Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2023 / iii / Paper 339 / 2 / c

Use the sign conventionfor the Lagrangian function in constrained optimization. The Lagrangian dual problem iswhere $f^{\ast }$ 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 $u=(x,z)$ and $\tilde{u}=(y,s)$, 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 $F$ is a monotone operator.