Rockafellar, §33: Saddle-Functions #
Concave-convex and convex-concave functions on ℝᵐ × ℝⁿ, the partial closures cl₁ and cl₂,
and the correspondence — "at the heart of the theory of saddle-functions" — between
saddle-functions and convex bifunctions from ℝᵐ to ℝⁿ. All eleven numbered results of §33 are
formalized: Theorems 33.1–33.3 and Corollaries 33.1.1, 33.1.2, 33.1.3, 33.2.1, 33.2.2, 33.3.1,
33.3.2, 33.3.3.
Orientation. A concave-convex K (u, v) is concave in the first argument and convex in the
second, and the two closures are named after the argument they close, not the sense in which
they close it: cl₁ closes the first — concave — argument concavely, cl₂ the second — convex —
argument convexly. So K is lower closed when cl₂ (cl₁ K) = K and upper closed when
cl₁ (cl₂ K) = K. Reversing any of this silently swaps every statement of §§34–37. A
convex-concave K is reached by negation; see convexConcave_lowerClosed_iff.
Implementation notes #
Rockafellar overloads ⟨·, ·⟩ for the conjugate of a convex f, of a concave f, and of a slice
of a convex or a concave bifunction; these are separate names here. The bifunction brackets are
uncurried, as functions of the pair (u, x*), the form every closedness predicate is stated
against.
References #
- R. T. Rockafellar, Convex Analysis, Princeton University Press, 1970, §33, pp. 349–358.
The two partial closures #
Rockafellar's cl₂ K = cl_v K, the convex closure: close K (u, ·) as a convex function
of the second argument, for each fixed u. An abbrev for partialCl₂.
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Rockafellar's cl₁ K = cl_u K, the concave closure: close K (·, v) as a concave
function of the first argument. An abbrev for partialCl₁; it is cl₂ conjugated by negation,
not cl₂ with the arguments exchanged.
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The three brackets #
Rockafellar's ⟨f, x*⟩ = f*(x*) for a convex f: the conjugate, as an inner product.
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Rockafellar's ⟨f, x*⟩ for a concave f: the concave conjugate.
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Rockafellar's ⟨Fu, x*⟩ = (Fu)*(x*) for a convex bifunction F, as a function of the
pair (u, x*). This is the K̲ of Corollary 33.3.1.
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Rockafellar's ⟨u, Gx*⟩ = (Gx*)*(u) for a concave bifunction G from ℝⁿ to ℝᵐ.
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Rockafellar's ⟨u, F*x*⟩, the concave bracket of the adjoint F* (§30, dualProgram); the
K̄ of Corollary 33.3.1.
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The convex bifunction attached to a saddle-function, Fu = K (u, ·)*: the inverse map of
Corollaries 33.1.2 and 33.3.2.
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The book's defining formula: ⟨Fu, x*⟩ = sup_x {⟨x, x*⟩ - (Fu)(x)}.
The book's defining formula: ⟨u, Gx*⟩ = inf_v {⟨u, v⟩ - (Gx*)(v)}.
The book's defining formula for Fu = K (u, ·)*.
⟨f, x*⟩ = ⟨x, x*⟩ when f is the indicator of x: the notation extends the ordinary inner
product along the embedding of ℝⁿ into the convex functions.
Theorem 33.1 #
Theorem 33.1, first clause: for a convex bifunction F, ⟨Fu, x*⟩ is concave-convex in
(u, x*). Concavity in u is Theorem 5.7 for the image of the graph function.
Theorem 33.1, second clause: ⟨Fu, x*⟩ is convex-closed, with no hypothesis on F
whatever — each slice is a conjugate.
Theorem 33.1, the inversion formula: Fenchel–Moreau (Theorem 12.2) uniformly in u.
Theorem 33.1, converse: for a concave-convex K, the bifunction Fu = K (u, ·)* is
convex.
Theorem 33.1, converse: that bifunction is image-closed, each Fu being a conjugate.
Theorem 33.1, converse, the identity that closes the loop: ⟨Fu, x*⟩ = (cl₂ K)(u, x*),
with cl₂ the closure in the convex — second — argument.
Corollary 33.1.1 #
Corollary 33.1.1: cl₁ K is again concave-convex.
Corollary 33.1.1: cl₂ K is again concave-convex.
Corollary 33.1.1: cl₁ K is concave-closed; the concave closure is idempotent.
Corollary 33.1.1: cl₂ K is convex-closed.
Corollary 33.1.2 #
A closed bifunction is image-closed: a slice of a closed function is closed.
Corollary 33.1.2. The relations K (u, x*) = ⟨Fu, x*⟩ and Fu = K (u, ·)* are a
one-to-one correspondence between the convex-closed concave-convex functions on ℝᵐ × ℝⁿ and the
image-closed convex bifunctions from ℝᵐ to ℝⁿ.
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The forward relation of Corollary 33.1.2 is K (u, x*) = ⟨Fu, x*⟩.
The inverse relation of Corollary 33.1.2 is Fu = K (u, ·)*.
Corollary 33.1.3 #
Corollary 33.1.3: for a polyhedral convex bifunction F, ⟨Fu, x*⟩ is polyhedral convex
in x* for each u.
Corollary 33.1.3: ⟨Fu, x*⟩ is polyhedral concave in u for each x*.
Corollary 33.1.3: a proper polyhedral convex bifunction is recovered from its bracket with no closure operation, being already closed.
The adjoint bracket #
⟨u, F*x*⟩ is concave-convex in (u, x*), with no hypothesis on F: the adjoint of any
bifunction is concave.
⟨u, F*x*⟩ is concave-closed: it is a cl₁ by Theorem 33.2, and every cl₁ is
concave-closed by Corollary 33.1.1.
Theorem 33.2 #
Theorem 33.2, first equation: ⟨u, F*x*⟩ = cl₁ ⟨Fu, x*⟩, the closure in the concave —
first — argument. It is concave Fenchel–Moreau in u.
Theorem 33.2, second equation: cl₂ ⟨u, F*x*⟩ = ⟨(cl F)u, x*⟩, the closure in the convex —
second — argument. It is the first equation at F* composed with Theorem 30.1's F** = cl F.
Corollary 33.2.1 #
Corollary 33.2.1, first assertion: if u ∈ ri (dom F) then ⟨Fu, x*⟩ = ⟨u, F*x*⟩ for
every x*. The two differ by cl₁, which Theorem 7.4 removes on ri (dom).
Corollary 33.2.1, second assertion: if F is closed and x* ∈ ri (dom F*) then
⟨Fu, x*⟩ = ⟨u, F*x*⟩ for every u. The book's "apply the first fact to F*" is not literally
available, F* being concave; the route here spends the closedness hypothesis, and it is spent
nowhere else in the corollary.
Corollary 33.2.2 #
Corollary 33.2.2. For a proper polyhedral convex bifunction F, ⟨Fu, x*⟩ = ⟨u, F*x*⟩
except when both u ∉ dom F and x* ∉ dom F*: polyhedrality drops Corollary 33.2.1's ri.
Corollary 33.2.2, the parenthetical: in the exceptional case one quantity is +∞, the
other -∞. Neither polyhedrality nor properness is used.
Full, lower and upper closedness #
A saddle-function finite everywhere is convex-closed: Corollary 10.1.1, slice by slice.
A saddle-function finite everywhere is fully closed.
Fully closed is lower closed and upper closed together, by idempotence of cl₁ and cl₂.
The convex-concave convention. For a convex-concave K the book's cl₁ closes convexly in
the first argument and its cl₂ concavely in the second, so both are the operators of this module
conjugated by negation, and the book's "K is lower closed" says UpperClosedFn (-K).
The other half: "K upper closed" for a convex-concave K is LowerClosedFn (-K).
Theorem 33.3 #
Theorem 33.3, one direction: the bracket of a closed convex bifunction is a lower closed concave-convex function. Both closure steps are Theorem 33.2.
Theorem 33.3. The same relations are a one-to-one correspondence between the lower closed
concave-convex functions on ℝᵐ × ℝⁿ and the closed convex bifunctions from ℝᵐ to ℝⁿ.
Corollary 33.3.1 #
Corollary 33.3.1. For concave-convex K̲ and K̄, a closed convex bifunction F with
K̲ (u, x*) = ⟨Fu, x*⟩ and K̄ (u, x*) = ⟨u, F*x*⟩ exists — and is then unique — if and only if
cl₁ K̲ = K̄ and cl₂ K̄ = K̲. This is the sufficiency.
Corollary 33.3.1, necessity: cl₁ ⟨Fu, x*⟩ = ⟨u, F*x*⟩, needing no closedness.
Corollary 33.3.1, necessity: cl₂ ⟨u, F*x*⟩ = ⟨Fu, x*⟩ for a closed F.
Corollary 33.3.1: the closure relations make K̲ lower closed.
Corollary 33.3.1: the closure relations make K̄ upper closed.
Corollary 33.3.1: K̲ ≤ K̄. Only the cl₂ relation is used, because cl₂ lowers.
Corollary 33.3.2 #
Corollary 33.3.2. K̄ = cl₁ K̲ and K̲ = cl₂ K̄ are a one-to-one correspondence between
the lower closed and the upper closed concave-convex functions on ℝᵐ × ℝⁿ.
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The forward relation of Corollary 33.3.2 is K̄ = cl₁ K̲.
The inverse relation of Corollary 33.3.2 is K̲ = cl₂ K̄.
Corollary 33.3.3 #
Where the book asks for K "finite continuous" on C × D, meaning jointly, the hypotheses below
ask only for convexity, concavity and continuity of each one-variable section on its own set.
Corollary 33.3.3: the lower simple extension K̲ of such a K is lower closed.
Corollary 33.3.3: the upper simple extension K̄ is upper closed.
Corollary 33.3.3, main clause: there is a unique closed convex bifunction F whose two
brackets are the lower and the upper simple extension of K.
That bifunction is K̲ (u, ·)*, and its bracket is K̲ again.
Its adjoint bracket is K̄.
Corollary 33.3.3: dom F = C.
Corollary 33.3.3: dom F* = D.
Corollary 33.3.3, the formula for F off C: (Fu)(x) = +∞.
Corollary 33.3.3, the formula for F on C:
(Fu)(x) = sup {⟨x, x*⟩ - K (u, x*) | x* ∈ D}.
Corollary 33.3.3, the formula for F* on D:
(F*x*)(u*) = inf {⟨u, u*⟩ - K (u, x*) | u ∈ C}.
Corollary 33.3.3, the formula for F* off D: (F*x*)(u*) = -∞.