number of compressor stations as variable is considered. Results for the existence of optimal locations on a graph in
both, the deterministic and the probabilistic setting, are presented and the uniqueness of the solutions is discussed depending on probability distributions and graph topology. The paper concludes with an illustrative example demonstrating that the compressor locations determined using a steady state approach are also admissible in transient settings.
On the Convergence of Optimization Problems with Kernel Density Estimated Probabilistic Constraints
(2024)
Uncertainty plays a significant role in applied mathematics and probabilistic constraints are widely used to model uncertainty in various fields, even if probabilistic constraints often demand computational challenges. Kernel density estimation (KDE) provides a data-driven approach for properly estimating probability density functions and efficiently evaluate corresponding probabilities.
In this paper, we investigate optimization problems with probabilistic constraints, where the probabilities are approximated using a KDE approach. We establish sufficient conditions under which the solution of the KDE approximated optimization problem converges to the solution of the original problem as the sample size goes to infinity.
The main results of this paper include three theorems: (1) For sufficiently large sample sizes, the solution of the original problem is also a solution of the approximated problem, if the probabilistic constraint is passive; (2) The limit of a convergent sequence of solutions of the approximated problems is a solution of the original problem, if the KDE uniformly converges; (3) We provide sufficient conditions for the existence of a convergent sequence of solutions of the approximated problems.
An Observer for pipeline flow with hydrogen blending in gas networks: exponential synchronization
(2024)
We consider a state estimation problem for gas flows in pipeline networks where hydrogen is blended into the natural gas. The flow is modeled by the quasi-linear isothermal Euler equations coupled to an advection equation on a graph. The flow through the vertices where the pipes are connected is governed by algebraic node conditions. The state is approximated by an observer system that uses nodal measurements. We prove that the state of the observer system converges to the original system state exponentially fast in the L2-norm if the measurements are exact. If measurement errors are present we show that the observer state approximates the original system state up to an error that is proportional to the maximal measurement error. The proof of the synchronization result uses Lyapunov functions with exponential weights.
We propose a framework that allows to quantitatively analyze the interplay of the different agents involved in gas trade and transport in the context of the European entry-exit system. Previous contributions have focused on the case of perfectly competitive buyers and sellers of gas, which allows to replace the respective market equilibrium problem by a single welfare maximization problem. Our novel framework considers the mathematically more challenging case of a monopolistic and thus strategic gas seller. In this framework, the objective functions of the gas sellers and buyers cannot be aggregated into a common objective function, which is why a multilevel formulation is necessary to accurately capture the sequential nature of the decisions taken. For this setup, we derive sufficient conditions that allow for reformulating the challenging four-level model as a computationally tractable single-level reformulation. We prove the correctness of this reformulation and use it for solving several test instances to illustrate the applicability of our approach.
The dynamical, boundary optimal control problems
on networks are considered. The domain of definition for the distributed parameter system is given by a graph G. The optimal cost function for control problem is further optimized with respect to the shape and topology of the graph Ω. The small cycle is introduced and the topological derivative of the cost with respect to the size of the cycle is determined. In this way, the singular perturbations of the graph can be analyzed in order to change the topology Ω. The topological derivative method in shape and topology optimization is a new tool which can be used to minimize the shape functionals under the Partial Differential
Equations (PDEs) constraints. The topological derivative is used as well for solution of optimum design problems for graphs. In optimal control problems the topological derivative is used for
optimum design of the domain of integration of the state equation. As an example, optimal control problems are considered on a cross with a small cycle. The state equation is the wave equation
on the graph. The boundary control problem by Neumann
conditions at a boundary vertex is solved for a tracking cost function. The shape functional is given by the optimal value of the control cost. The topological derivative of the shape functional is determined for the steady state model with the size of a cycle ε → 0. Numerical results for a model problem are presented.
Optimal control problems usually involve constraints which model physical states and their possible transitions. These are represented by ordinary or partial differential equations (ODEs/PDEs) which add a component of infinite dimension to the problem. In recent literature, one method to simulate such ODEs/PDEs are physics-informed neural networks. Typically, neural networks are highly non-linear which makes their addition to optimization problems challenging. Hence, we leverage their often available Lipschitz property on a compact domain. The respective Lipschitz constants have to be computed only once and are accessible thereafter.
We present a method that, based on this property, iteratively adds cuts involving the violation of the constraints by the current incumbent and the Lipschitz constant. Hereby, the “shape” of a cut depends on the norm used. We prove the correctness of the method by showing that it either returns an optimal solution when terminating or creates a sequence with optimal accumulation points. This is complemented by a discussion about the termination in the infeasible case, as well as an analysis of the problem complexity. For the analysis, we show that the lower and upper iteration bound asymptotically coincide when the relative approximation error goes to zero. In the end, we visualize the method on a small example based on a two-dimensional non-convex optimization problem, as well as stress the necessity of having a globally optimal oracle for the sub-problems by another example.
In the transition to renewable energy sources, hydrogen will potentially play an important role for energy storage. The efficient transport of this gas is possible via pipelines. An understanding of the possibilities to control the gas flow in pipelines is one of the main building blocks towards the optimal use of gas.
For the operation of gas transport networks it is important to take into account the randomness of the consumers’ demand, where often information on the probability distribution is available.
Hence in an efficient optimal control model the corresponding probability should be included and the optimal control should be such that the state that is generated by the optimal control satisfies given state constraints with large probability. We comment on the modelling of gas pipeline flow and the problems of optimal nodal control with random demand, where the aim of the optimization is to determine controls that generate states that satisfy given pressure bounds with large probability. We include the H2 norm of the control as control cost, since this avoids large pressure fluctuations which are harmful in the transport of hydrogen since they can cause
embrittlement of the pipeline metal.
We analyse the turnpike properties for a general, infinite dimensional, linear-quadratic (LQ) optimal control problem, both in the deterministic and in the stochastic case.
The novelty of the paper is twofold. Firstly, it obtains positive turnpike results for
systems that are (partially) uncontrollable. Secondly, it provides turnpike results for averaged control associated to a family of problems that depend on a random parameter, which is the first turnpike type result in the averaged controllability framework.
In this paper we analyze the turnpike phenomenon for optimal boundary control problems with a linear transport equation with source term. The convex objective function depends on
the boundary traces of the transport equation and is strictly convex with respect to the boundary control. We show an integral turnpike result for an optimal Dirichlet boundary control problem in the sense that if the time horizon goes to infinity, then the dynamic optimal control converges to
the corresponding steady state optimal control.
The novelty of this work is two-sided. On the one hand, even if turnpike results for this kind of optimal boundary control problem already exist, we present a new direct proof without using adjoint calculus that leads to sharper estimates. On the other hand we consider uncertainty in
the initial data and/or in the source term. We show that the integral turnpike result also holds considering uncertainty. Throughout the paper we use numerical examples to illustrate the results.
We consider a state estimation problem for gas pipeline flow modeled by the one-dimensional barotropic Euler equations. In order to reconstruct the system state, we construct an observer system of Luenberger type based on distributed measurements of one state variable. First, we show the existence of Lipschitz-continuous semi-global solutions of the observer system and of the original system for initial and boundary data satisfying smallness and compatibility conditions for a single pipe and for general networks. Second, based on an extension of the relative energy method we prove that the state of the observer system converges exponentially in the long time limit towards the original system state. We show this for a single pipe and for star-shaped networks.
The economics of global green ammonia trade – "Shipping Australian wind and sunshine to Germany"
(2023)
This paper contributes to understanding the transformation of global energy trade to green energy carriers, focusing on green ammonia as the foreseeable first green hydrogen carrier. We provide a comprehensive overview of today's ammonia trade and assess scaling options for the trade of green ammonia. To that aim, we develop an optimization model for the integrated assessment of the green ammonia value chain that covers all steps from green ammonia production in an exporting country, up to delivery to a harbor in an importing country. The model endogenously chooses among different technology options and determines cost minimal operation. In a case study, we apply the model to the large-scale import of ammonia from Australia to Germany in a scenario for 2030. The results show that green ammonia can reach cost parity with gray ammonia even for moderate gas prices (but not necessarily with blue ammonia) if CO2 prices are high enough. We also provide a sensitivity analysis with respect to the interest rate and other key technical and economic parameters and show that cracking ammonia to provide pure hydrogen comes at a 45 % cost markup per MWh at the destination.
We consider dynamic gas transport optimization problems, which lead to large-scale and nonconvex mixed-integer nonlinear optimization problems (MINLPs) on graphs. Usually, the resulting instances are too challenging to be solved by state-of-the-art MINLP solvers. In this paper, we use graph decompositions to obtain multiple optimization problems on smaller blocks, which can be solved in parallel and which may result in simpler classes of optimization problems since not every block necessarily contains mixed-integer or nonlinear aspects. For achieving feasibility at the interfaces of the several blocks, we employ a tailored consensus-based penalty alternating direction method. Our numerical results show that such decomposition techniques can outperform the baseline approach of just solving the overall MINLP from scratch. However, a complete answer to the question of how to decompose MINLPs on graphs in dependence of the given model is still an open topic for future research.
We present a novel method for mixed-integer optimization problems with multivariate and Lipschitz continuous nonlinearities. In particular, we do not assume that the nonlinear constraints are explicitly given but that we can only evaluate them and that we know their global Lipschitz constants. The algorithm is a successive linear relaxation method in which we alternate between solving a master problem, which is a mixed-integer linear relaxation of the original problem, and a subproblem, which is designed to tighten the linear relaxation of the next master problem by using the Lipschitz information about the respective functions. By doing so, we follow the ideas of Schmidt et al. (2018, 2021) and improve the tackling of multivariate constraints. Although multivariate nonlinearities obviously increase modeling capabilities, their incorporation also significantly increases the computational burden of the proposed algorithm. We prove the correctness of our method and also derive a worst-case iteration bound. Finally, we show the generality of the addressed problem class and the proposed method by illustrating that both bilevel optimization problems with nonconvex and quadratic lower levels as well as nonlinear and mixed-integer models of gas transport can be tackled by our method. We provide the necessary theory for both applications and briefly illustrate the outcomes of the new method when applied to these two problems.
Stochastic Optimization (SO) is a classical approach for optimization under uncertainty that typically requires knowledge about the probability distribution of uncertain parameters. As the latter is often unknown, Distributionally Robust Optimization (DRO) provides a strong alternative that determines the best guaranteed solution over a set of distributions (ambiguity set). In this work, we present an approach for DRO over time that uses online learning and scenario observations arriving as a data stream to learn more about the uncertainty. Our robust solutions adapt over time and reduce the cost of protection with shrinking ambiguity. For various kinds of ambiguity sets, the robust solutions converge to the SO solution. Our algorithm achieves the optimization and learning goals without solving the DRO problem exactly at any step. We also provide a regret bound for the quality of the online strategy which converges at a rate of $ O(\log T / \sqrt{T})$, where $T$ is the number of iterations. Furthermore, we illustrate the effectiveness of our procedure by numerical experiments on mixed-integer optimization instances from popular benchmark libraries and give practical examples stemming from telecommunications and routing. Our algorithm is able to solve the DRO over time problem significantly faster than standard reformulations.
In many real-world mixed-integer optimisation problems from engineering, the side
constraints can be subdivided into two categories: constraints which describe a certain logic to model a feasible allocation of resources (such as a maximal number of available assets, working time requirements, maintenance requirements, contractual obligations, etc.),
and constraints which model physical processes and the related quantities (such as current,
pressure, temperature, etc.). While the first type of constraints can often easily be stated in
terms of a mixed-integer program (MIP), the second part may involve the incorporation of
complex non-linearities, partial differential equations or even a black-box simulation of the
involved physical process. In this work, we propose the integration of a trained tree-based
classifier – a decision-tree or a random forest, into a mixed-integer optimization model as a
possible remedy. We assume that the classifier has been trained on data points produced
by a detailed simulation of a given complex process to represent the functional relationship
between the involved physical quantities. We then derive MIP-representable reformulations
of the trained classifier such that the resulting model can be solved using state-of-the-art
solvers. At the hand of several use cases in terms of possible optimisation goals, we show
the broad applicability of our framework that is easily extendable to other tasks beyond
engineering. In a detailed real-world computational study for the design of stable direct-
current power networks, we demonstrate that our approach yields high-quality solutions
in reasonable computation times.
The European gas market is governed by rules that are agreed on by the European Union. We present a mathematical market model that
takes into account this structure, where the technical system operator (TSO)
offers certain transportation capacities that can be booked and later nominated within the previously chosen bookings. The TSO also fixes booking fees and defines an operational control of the gas pipeline system in order to deliver the gas according to the nominations. Since the gas
flow is governed by a system of partial differential equations, to realize this control structure partial differential equations (PDEs) should be involved in the model.
While the four level gas market model has been discussed previously, in this
paper we take into account the
flow model by PDEs in the discussion of the model and in the reduction to a single level problem, where we also state the corresponding necessary optimality conditions.
This paper studies the integral turnpike and turnpike in average for a class of random or- dinary differential equations. We prove that, under suitable assumptions on the matrices that define the system, the optimal solutions for an optimal distributed control tracking problem remain, in an averaged sense, sufficiently close to the associated random stationary optimal solution for the majority of the time horizon
We consider non-overlapping domain decomposition methods for ordinary and partial differential equations and corresponding optimal control problems on metric graphs. As an exemplary context, we chose a semilinear approximation of the Euler system and a doubly nonlinear parabolic model that has come to be known as friction dominated flow in gas pipe networks. By this choice, we encounter hyperbolic, parabolic and elliptic linear and nonlinear problems in a single highly motivating application. We depart from the classical domain decomposition methods described by P.L. Lions and J.L. Lions and O. Pironneau and extend those to problems on metric graphs. The choice of methods is determined by the desire to use a control concept that has come to be known as virtual controls which, in turn, possibly lead to a fully parallel decomposition of the corresponding optimality systems. In a second step, we extend the methods to p-Laplace problems on networks. The analysis, due to space limitations, will appear in a forthcoming publication. See however J.E. Lagnese and G. Leugering. Furthermore, we then describe methods for space and time domain decomposition or optimal control problems in the spirit of J.E. Lagnese and G. Leugering. We finally provide some comments on PINN-based approximations of the methods described before. We provide numerical evidence for all algorithms discussed.
We consider a non-overlapping domain decomposition method for an optimal control problem related to the flow of gas in a pipe network. The equations of motions are taken to be represented by a friction dominated model derived from a semi-linear approximation of the fully nonlinear isothermal Euler gas equations. This involves a p-Laplace-type problem on the graph with p = 3/2. We continue the work by Leugering and Mophou where such a problem has been discussed in the context of an instantaneous control strategy. We provide a non-overlapping domain decomposition in the spirit of P.L. Lions for elliptic problems and extend the method to the first order optimality system.
Robust DC Optimal Power Flow with Modeling of Solar Power Supply Uncertainty via R-Vine Copulas
(2021)
We present a robust approximation of joint chance constrained DC Optimal Power Flow in combination with a model-based prediction of uncertain power supply via R-vine copulas.
It is applied to optimize the discrete curtailment of solar feed-in in an electrical distribution network and guarantees network stability under fluctuating feed-in.
This is modeled by a two-stage mixed-integer stochastic optimization problem proposed by Aigner et al. (European Journal of Operational Research, (2021)).
The solution approach is based on the approximation of chance constraints via robust constraints using suitable uncertainty sets.
The resulting robust optimization problem has a known equivalent tractable reformulation.
To compute uncertainty sets that lead to an inner approximation of the stochastic problem, an R-vine copula model is fitted to the distribution of the multi-dimensional power forecast error, i.e., the difference between the forecasted solar power and the measured feed-in at several network nodes.
The uncertainty sets are determined by encompassing a sufficient number of samples drawn from the R-vine copula model.
Furthermore, an enhanced algorithm is proposed to fit R-vine copulas which can be used to draw conditional samples for given solar radiation forecasts.
The experimental results obtained for real-world weather and network data demonstrate the effectiveness of the combination of stochastic programming and model-based prediction of uncertainty via copulas.
We improve the outcomes of previous work by showing that the resulting uncertainty sets are much smaller and lead to less conservative solutions while maintaining the same probabilistic guarantees.
In this paper we discuss an approach to the stability analysis for classical
solutions of closed loop systems that is based upon the tracing of the evolution of the Riemann invariants along the characteristics. We consider a network where several edges are coupled through node conditions that govern the evolution of the Riemann invariants through the nodes of the network. The analysis of the decay of the Riemann invariants requires to follow backwards all the characteristics that enter such a node and contribute
to the evolution. This means that with each nodal reflection/crossing the number of characteristics that contribute to the evolution increases.
We show how for simple networks with a suffcient number of damping nodal controlers it is possible to keep track of this family of characteristics and use this approach to analyze the exponential stability of the system. The analysis is based on an adapted version of
Gronwall's lemma that allows us to take into account the possible increase of the Riemann invariants when the characteristic curves cross a node of the network.
Our example is motivated by applications in the control of gas pipeline flow, where the
graphs of the networks often contain many cycles.
Every optimization problem has a corresponding verification problem which verifies whether a given optimal solution is in fact optimal. In the literature there are a lot of such ways to verify optimality for a given solution, e.g., the branch-and-bound tree. To simplify this task, Baes et al. introduced optimality certificates for convex mixed-integer nonlinear programs and proved that these are bounded in the number of integer variables. We introduce an algorithm to compute the certificates and conduct computational experiments. Through the experiments we show that the optimality certificates can be surprisingly small.
In a recent article the so called continuous stochastic gradient method (CSG) for the efficient solution of a class of stochastic optimization problems was introduced. While the applicability of known stochastic gradient type methods is typically limited to so called expected risk functions, no such limitation exists for CSG. The key to this lies in the computation of design dependent integration weights, which allows for an optimal usage of available information leading to stronger convergence properties. However, due to the nature of the formula for these integration weights, the practical applicability was essentially limited to problems, in which stochasticity enters via a low-dimensional and suficiently simple probability distribution. In this paper the scope of the CSG method is significantly extended presenting new ways of calculating the integration weights. A full convergence analysis for this new variant of the CSG method is presented and its efficiency is demonstrated in comparison to more classical stochastic gradient methods by means of a number of problem classes, relevant in stochastic optimization and machine learning.
In this article, we explore the effects of memory terms in continuous-layer Deep Residual Networks by studying Neural ODEs (NODEs). We investigate two types of models. On one side, we consider the case of Residual Neural Networks with dependence on multiple layers, more precisely Momentum ResNets. On the other side, we analyse a Neural ODE with auxiliary states playing the role of memory states. We examine the interpolation and universal approximation properties for both architectures through a simultaneous control perspective. We also prove the ability of the second model to represent sophisticated maps, such as parametrizations of time-dependent functions. Numerical simulations complement our study.
In this paper we consider systems that are governed by linear time-discrete dynamics with an initial condition and a terminal condition for the expected values. We study optimal control problems where in the objective function a term of tracking type for the expected values and a control cost appear. In addition, the feasible states have to satisfy a conservative probabilistic constraint that requires that the probability that the trajectories remain in a given set F is greater than or equal to a given lower bound. An application are
optimal control problems related to storage management systems with uncertain in- and output. We give suffcient conditions that imply that the optimal expected trajectories remain close to a certain state that can be characterized as the solution of an optimal control problem without prescribed initial- and terminal condition. Hence we contribute to the study of the turnpike phenomenon that is well-known in mathematical economics.
This work studies robust gas network optimization under uncertainties in demand and in the physical parameters. The corresponding optimization problems are nonconvex in node pressures and flows along the pipes. They are thus very difficult to solve for realistic instance sizes. In recent approaches, an adaptive bundle method has been developed, where one solves the occurring adversarial problems via iteratively refined piecewise linear relaxations. These subproblems need to be solved always from scratch using mixed-integer linear programming (MIP). As alternative to the MIP solver, we employ here a nonsmooth optimization approach that allows a warm start strategy such that it can profit from the results obtained for coarser relaxations. We evaluate the approach for realistic gas network topologies and outline possibilities for future research.
Inspired by the successes of stochastic algorithms in the training of deep neural networks and the simulation of interacting particle systems, we propose and analyze a framework for randomized time-splitting in linear-quadratic optimal control. In our proposed framework, the linear dynamics of the original problem is replaced by a randomized dynamics. To obtain the randomized dynamics, the system matrix is split into simpler submatrices and the time interval of interest is split into subintervals. The randomized dynamics is then found by selecting randomly one or more submatrices in each subinterval.
We show that the dynamics, the minimal values of the cost functional, and the optimal control obtained with the proposed randomized time-splitting method converge in expectation to their analogues in the original problem when the time grid is refined. The derived convergence rates are validated in several numerical experiments. Our numerical results also indicate that the proposed method can lead to a reduction in computational cost for the simulation and optimal control of large-scale linear dynamical systems.
This note is an extended abstract for a talk given by the second author during the workshop ”Challenges in Optimization with Complex PDE-Systems”, at Oberwolfach, in February 2021.
It is superfluous to state the impact that deep learning has had on modern technology, as it powers many tools of modern society, ranging from web search to content filtering on social networks. A key paradigm of deep learning is that of supervised learning, which may be seen as a compound and high-dimensional simultaneous control problem. This is the viewpoint adopted by our group. And here we present some of our main findings.
In this work, we address the local controllability of a one-dimensional free boundary problem for a fluid governed by the viscous Burgers equation. The free boundary manifests itself as one moving end of the interval, and its evolution is given by the value of the fluid velocity at this endpoint. We prove that, by means of a control actuating along the fixed boundary, we may steer the fluid to constant velocity in addition to prescribing the free boundary’s position, provided the initial velocities and interface positions are close enough.
In this work, we analyze the consequences that the so-called turnpike property has on the long-time behavior of the value function corresponding to a finite-dimensional linear-quadratic optimal control problem with general terminal cost and constrained controls.
We prove that, when the time horizon TTT tends to infinity, the value function asymptotically behaves as W(x)+c T+λW(x) + c\, T + \lambda W(x)+cT+λ, and we provide a control interpretation of each of these three terms, making clear the link with the turnpike property.
As a by-product, we obtain the long-time behavior of the solution to the associated Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman equation in a case where the Hamiltonian is not coercive in the momentum variable. As a result of independent interest, we provide a new turnpike result for the linear-quadratic optimal control problem with constrained control. As a main feature, our turnpike result applies to the case when the steady optimum may saturate the control constraints. This prevented us from proving the turnpike property with an exponential rate, which is well-known to hold for the unconstrained case.
We consider the controllability problem for finite-dimensional linear autonomous control systems with nonnegative controls. Despite the Kalman condition, the unilateral nonnegativity control constraint may cause a positive minimal controllability time. When this happens, we prove that, if the matrix of the system has a real eigenvalue, then there is a minimal time control in the space of Radon measures, which consists of a finite sum of Dirac impulses. When all eigenvalues are real, this control is unique and the number of impulses is less than half the dimension of the space. We also focus on the control system corresponding to a finite-difference spatial discretization of the one-dimensional heat equation with Dirichlet boundary controls, and we provide numerical simulations.
The aim of this work is to give a broad panorama of the control properties of fractional diffusive models from a numerical analysis and simulation perspective. We do this by surveying several research results we obtained in the last years, focusing in particular on the numerical computation of controls, though not forgetting to recall other relevant contributions which can be currently found in the literature of this prolific field. Our reference model will be a non-local diffusive dynamics driven by the fractional Laplacian on a bounded domain ΩΩΩ. The starting point of our analysis will be a Finite Element approximation for the associated elliptic model in one and two space-dimensions, for which we also present error estimates and convergence rates in the L2L^2L2 and energy norm. Secondly, we will address two specific control scenarios: firstly, we consider the standard interior control problem, in which the control is acting from a small subset ω⊂Ωω ⊂ Ωω⊂Ω. Secondly, we move our attention to the exterior control problem, in which the control region O⊂ΩcO ⊂ Ω cO⊂Ωc is located outside ΩΩΩ. This exterior control notion extends boundary control to the fractional framework, in which the non-local nature of the models does not allow for controls supported on ∂Ω∂Ω∂Ω. We will conclude by discussing the interesting problem of simultaneous control, in which we consider families of parameter-dependent fractional heat equations and we aim at designing a unique control function capable of steering all the different realizations of the model to the same target configuration. In this framework, we will see how the employment of stochastic optimization techniques may help in alleviating the computational burden for the approximation of simultaneous controls. Our discussion is complemented by several open problems related with fractional models which are currently unsolved and may be of interest for future investigation.
The concept of turnpike connects the solution of long but finite time horizon optimal control problems with steady state optimal controls. A key ingredient of the analysis of turnpike phenomena is the linear quadratic regulator problem and the convergence of the solution of the associated differential Riccati equation as the terminal time approaches infinity. This convergence has been investigated in linear systems theory in the 1980s. We extend classical system theoretic results for the investigation of turnpike properties of standard state space systems and descriptor systems. We present conditions for turnpike phenomena in the non detectable case and for impulse controllable descriptor systems. For the latter, in line with the theory for standard linear systems,we establish existence and convergence of solutions to a generalized differential Riccati equation.
In this paper, by using the Brunovsky normal form, we provide a reformulation of the problem consisting in finding the actuator design which minimizes the controllability cost for finite-dimensional linear systems with scalar controls. Such systems may be seen as spatially discretized linear partial differential equations with lumped controls. The change of coordinates induced by Brunovsky’s normal form allows us to remove the restriction of having to work with diagonalizable system dynamics, and does not entail a randomization procedure as done in past literature on diffusion equations or waves. Instead, the optimization problem reduces to a minimization of the norm of the inverse of a change of basis matrix, and allows for an easy deduction of existence of solutions, and for a clearer picture of some of the problem’s intrinsic symmetries. Numerical experiments help to visualize these artifacts, indicate further open problems, and also show a possible obstruction of using gradient-based algorithms – this is alleviated by using an evolutionary algorithm.
We discuss the multilevel control problem for linear dynamical systems, consisting in designing a piece-wise constant control function taking values in a finite-dimensional set. In particular, we provide a complete characterization of multilevel controls through a duality approach, based on the minimization of a suitable cost functional. In this manner we build optimal multi-level controls and characterize the time needed for a given ensemble of levels to assure the controllability of the system. Moreover, this method leads to efficient numerical algorithms for computing multilevel controls.
We model, simulate and control the guiding problem for a herd of evaders under the action of repulsive drivers. The problem is formulated in an optimal control framework, where the drivers (controls) aim to guide the evaders (states) to a desired region of the Euclidean space.
The numerical simulation of such models quickly becomes unfeasible for a large number of interacting agents. To reduce the computational cost, we use the Random Batch Method (RBM), which provides a computationally feasible approximation of the dynamics. At each time step, the RBM randomly divides the set of particles into small subsets (batches), considering only the interactions inside each batch. Due to the averaging effect, the RBM approximation converges to the exact dynamics as the time discretization gets finer. We propose an algorithm that leads to the optimal control of a fixed RBM approximated trajectory using a classical gradient descent. The resulting control is not optimal for the original complete system, but rather for the reduced RBM model. We then adopt a Model Predictive Control (MPC) strategy to handle the error in the dynamics. While the system evolves in time, the MPC strategy consists in periodically updating the state and computing the optimal control over a long-time horizon, which is implemented recursively in a shorter time-horizon. This leads to a semi-feedback control strategy. Through numerical experiments we show that the combination of RBM and MPC leads to a significant reduction of the computational cost, preserving the capacity of controlling the overall dynamics.
This paper deals with the averaged dynamics for heat equations in the degenerate case where the diffusivity coefficient, assumed to be constant, is allowed to take the null value. First we prove that the averaged dynamics is analytic. This allows to show that, most often, the averaged dynamics enjoys the property of unique continuation and is approximately controllable. We then determine if the averaged dynamics is actually null controllable or not depending on how the density of averaging behaves when the diffusivity vanishes. In the critical density threshold the dynamics of the average is similar to the \frac{1}{2}-fractional Laplacian, which is wellknown to be critical in the context of the controllability of fractional diffusion processes. Null controllability then fails (resp. holds) when the density weights more (resp. less) in the null diffusivity regime than in this critical regime.
We build up a decomposition for the flow generated by the heat equation with a real analytic memory kernel. It
consists of three components: The first one is of parabolic nature; the second one gathers the hyperbolic component
of the dynamics, with null velocity of propagation; the last one exhibits a finite smoothing effect. This decomposition reveals the hybrid parabolic-hyperbolic nature of the flow and clearly illustrates the significant impact of the memory term on the parabolic behavior of the system in the absence of memory terms.
This paper is devoted to analysing the explicit slow decay rate and turnpike in the infinite-horizon linear quadratic optimal control problems for hyperbolic systems. Assume that some weak observability or controllability are satisfied, by which, the lower and upper bounds of the corresponding algebraic Riccati operator are estimated, respectively. Then based on these two bounds, the explicit slow decay rate of the closed-loop system with Riccati-based optimal feedback control is obtained. The averaged turnpike property for this problem is also further discussed.
We then apply these results to the LQ optimal control problems constraint to networks of onedimensional wave equations and also some multi-dimensional ones with local controls which lack of GCC (Geometric Control Condition).
We analyze Neural Ordinary Differential Equations (NODEs) from a control theoretical perspective to address some of the main properties and paradigms of Deep Learning (DL), in particular, data classification and universal approximation. These objectives are tackled and achieved from the perspective of the simultaneous control of systems of NODEs. For instance, in the context of classification, each item to be classified corresponds to a different initial datum for the control problem of the NODE, to be classified, all of them by the same common control, to the location (a subdomain of the euclidean space) associated to each label. Our proofs are genuinely nonlinear and constructive, allowing us to estimate the complexity of the control strategies we develop. The nonlinear nature of the activation functions governing the dynamics of NODEs under consideration plays a key role in our proofs, since it allows deforming half of the phase space while the other half remains invariant, a property that classical models in mechanics do not fulfill. This very property allows to build elementary controls inducing specific dynamics and transformations whose concatenation, along with properly chosen hyperplanes, allows achieving our goals in finitely many steps. The nonlinearity of the dynamics is assumed to be Lipschitz. Therefore, our results apply also in the particular case of the ReLU activation function. We also present the counterparts in the context of the control of neural transport equations, establishing a link between optimal transport and deep neural networks.
We introduce and study the turnpike property for time-varying shapes, within the viewpoint of optimal control. We focus here on second-order linear parabolic equations where the shape acts as a source term and we seek the optimal time-varying shape that minimizes a quadratic criterion. We first establish existence of optimal solutions under some appropriate sufficient conditions. We then provide necessary conditions for optimality in terms of adjoint equations and, using the concept of strict dissipativity, we prove that state and adjoint satisfy the measure-turnpike property, meaning that the extremal time-varying solution remains essentially close to the optimal solution of an associated static problem. We show that the optimal shape enjoys the exponential turnpike property in term of Hausdorff distance for a Mayer quadratic cost. We illustrate the turnpike phenomenon in optimal shape design with several numerical simulations.
Space-time-domain decomposition for optimal control problems governed by linear hyperbolic systems
(2021)
In this article, we combine a domain decomposition method in space and time for optimal control problems with PDE-constraints described by Lagnese and Leugering to a simultaneous space-time decomposition applied to optimal control problems for systems of linear hyperbolic equations with distributed control. We thereby extend the recent work by Krug et al. and answer a long standing open question as to whether the combination of time- and space domain decomposition for the method under consideration can be put into one single convergent iteration procedure. The algorithm is designed for a semi-elliptic system of equations obtained from the hyperbolic optimality system by the way of reduction to the adjoint state. The focus is on the relation to the classical procedure introduced by Lions for elliptic problems.
It is well-known that vibrating strings can be steered to a position of rest in finite time by suitably defined boundary control functions, if the time horizon is suffciently long. In optimal control problems, the desired terminal state is often
enforced by terminal conditions, that add an additional diffculty to the optimal control problem. In this paper we present an optimal control problem for the wave equation with a time-dependent weight in the objective function such that for a suffciently long time horizon, the optimal state reaches a position of rest in finite time without prescribing a terminal constraint. This situation can be seen as a realization of the finite-time turnpike phenomenon that has been studied recently in [1].
Pareto efficiency for robust linear programs was introduced by
Iancu and Trichakis in [9]. We generalize their approach and theoretical results
to robust optimization problems in Euclidean spaces with linear uncertainty.
Additionally, we demonstrate the value of this approach in an exemplary
manner in the area of robust semidefinite programming (SDP). In particular,
we prove that computing a Pareto robustly optimal solution for a robust SDP
is tractable and illustrate the benefit of such solutions at the example of the
maximal eigenvalue problem. Furthermore, we modify the famous algorithm of
Goemans and Williamson [8] in order to compute cuts for the robust max cut
problem that yield an improved approximation guarantee in non-worst-case
scenarios.
The operation of gas pipeline flow with high pressure and small Mach numbers allows to model the flow by a semilinear hyperbolic system of partial differential equations. In this paper we present a number of transient and stationary analytical solutions of this model. They are used to discuss and clarify why a pde model is necessary to handle certain dynamic situations in the operation of gas transportation networks. We show that adequate numerical discretizations can capture the dynamical behavior sufficiently accurate. We also present examples that show that in certain cases an optimization approach that is based upon multi-period optimization of steady states does not lead to approximations that converge to the optimal state.
We consider equilibrium problems under uncertainty where firms
maximize their profits in a robust way when selling their output. Robust
optimization plays an increasingly important role when best guaranteed objective
values are to be determined, independently of the specific distributional
assumptions regarding uncertainty. In particular, solutions are to be determined
that are feasible regardless of how the uncertainty manifests itself within
some predefined uncertainty set. Our analysis adopts the robust optimization
perspective in the context of equilibrium problems. First, we consider a singlestage,
nonadjustable robust setting. We then go one step further and study the
more complex two-stage or adjustable case where a part of the variables can
adjust to the realization of the uncertainty. We compare equilibrium outcomes
with the corresponding centralized robust optimization problem where the
sum of all profits are maximized. As we find, the market equilibrium for
the perfectly competitive firms differs from the solution of the robust central
planner, which is in stark contrast to classical results regarding the efficiency of
market equilibria with perfectly competitive firms. For the different scenarios
considered, we furthermore are able to determine the resulting price of anarchy.
In the case of non-adjustable robustness, for fixed demand in every time step
the price of anarchy is bounded whereas it is unbounded if the buyers are
modeled by elastic demand functions. For the two-stage adjustable setting,
we show how to compute subsidies for the firms that lead to robust welfare
optimal equilibria.
Space-Time-Domain Decomposition for Optimal Control Problems Governed by Linear Hyperbolic Systems
(2021)
In this article, we combine a domain decomposition method in space and time for optimal control problems with PDE-constraints described by Lagnese and Leugering to a simultaneous space-time decomposition applied to optimal control problems for systems of linear hyperbolic equations with distributed control. We thereby extend the recent work by Krug et al. and answer a long standing open question as to whether the combination of time- and space domain decomposition for the method under consideration can be put into one single convergent iteration procedure. The algorithm is designed for a semi-elliptic system of equations obtained from the hyperbolic optimality system by the way of reduction to the adjoint state. The focus is on the relation to the classical procedure introduced by Lions for elliptic problems.
This chapter provides an exemplary road map—in a nutshell—from a given industrial application, the control of gas networks, which is far too complex for a direct approach, to a problem that can be actually handled using well-known methods in control theory. It also provides an iterative non-overlapping domain decomposition that can be interpreted as an Uzawa method. The chapter outline two strategies. The first one can be seen as a Jacobi-type approach. In the second approach, fix the integer controls s and decompose the corresponding optimality system for the entire graph into the subgraphs Gk by a another, but very similar, non-overlapping domain decomposition. The problem is the intrinsic coupling of integer controls, continuous controls, and nonlinear dynamics on a metric graph. The idea is to introduce a virtual control that aims at controlling classical in homogeneous Neumann condition including the iteration history at the interface as inhomogeneity to the Robin-type condition that appears in the decomposition.