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Finding the global minimum of a nonconvex function is one of the key and most difficult problems of the modern optimization. In this paper we consider special classes of nonconvex problems which have a clear and distinct global minimum.

In the first part of the paper we consider two classes of «good» nonconvex functions, which can be bounded below and above by a parabolic function. This class of problems has not been widely studied in the literature, although it is rather interesting from an applied point of view. Moreover, for such problems first-order and higher-order methods may be completely ineffective in finding a global minimum. This is due to the fact that the function may oscillate heavily or may be very noisy. Therefore, our new methods use only zero-order information and are based on grid search. The size and fineness of this grid, and hence the guarantee of convergence speed and oracle complexity, depend on the «goodness» of the problem. In particular, we show that if the function is bounded by fairly close parabolic functions, then the complexity is independent of the dimension of the problem. We show that our new methods converge with a linear convergence rate $\log(1/\varepsilon)$ to a global minimum on the cube.

In the second part of the paper, we consider the nonconvex optimization problem from a different angle. We assume that the target minimizing function is the sum of the convex quadratic problem and a nonconvex «noise» function proportional to the distance to the global solution. Considering functions with such noise assumptions for zero-order methods is new in the literature. For such a problem, we use the classical gradient-free approach with gradient approximation through finite differences. We show how the convergence analysis for our problems can be reduced to the standard analysis for convex optimization problems. In particular, we achieve a linear convergence rate for such problems as well.

Experimental results confirm the efficiency and practical applicability of all the obtained methods.

An important role in the construction of mathematical models of dynamic systems is played by inverse problems, which in particular include the problem of parametric identification. Unlike classical models that operate with point values, interval models give upper and lower boundaries on the quantities under study. The paper considers an interpolation approach to solving interval problems of parametric identification of dynamic systems for the case when experimental data are represented by external interval estimates. The purpose of the proposed approach is to find such an interval estimate of the model parameters, in which the external interval estimate of the solution of the direct modeling problem would contain experimental data or minimize the deviation from them. The approach is based on the adaptive interpolation algorithm for modeling dynamic systems with interval uncertainties, which makes it possible to explicitly obtain the dependence of phase variables on system parameters. The task of minimizing the distance between the experimental data and the model solution in the space of interval boundaries of the model parameters is formulated. An expression for the gradient of the objectivet function is obtained. On a representative set of tasks, the effectiveness of the proposed approach is demonstrated.

In the context of problems of hydrogen and thermonuclear power engineering intensive research of the hydrogen isotopes properties is being conducted. Mathematical models help to specify physical-chemical ideas about the interaction of hydrogen isotopes with structural materials, to discover the limiting factors. Classical diffusion models are often insufficient. The paper is devoted to the models and numerical solution of the boundary-value problems of hydrogen thermodesorption and permeability taking into account nonlinear sorption-desorption dynamics on the surface and reversible capture of hydrogen atoms in the bulk. Algorithms based on difference approximations. The results of computer simulation of the hydrogen flux from a structural material sample are presented.

Solution of Dynamic Light Scattering problem makes it possible to determine particle size distribution (PSD) from the spectrum of the intensity of scattered light. As a result of experiment, an intensity curve is obtained. The experimentally obtained spectrum of intensity is compared with the theoretically expected spectrum, which is the Lorentzian line. The main task is to determine on the basis of these data the relative concentrations of particles of each class presented in the solution. The article presents a method for constructing and using a neural network trained on synthetic data to determine PSD in a solution in the range of 1–500 nm. The neural network has a fully connected layer of 60 neurons with the RELU activation function at the output, a layer of 45 neurons and the same activation function, a dropout layer and 2 layers with 15 and 1 neurons (network output). The article describes how the network has been trained and tested on synthetic and experimental data. On the synthetic data, the standard deviation metric (rmse) gave a value of 1.3157 nm. Experimental data were obtained for particle sizes of 200 nm, 400 nm and a solution with representatives of both sizes. The results of the neural network and the classical linear methods are compared. The disadvantages of the classical methods are that it is difficult to determine the degree of regularization: too much regularization leads to the particle size distribution curves are much smoothed out, and weak regularization gives oscillating curves and low reliability of the results. The paper shows that the neural network gives a good prediction for particles with a large size. For small sizes, the prediction is worse, but the error quickly decreases as the particle size increases.

We consider one of the problems of transport modelling — searching the equilibrium distribution of traffic flows in the network. We use the classic Beckman’s model to describe time costs and flow distribution in the network represented by directed graph. Meanwhile agents’ behavior is not completely rational, what is described by the introduction of Markov logit dynamics: any driver selects a route randomly according to the Gibbs’ distribution taking into account current time costs on the edges of the graph. Thus, the problem is reduced to searching of the stationary distribution for this dynamics which is a stochastic Nash – Wardrope equilibrium in the corresponding population congestion game in the transport network. Since the game is potential, this problem is equivalent to the problem of minimization of some functional over flows distribution. The stochasticity is reflected in the appearance of the entropy regularization, in contrast to non-stochastic case. The dual problem is constructed to obtain a solution of the optimization problem. The universal primal-dual gradient method is applied. A major specificity of this method lies in an adaptive adjustment to the local smoothness of the problem, what is most important in case of the complex structure of the objective function and an inability to obtain a prior smoothness bound with acceptable accuracy. Such a situation occurs in the considered problem since the properties of the function strongly depend on the transport graph, on which we do not impose strong restrictions. The article describes the algorithm including the numerical differentiation for calculation of the objective function value and gradient. In addition, the paper represents a theoretical estimate of time complexity of the algorithm and the results of numerical experiments conducted on a small American town.

Mathematical models of gas dynamics and its computational industry, in our opinion, are far from perfect. We will look at this problem from the point of view of a clear probabilistic micro-model of a gas from hard spheres, relying on both the theory of random processes and the classical kinetic theory in terms of densities of distribution functions in phase space, namely, we will first construct a system of nonlinear stochastic differential equations (SDE), and then a generalized random and nonrandom integro-differential Boltzmann equation taking into account correlations and fluctuations. The key feature of the initial model is the random nature of the intensity of the jump measure and its dependence on the process itself.

Briefly recall the transition to increasingly coarse meso-macro approximations in accordance with a decrease in the dimensionalization parameter, the Knudsen number. We obtain stochastic and non-random equations, first in phase space (meso-model in terms of the Wiener — measure SDE and the Kolmogorov – Fokker – Planck equations), and then — in coordinate space (macro-equations that differ from the Navier – Stokes system of equations and quasi-gas dynamics systems). The main difference of this derivation is a more accurate averaging by velocity due to the analytical solution of stochastic differential equations with respect to the Wiener measure, in the form of which an intermediate meso-model in phase space is presented. This approach differs significantly from the traditional one, which uses not the random process itself, but its distribution function. The emphasis is placed on the transparency of assumptions during the transition from one level of detail to another, and not on numerical experiments, which contain additional approximation errors.

The theoretical power of the microscopic representation of macroscopic phenomena is also important as an ideological support for particle methods alternative to difference and finite element methods.

The paper contains numerical simulation of nonisothermal nonlinear flow in a porous medium. Twodimensional unsteady problem of heavy oil, water and steam flow is considered. Oil phase consists of two pseudocomponents: light and heavy fractions, which like the water component, can vaporize. Oil exhibits viscoplastic rheology, its filtration does not obey Darcy's classical linear law. Simulation considers not only the dependence of fluids density and viscosity on temperature, but also improvement of oil rheological properties with temperature increasing.

To solve this problem numerically we use streamline method with splitting by physical processes, which consists in separating the convective heat transfer directed along filtration from thermal conductivity and gravitation. The article proposes a new approach to streamline methods application, which allows correctly simulate nonlinear flow problems with temperature-dependent rheology. The core of this algorithm is to consider the integration process as a set of quasi-equilibrium states that are results of solving system on a global grid. Between these states system solved on a streamline grid. Usage of the streamline method allows not only to accelerate calculations, but also to obtain a physically reliable solution, since integration takes place on a grid that coincides with the fluid flow direction.

In addition to the streamline method, the paper presents an algorithm for nonsmooth coefficients accounting, which arise during simulation of viscoplastic oil flow. Applying this algorithm allows keeping sufficiently large time steps and does not change the physical structure of the solution.

Obtained results are compared with known analytical solutions, as well as with the results of commercial package simulation. The analysis of convergence tests on the number of streamlines, as well as on different streamlines grids, justifies the applicability of the proposed algorithm. In addition, the reduction of calculation time in comparison with traditional methods demonstrates practical significance of the approach.

This paper demonstrates the advantages of using artificial intelligence algorithms for the design of experiment theory, which makes possible to improve the accuracy of parameter identification for an elastostatic robot model. Design of experiment for a robot consists of the optimal configuration-external force pairs for the identification algorithms and can be described by several main stages. At the first stage, an elastostatic model of the robot is created, taking into account all possible mechanical compliances. The second stage selects the objective function, which can be represented by both classical optimality criteria and criteria defined by the desired application of the robot. At the third stage the optimal measurement configurations are found using numerical optimization. The fourth stage measures the position of the robot body in the obtained configurations under the influence of an external force. At the last, fifth stage, the elastostatic parameters of the manipulator are identified based on the measured data.

The objective function required to finding the optimal configurations for industrial robot calibration is constrained by mechanical limits both on the part of the possible angles of rotation of the robot’s joints and on the part of the possible applied forces. The solution of this multidimensional and constrained problem is not simple, therefore it is proposed to use approaches based on artificial intelligence. To find the minimum of the objective function, the following methods, also sometimes called heuristics, were used: genetic algorithms, particle swarm optimization, simulated annealing algorithm, etc. The obtained results were analyzed in terms of the time required to obtain the configurations, the optimal value, as well as the final accuracy after applying the calibration. The comparison showed the advantages of the considered optimization techniques based on artificial intelligence over the classical methods of finding the optimal value. The results of this work allow us to reduce the time spent on calibration and increase the positioning accuracy of the robot’s end-effector after calibration for contact operations with high loads, such as machining and incremental forming.

Metal hydrides are an interesting class of chemical compounds that can reversibly bind a large amount of hydrogen and are, therefore, of interest for energy applications. Understanding the factors affecting the kinetics of hydride formation and decomposition is especially important. Features of the material, experimental setup and conditions affect the mathematical description of the processes, which can undergo significant changes during the processing of experimental data. The article proposes a general approach to numerical modeling of the formation and decomposition of metal hydrides and solving inverse problems of estimating material parameters from measurement data. The models are divided into two classes: diffusive ones, that take into account the gradient of hydrogen concentration in the metal lattice, and models with fast diffusion. The former are more complex and take the form of non-classical boundary value problems of parabolic type. A rather general approach to the grid solution of such problems is described. The second ones are solved relatively simply, but can change greatly when model assumptions change. Our experience in processing experimental data shows that a flexible software tool is needed; a tool that allows, on the one hand, building models from standard blocks, freely changing them if necessary, and, on the other hand, avoiding the implementation of routine algorithms. It also should be adapted for high-performance systems of different paradigms. These conditions are satisfied by the HIMICOS library presented in the paper, which has been tested on a large number of experimental data. It allows simulating the kinetics of formation and decomposition of metal hydrides, as well as related tasks, at three levels of abstraction. At the low level, the user defines the interface procedures, such as calculating the time layer based on the previous layer or the entire history, calculating the observed value and the independent variable from the task variables, comparing the curve with the reference. Special algorithms can be used for solving quite general parabolic-type boundary value problems with free boundaries and with various quasilinear (i.e., linear with respect to the derivative only) boundary conditions, as well as calculating the distance between the curves in different metric spaces and with different normalization. This is the middle level of abstraction. At the high level, it is enough to choose a ready tested model for a particular material and modify it in relation to the experimental conditions.

In this paper we propose high-order (tensor) methods for two types of saddle point problems. Firstly, we consider the classic min-max saddle point problem. Secondly, we consider the search for a stationary point of the saddle point problem objective by its gradient norm minimization. Obviously, the stationary point does not always coincide with the optimal point. However, if we have a linear optimization problem with linear constraints, the algorithm for gradient norm minimization becomes useful. In this case we can reconstruct the solution of the optimization problem of a primal function from the solution of gradient norm minimization of dual function. In this paper we consider both types of problems with no constraints. Additionally, we assume that the objective function is $\mu$-strongly convex by the first argument, $\mu$-strongly concave by the second argument, and that the $p$-th derivative of the objective is Lipschitz-continous.

For min-max problems we propose two algorithms. Since we consider strongly convex a strongly concave problem, the first algorithm uses the existing tensor method for regular convex concave saddle point problems and accelerates it with the restarts technique. The complexity of such an algorithm is linear. If we additionally assume that our objective is first and second order Lipschitz, we can improve its performance even more. To do this, we can switch to another existing algorithm in its area of quadratic convergence. Thus, we get the second algorithm, which has a global linear convergence rate and a local quadratic convergence rate.

Finally, in convex optimization there exists a special methodology to solve gradient norm minimization problems by tensor methods. Its main idea is to use existing (near-)optimal algorithms inside a special framework. I want to emphasize that inside this framework we do not necessarily need the assumptions of strong convexity, because we can regularize the convex objective in a special way to make it strongly convex. In our article we transfer this framework on convex-concave objective functions and use it with our aforementioned algorithm with a global linear convergence and a local quadratic convergence rate.

Since the saddle point problem is a particular case of the monotone variation inequality problem, the proposed methods will also work in solving strongly monotone variational inequality problems.