Fenchel–Young inequality 2026-09-28
For a proper convex function and its convex conjugate ,Equality holds exactly when , or equivalently .
Moreau decomposition 2026-09-28
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2023 iii Paper 339 2 c Solution 2026-09-28
Use the sign conventionfor the Lagrangian function in constrained optimization. The Lagrangian dual problem iswhere is the convex conjugate. For this convex problem with affine equality constraints, the stationarity and feasibility parts of the Karush-Kuhn-Tucker conditions areThey say exactly that the displayed operator satisfiesThus its zeros are precisely the primal-dual optimal points, subject to the usual attainment assumptions.
For and , the Euclidean inner product givesThe last two terms cancel by the defining property of the matrix transpose, and the first is nonnegative by part a. Hence is a monotone operator.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2024 iii Paper 339 2 b Solution 2026-09-28
For a proper lower-semicontinuous convex function , its proximal operator isThe squared norm is strongly convex, so the minimizer is unique. The subdifferential sum rule gives the necessary and sufficient conditionMore generally,The subgradient inversion rule for the convex conjugate says exactly when . Hencewhich is precisely the proximal optimality conditionSince , this proves the generalized Moreau decomposition
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2024 iii Paper 339 2 c Solution 2026-09-28
The function is the support function . For a nonempty compact convex set,so its convex conjugate is the indicator function . Applying the Moreau decomposition,Multiplication of an indicator function by a positive scalar does not change it, and its proximal operator is the Euclidean projection onto a convex set. Therefore
Support function 2026-09-28
The support function of a nonempty set is . It is convex and positively homogeneous, and for a closed convex set its convex conjugate is the indicator function of .