Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-continuous-optimisation-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2025/1/b/solution

Write and . Part (a) gives just to the right of zero. If is a lower bound for , then
because . By continuity, there is a first positive zero of , and on . Apply the mean value theorem to on this interval: for some ,
At this same , supplies the Armijo condition. Thus satisfies both weak Wolfe conditions. The boundedness assumption prevents the objective function from following its initial negative slope forever; this is the mechanism behind Existence of a Wolfe step.

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