Question about strong convexity












1












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I don't really know how to begin. I tried substituting $y$ for $x + h$ and taking the Taylor approx. of $f(x + h)$ around $f(x)$. The RHS becomes



$h^T nabla f(x) + phi(x)$



Where $phi$ is our remainder function. Since $f$ is only $C^1$ smooth, the remainder function isn't well conditioned and this is sorta where I hit a wall. My friends in similar classes recommended finding something to integrate, but I don't really know what.



Furthermore, this sorta fails some sanity checks. Like if you take a convex function and negate it, the result shouldn't be convex; however, negating a function doesn't affect whether it satisfies $|nabla f(y) - nabla f(x)|^2 geq l |f(y) - f(x)|$.



Any tips would be appreciated :)










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$endgroup$

















    1












    $begingroup$


    enter image description here



    I don't really know how to begin. I tried substituting $y$ for $x + h$ and taking the Taylor approx. of $f(x + h)$ around $f(x)$. The RHS becomes



    $h^T nabla f(x) + phi(x)$



    Where $phi$ is our remainder function. Since $f$ is only $C^1$ smooth, the remainder function isn't well conditioned and this is sorta where I hit a wall. My friends in similar classes recommended finding something to integrate, but I don't really know what.



    Furthermore, this sorta fails some sanity checks. Like if you take a convex function and negate it, the result shouldn't be convex; however, negating a function doesn't affect whether it satisfies $|nabla f(y) - nabla f(x)|^2 geq l |f(y) - f(x)|$.



    Any tips would be appreciated :)










    share|cite|improve this question









    $endgroup$















      1












      1








      1





      $begingroup$


      enter image description here



      I don't really know how to begin. I tried substituting $y$ for $x + h$ and taking the Taylor approx. of $f(x + h)$ around $f(x)$. The RHS becomes



      $h^T nabla f(x) + phi(x)$



      Where $phi$ is our remainder function. Since $f$ is only $C^1$ smooth, the remainder function isn't well conditioned and this is sorta where I hit a wall. My friends in similar classes recommended finding something to integrate, but I don't really know what.



      Furthermore, this sorta fails some sanity checks. Like if you take a convex function and negate it, the result shouldn't be convex; however, negating a function doesn't affect whether it satisfies $|nabla f(y) - nabla f(x)|^2 geq l |f(y) - f(x)|$.



      Any tips would be appreciated :)










      share|cite|improve this question









      $endgroup$




      enter image description here



      I don't really know how to begin. I tried substituting $y$ for $x + h$ and taking the Taylor approx. of $f(x + h)$ around $f(x)$. The RHS becomes



      $h^T nabla f(x) + phi(x)$



      Where $phi$ is our remainder function. Since $f$ is only $C^1$ smooth, the remainder function isn't well conditioned and this is sorta where I hit a wall. My friends in similar classes recommended finding something to integrate, but I don't really know what.



      Furthermore, this sorta fails some sanity checks. Like if you take a convex function and negate it, the result shouldn't be convex; however, negating a function doesn't affect whether it satisfies $|nabla f(y) - nabla f(x)|^2 geq l |f(y) - f(x)|$.



      Any tips would be appreciated :)







      real-analysis convex-analysis nonlinear-optimization






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      asked Dec 11 '18 at 2:09









      Louis CastricatoLouis Castricato

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          $begingroup$

          The claim as stated is false: $f=0$ is an obvious counter-example.
          And, as you already mentioned, if $f$ satisfies the inequality then also $-f$.



          In addition, every smooth function satisfying the inequality has to be a constant:



          If $f$ satisfies the inequality and $nabla f$ is Lipschitz, then necessarily $f$ is constant:
          $$
          |f(x+h)-f(x)|le l |nabla f(x+h)-nabla f(x)|^2 le l cdot L cdot |h|^2.
          $$

          Dividing by $|h|$ and letting $hto 0$ proves $nabla f(x)=0$.



          Hence, the claimed statement is not even wrong.



          Edit: Also every convex $C^1$ function satisfying the inequality is constant. I found a result of Rockafellar ('Second-order convex analysis', Journal of Nonlinear and Convex Analysis 1 (1999), 1-16, available at https://sites.math.washington.edu/~rtr/papers/rtr176-SecondOrderConvexAnalysis.pdf), which could be of use here:



          Let $f$ be $C^1$ and convex. Then for almost all $x$ the map $nabla f$ satisfies a Lipschitz estimate. Then all such functions $f$ satisfying the inequality above have $nabla f=0$ almost everywhere. Hence, almost all points in $mathbb R^n$ are global minimizers of $f$, so $f$ has to be constant.






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            1 Answer
            1






            active

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            active

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            active

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            3












            $begingroup$

            The claim as stated is false: $f=0$ is an obvious counter-example.
            And, as you already mentioned, if $f$ satisfies the inequality then also $-f$.



            In addition, every smooth function satisfying the inequality has to be a constant:



            If $f$ satisfies the inequality and $nabla f$ is Lipschitz, then necessarily $f$ is constant:
            $$
            |f(x+h)-f(x)|le l |nabla f(x+h)-nabla f(x)|^2 le l cdot L cdot |h|^2.
            $$

            Dividing by $|h|$ and letting $hto 0$ proves $nabla f(x)=0$.



            Hence, the claimed statement is not even wrong.



            Edit: Also every convex $C^1$ function satisfying the inequality is constant. I found a result of Rockafellar ('Second-order convex analysis', Journal of Nonlinear and Convex Analysis 1 (1999), 1-16, available at https://sites.math.washington.edu/~rtr/papers/rtr176-SecondOrderConvexAnalysis.pdf), which could be of use here:



            Let $f$ be $C^1$ and convex. Then for almost all $x$ the map $nabla f$ satisfies a Lipschitz estimate. Then all such functions $f$ satisfying the inequality above have $nabla f=0$ almost everywhere. Hence, almost all points in $mathbb R^n$ are global minimizers of $f$, so $f$ has to be constant.






            share|cite|improve this answer











            $endgroup$


















              3












              $begingroup$

              The claim as stated is false: $f=0$ is an obvious counter-example.
              And, as you already mentioned, if $f$ satisfies the inequality then also $-f$.



              In addition, every smooth function satisfying the inequality has to be a constant:



              If $f$ satisfies the inequality and $nabla f$ is Lipschitz, then necessarily $f$ is constant:
              $$
              |f(x+h)-f(x)|le l |nabla f(x+h)-nabla f(x)|^2 le l cdot L cdot |h|^2.
              $$

              Dividing by $|h|$ and letting $hto 0$ proves $nabla f(x)=0$.



              Hence, the claimed statement is not even wrong.



              Edit: Also every convex $C^1$ function satisfying the inequality is constant. I found a result of Rockafellar ('Second-order convex analysis', Journal of Nonlinear and Convex Analysis 1 (1999), 1-16, available at https://sites.math.washington.edu/~rtr/papers/rtr176-SecondOrderConvexAnalysis.pdf), which could be of use here:



              Let $f$ be $C^1$ and convex. Then for almost all $x$ the map $nabla f$ satisfies a Lipschitz estimate. Then all such functions $f$ satisfying the inequality above have $nabla f=0$ almost everywhere. Hence, almost all points in $mathbb R^n$ are global minimizers of $f$, so $f$ has to be constant.






              share|cite|improve this answer











              $endgroup$
















                3












                3








                3





                $begingroup$

                The claim as stated is false: $f=0$ is an obvious counter-example.
                And, as you already mentioned, if $f$ satisfies the inequality then also $-f$.



                In addition, every smooth function satisfying the inequality has to be a constant:



                If $f$ satisfies the inequality and $nabla f$ is Lipschitz, then necessarily $f$ is constant:
                $$
                |f(x+h)-f(x)|le l |nabla f(x+h)-nabla f(x)|^2 le l cdot L cdot |h|^2.
                $$

                Dividing by $|h|$ and letting $hto 0$ proves $nabla f(x)=0$.



                Hence, the claimed statement is not even wrong.



                Edit: Also every convex $C^1$ function satisfying the inequality is constant. I found a result of Rockafellar ('Second-order convex analysis', Journal of Nonlinear and Convex Analysis 1 (1999), 1-16, available at https://sites.math.washington.edu/~rtr/papers/rtr176-SecondOrderConvexAnalysis.pdf), which could be of use here:



                Let $f$ be $C^1$ and convex. Then for almost all $x$ the map $nabla f$ satisfies a Lipschitz estimate. Then all such functions $f$ satisfying the inequality above have $nabla f=0$ almost everywhere. Hence, almost all points in $mathbb R^n$ are global minimizers of $f$, so $f$ has to be constant.






                share|cite|improve this answer











                $endgroup$



                The claim as stated is false: $f=0$ is an obvious counter-example.
                And, as you already mentioned, if $f$ satisfies the inequality then also $-f$.



                In addition, every smooth function satisfying the inequality has to be a constant:



                If $f$ satisfies the inequality and $nabla f$ is Lipschitz, then necessarily $f$ is constant:
                $$
                |f(x+h)-f(x)|le l |nabla f(x+h)-nabla f(x)|^2 le l cdot L cdot |h|^2.
                $$

                Dividing by $|h|$ and letting $hto 0$ proves $nabla f(x)=0$.



                Hence, the claimed statement is not even wrong.



                Edit: Also every convex $C^1$ function satisfying the inequality is constant. I found a result of Rockafellar ('Second-order convex analysis', Journal of Nonlinear and Convex Analysis 1 (1999), 1-16, available at https://sites.math.washington.edu/~rtr/papers/rtr176-SecondOrderConvexAnalysis.pdf), which could be of use here:



                Let $f$ be $C^1$ and convex. Then for almost all $x$ the map $nabla f$ satisfies a Lipschitz estimate. Then all such functions $f$ satisfying the inequality above have $nabla f=0$ almost everywhere. Hence, almost all points in $mathbb R^n$ are global minimizers of $f$, so $f$ has to be constant.







                share|cite|improve this answer














                share|cite|improve this answer



                share|cite|improve this answer








                edited Dec 11 '18 at 8:46

























                answered Dec 11 '18 at 8:14









                dawdaw

                24.4k1645




                24.4k1645






























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