An optimal dual variable bounds the effect of perturbing a convex value function:
If is finite convex near zero, . A singleton subdifferential gives differentiability and a first-order expansion. For an upper-bound constraint relaxed by , the derivative equals the negative of the nonnegative Lagrange multiplier; relaxing the bound can decrease the minimum value.
Set-valued analysis 2026-10-06
Set-valued analysis studies relations whose output at one input is a set. Solution maps, subdifferentials and generalized normal mappings are important examples. Graph geometry provides definitions of continuity, local stability and differentiation.
The coordinate conditions define a subgradient precisely when and . They follow by varying one coordinate; summing their scalar supporting inequalities proves sufficiency. Since , a subgradient can exist only at finitely supported . At such a base point , , allowing the value infinity. Merely having finite penalty does not guarantee a nonempty subdifferential in the ambient l2 sequence space.
The subdifferential of the L1 norm consists of vectors with when and when . These coordinate conditions give the Karush-Kuhn-Tucker conditions for Lasso and Square-root Lasso.
Subdifferential under scalar affine composition Created 2026-10-05 Updated 2026-10-06
For a finite convex function , the function is convex. The subgradient inequality gives , where . Conversely, every subgradient of annihilates , because is constant on lines in those directions. For , write and test the subgradient inequality at ; this proves . For , is constant and both sides are since a finite convex function on the real line has a nonempty subdifferential everywhere.