Subgradient 2026-09-24
A subgradient of a convex function at is a vector such that for every in the domain.
Subgradient method 2026-09-28
The subgradient method minimizes a possibly nonsmooth convex function by choosing and iterating
If the subgradients are bounded by and a minimizer is within distance of , a suitable constant or diminishing step size finds objective error at most in iterations.
A continuous function on an open interval with positive symmetric derivative everywhere is strictly increasing. One proof takes an antiderivative using the fundamental theorem of calculus. For small positive , the identity
follows from . If exceeded a chord, its difference from the chord would attain a positive interior maximum, contradicting this symmetric difference inequality. Thus is a convex function, and its derivative is nondecreasing. Equality at two different points would make constant between them and force an interior symmetric derivative to vanish, proving strict monotonicity.
Trapezoidal rule Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
As a quadrature rule, the trapezoidal rule replaces an integrand by the linear interpolation joining its two endpoint values:
For nonnegative endpoint values, this is the area of a trapezoid; in general it is a signed area. The quadrature nodes are , each with quadrature weight . Unlike the midpoint quadrature rule, it uses endpoint samples, which can be reused between adjacent panels.
Every affine function agrees with its linear interpolation, so the trapezoidal rule integrates it exactly. On , gives . On , the polynomial instead gives , exceeding by . Its degree of precision of a quadrature rule is exactly one.
If , its signed approximation error satisfies
A convex function lies below its endpoint chord, so the trapezoidal rule overestimates its integral; a concave function gives the reverse inequality. The error formula assumes that the second derivative exists and is a continuous function throughout the closed interval.[ref] A short derivation is the identity
obtained by two integrations by parts. The nonnegative Peano kernel has integral , and the weighted mean value theorem for integrals gives the formula.
This time-stepping use applies the same trapezoidal rule to the integral of the derivative in an ordinary differential equation. That connection explains its place under implicit Runge-Kutta methods; its quadrature behavior and the nonlinear issue in trapezoidal rule fails B-stability concern different uses of the same endpoint averaging.
Uniformly convex scalar flux Created 2026-10-06 Updated 2026-10-14
In the common PDE convention, a uniformly convex scalar flux is a flux satisfying throughout the specified state interval, with one constant . Equivalently, is a convex function. This guarantees strict inequality below nontrivial chords and strict ordering of the two endpoint derivatives around the chord slope. On the whole real line it is incompatible with a globally bounded first derivative.
Utility conjugate 2026-10-07
For an increasing concave utility on positive wealth, its utility conjugate uses the indicated supremum and is a convex function of the positive price variable. If on positive , extended by infinity elsewhere, then . Under the Inada conditions its optimizer is the inverse marginal utility, and its derivative is the negative of that optimizer. The sign convention is part of the definition.
Variational inequality 2026-10-07
For a feasible set and a vector field , a variational inequality asks for satisfying the displayed inequality for every feasible . If is convex and is the gradient of a differentiable convex function, it is the necessary and sufficient first-order condition for minimizing that function. It also describes Wardrop equilibria when no scalar objective has the route-cost vector as its gradient.
This excess measures the height of the slope-dependent integrand above its tangent line at the reference slope , evaluated at a trial slope . A convex function of slope has nonnegative excess. At a smooth strong local minimizer, localized needle variations force nonnegative excess along the minimizing curve for every trial slope. It detects fast-gradient competitors that the second variation around a fixed derivative can miss.