Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2017 / ib / Paper 2 / 9H / a / Solution

For a vector equality constraint, take the Lagrangian function in constrained optimizationThe sign of the multiplier is a convention; equality multipliers are unrestricted. The Lagrange sufficiency theorem says that if $x^{\ast }\in X$ is feasible and, for some ${\lambda }^{\ast }$, globally minimizes $L(\cdot ,{\lambda }^{\ast })$ over $X$, then $x^{\ast }$ globally minimizes the constrained objective.

Indeed for any feasible $x$, $f(x)=L(x,{\lambda }^{\ast })\ge L(x^{\ast },{\lambda }^{\ast })=f(x^{\ast })$. Thus $\boxed{x^{\ast }\text{ is a global primal minimizer}}$. The theorem requires a global Lagrangian minimum, not merely a stationary point. It needs neither differentiability nor convexity when stated in this form; those hypotheses can be used separately to establish the required minimum.