At a point where is finite, this is an affine plane supporting the epigraph from below: for every . A nonzero coefficient of the vertical coordinate permits normalization to the displayed graph form. For a constrained value function, the slope is exactly an attained multiplier in the Strong Lagrangian property. When the value function is differentiable at an interior point of its finite domain, a supporting slope equals its gradient: apply the supporting inequality along both positive and negative multiples of each coordinate direction and take limits.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2001 iii Paper 31 2 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Choose the sign conventionThis is the optimization Lagrangian; equality-constraint Lagrange multipliers are unrestricted in sign. The Lagrangian sufficiency theorem for minimization says: if satisfies and globally minimizes on for some , then it globally minimizes the constrained objective function. Indeed, for every feasible ,This is a full global certificate, not merely stationarity. No convexity is needed for the implication, although convexity commonly supplies the required global optimization Lagrangian minimum.
Let , setting , and assume is finite. The Strong Lagrangian property at means that a finite multiplier attains the constrained value as an unconstrained lower bound:This includes dual attainment, but need not include primal attainment. A non-vertical supporting hyperplane of a value function at has a finite slope and supports the epigraph from below:If this inequality holds, then for every ,so . Conversely restricting the infimum to gives , even if the primal infimum is approached only by a sequence. Thus equality holds. In the reverse direction, the Strong optimization Lagrangian identity implies for every . Taking the infimum over yields the supporting inequality, with empty fibres causing no problem. This proves both implications without a convexity or attainment assumption beyond finite .
For the advertising calculation, measure the budget in thousands of pounds by . Requiring the full budget to be spent gives , with . Substitute to reduce the maximization problem toIts second derivative is , so the unique constrained maximum is obtained by clipping the stationary point:The upper constraint never clips the interior formula because for . The maximal revenue in thousands of pounds isEquivalently the revenue Hessian is , negative definite since its leading minor is negative and its determinant is seven. Thus the full-budget affine feasible set has a unique global maximum.
At the two requested budgets,The units in the middle columns are minutes; the last column is thousands of pounds. Revenue measured in pounds is , soAn additional advertising pound therefore increases optimized revenue locally by £2.50 at the smaller budget and £0.25 at the larger budget. These are marginal rates, not exact finite-difference increments: on the interior branch .
The maximization multiplier in equals on the interior branch. The sign is consistent with the minimization convention above applied to , whose supporting slope is . If spending is only capped by the budget, rather than required to equal it, these same answers apply at the two budgets. Beyond £11,000 the unconstrained maximum is affordable, so further allowed spending is unused and the capped-budget value is constant; forced full spending would instead lower revenue.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2010 iii Paper 35 1 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Suppose the non-vertical supporting hyperplane of a value function has slope . Every then satisfiesso . Taking the infimum gives . Conversely, feasible points approaching the infimum of have , so even if no primal minimizer exists. Thereforewhich is the Strong Lagrangian property.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2010 iii Paper 35 1 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
If the Strong Lagrangian property holds with multiplier , its infimum identity implies, for every ,For any feasible right-hand side , take the infimum over to obtainThe inequality also holds at infeasible , where , and it is equality at . Thus is the required non-vertical supporting hyperplane of a value function. This proves the converse and completes the equivalence. Neither implication requires that be a convex set.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2010 iii Paper 35 1 Solution 2026-10-14
Use the optimization Lagrangian with the sensitivity sign conventionFor equality constraints the Lagrange multipliers have unrestricted signs. The Lagrangian sufficiency theorem says that if and, for some , globally minimizes over , then globally minimizes subject to the constraint. Indeed every feasible satisfiesThis proves the theorem without a convexity or differentiability assumption. Merely finding a stationary point of the optimization Lagrangian would not establish its required global minimum.
Let , with value when the feasible set is empty, and suppose is finite. The problem has the Strong Lagrangian property if a finite multiplier satisfiesThis includes attainment of the dual bound by a multiplier. It does not by itself assert attainment of the primal infimum. For every multiplier, restricting the infimum to feasible gives , the relevant weak duality. A non-vertical supporting hyperplane of a value function is a planewith for every . Its vertical coefficient is nonzero and has been normalized to one; the epigraph lies above it. The two directions of the equivalence are proved in parts (a) and (b).
For the sampling allocation put . Finite variance requires every ; interpret the objective at a zero coordinate as . An optimum uses all the budget, because scaling every positive up would otherwise reduce the objective while remaining feasible. The Cauchy-Schwarz inequality gives the global boundEquality requires to be proportional to . The budget then determines the unique allocation:This is the optimal cost-constrained stratified sampling allocation.
For an inequality , our sign convention uses , so is a lower bound on at feasible points. Its coordinate stationary equations are , and the displayed allocation givesThe function has a strict global minimum at : its second derivative is and its value diverges at both endpoints of . Thus the multiplier also supplies the Lagrangian sufficiency theorem certificate, with the tight inequality giving complementary slackness.