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Pure Mathematics·Captain: wenxinzhang

Positive definite matrix integral inequalityOpen Problem

Motivation

The source defines a two-variable integral on strictly positive-definite real matrices. Its numerator is the absolute bilinear form of A minus B on two unit vectors, while the denominator uses the quadratic forms of A and B. The desired inequality says that componentwise matrix addition is nonexpansive for this quantity, with the larger of the two input distances controlling the output. The surface measure normalization is immaterial because the same constant multiplies every distance.

This mission turns CUHK-Shenzhen AI Math Problem 1, Positive definite matrix integral inequality, into an auditable Lean campaign. The objective is not merely to transcribe notation: it is to expose the mathematical model, the capstone, and a smaller attack surface as separate artifacts that other formalizers can inspect and reuse.

Setting

For every positive dimension and every four positive-definite matrices A, B, C, and D, prove d(A+B,C+D) is at most max(d(A,C),d(B,D)). The first milestone fixes dimension one, where the sphere and every matrix entry can be analyzed explicitly.

Significance

Solving this target would settle the precise finite or analytic core represented by the Lean statement and would create reusable infrastructure in matrix analysis, positive definite matrices, integral inequality. Even a rigorous disproof is valuable: several entries in this collection deliberately ask whether an attractive extrapolation is true, and Lean forces a counterexample to satisfy every side condition. The mission therefore treats theorem proving and model criticism as equally legitimate research outcomes.

Difficulty

The absolute value prevents a direct cancellation argument, and the denominators couple each integration variable to a different matrix. Positive definiteness gives pointwise positivity but does not immediately compare the ratios after addition. A successful proof must find a convexity, change-of-measure, or projective-metric mechanism that survives the double integral.

Suggested attack route

Promising routes include reducing by congruence to normalized matrices, studying the scalar inequality on each pair of directions, and interpreting the denominator as a density change on the sphere. The dimension-one case should reveal the sharp scalar inequality. Numerical experiments in dimensions two and three may identify equality cases, but the Lean proof must ultimately derive every bound from positivity and measurable integration.

Formalization scope

The Lean model uses finite matrices, Mathlib positive definiteness, the canonical sphere measure obtained from polar decomposition, and an explicit iterated integral. It does not assume symmetry through an unchecked flag: positive definiteness is the Mathlib predicate. Integrability obligations and zero-denominator issues must be proved from positive definiteness.

The natural-language source remains authoritative for motivation, while the Lean declaration is authoritative for what Prove2Me will verify. The mission description calls out restrictions where the current formal target is a finite-dimensional core, a fixed interpretation of informal terminology, or one sharpened subquestion from a broader classification problem. Those restrictions should not be silently generalized in a proof claim.

Milestones

Establish the dimension-one specialization, including any exact evaluation of the two-point sphere integral needed by the proof.

The capstone is marked as the mission's main item and is never duplicated as a milestone. Definitions precede theorem statements in the proposal order. A milestone is considered complete only when its own exact statement is proved; proving a nearby theorem with stronger-looking prose but mismatched quantifiers, signs, supports, dimensions, or asymptotic constants does not complete it.

Timeline and literature status

The CUHK-Shenzhen AI Math Problems page added this problem on May 28, 2026. At the drafting date, August 31, 2026, the status and target corrections described above were checked against the source page and the cited primary material.

Acceptance criteria

A contribution may prove the displayed theorem or refute it by constructing data satisfying every Lean hypothesis while negating the conclusion. Informal changes of model do not count: any proposed correction must be submitted as a separately reviewed statement with an explanation of which source ambiguity or false implication it repairs. Definitions must remain computational or mathematically constrained; fields that simply assume the desired conclusion are not acceptable. Every proof must compile against the mission's pinned Mathlib revision, use no sorry, and expose a top-level theorem solution when submitted to Prove2Me.

The main theorem is intentionally separated from a smaller milestone. Contributors should preserve that dependency order, publish reusable lemmas rather than monolithic tactics, and report whether a lemma is analytic, algebraic, combinatorial, or infrastructure-only. Numerical evidence, external computer algebra, and exhaustive search are welcome for discovery, but a final certificate must be replayable by Lean. If an external result is invoked, its hypotheses must be represented in the formal statement or proved in the dependency tree.

Formal verification policy

The files were built locally with Lean 4.30.0 and Mathlib revision c5ea00351c28e24afc9f0f84379aa41082b1188f, the supported Prove2Me environment at drafting time. The mission definition file is ordered before all theorem files, and each theorem imports exactly that public definition module or Mathlib. Independent blind read-backs accompany the draft items so reviewers can compare what the Lean code literally says with this mathematical description. Human confirmation remains required before the public proposal can be submitted for moderation.

Selected references

  • Original CUHK-Shenzhen problem
42 thms15 active usersReviewed
AlgebraAnalysisCombinatorics+3·Captain: Lucas

Formal Conjectures Portfolio: Bateman-Horn and CompanionsOpen Problem

1. Motivation

Wikipedia's pages on open problems are, for many mathematicians, the first contact with a conjecture: a one-paragraph statement, a short history, a list of partial results. The Formal Conjectures library (Google DeepMind, Apache-2.0) turned a large part of that material into Lean 4 statements, so that the conjectures can be attacked — and, just as importantly, stated unambiguously — by machine.

This mission ports a coherent slice of that material to Prove2Me. It is deliberately a portfolio mission: the goal theorem is the Bateman–Horn conjecture, the strongest single statement in the collection, and the milestone list gathers the other conjectures and the landmark theorems that surround them. Some milestones are genuine steps toward the goal (the Bunyakovsky conjecture is literally the one-polynomial case); most are independent open problems from other fields, grouped here because they share a source, a level of difficulty, and a need for faithful formal statements. A reader should not assume that proving a milestone advances the goal theorem. The mission's value is that every statement in it has been written against the same Mathlib revision, checked to compile, and documented well enough to be attacked.

A rough timeline of the collection's landmarks:

  • 1947 — Mills: a real A>1A>1A>1 with ⌊A3n⌋\lfloor A^{3^n}\rfloor⌊A3n⌋ always prime.
  • 1962 — Radó: the busy beaver function outgrows every computable function.
  • 1971 — Davies: planar Kakeya sets have Hausdorff dimension 222.
  • 1978 — Apéry: ζ(3)\zeta(3)ζ(3) is irrational.
  • 1985 — Read (after Enflo, 1981): an operator on ℓ1\ell^1ℓ1 with no nontrivial closed invariant subspace.
  • 2001 — Zudilin: one of ζ(5),ζ(7),ζ(9),ζ(11)\zeta(5),\zeta(7),\zeta(9),\zeta(11)ζ(5),ζ(7),ζ(9),ζ(11) is irrational.
  • 2002 — Mihăilescu: 888 and 999 are the only consecutive perfect powers (Catalan's conjecture).
  • 2009 / 2021 — Dvir; Bukh–Chao: the finite-field Kakeya bound and its sharp density constant.
  • 2021 — Gardam: Kaplansky's unit conjecture is false (its zero-divisor and idempotent companions remain open).
  • 2024 — Saito: Mills' constant is irrational; bbchallenge: BB(5)=47 176 870\mathrm{BB}(5)=47\,176\,870BB(5)=47176870.
  • 2025 — Wang–Zahl: the Kakeya set conjecture in R3\mathbb{R}^3R3.

2. Setting

The goal theorem concerns prime values of polynomials. Fix a finite set S={f1,…,fk}⊆Z[X]S=\{f_1,\dots,f_k\}\subseteq\mathbb{Z}[X]S={f1​,…,fk​}⊆Z[X] of distinct polynomials. Say that fff satisfies the Bunyakovsky condition if its leading coefficient is positive, deg⁡f≥1\deg f\ge 1degf≥1, and fff is irreducible over Z\mathbb{Z}Z; say that SSS satisfies the Schinzel condition if for every prime ppp there is an integer nnn with p∤f1(n)⋯fk(n)p\nmid f_1(n)\cdots f_k(n)p∤f1​(n)⋯fk​(n) — i.e. no fixed prime divides the product at every argument.

For a prime ppp let ωp(S)\omega_p(S)ωp​(S) be the number of residue classes n mod pn \bmod pnmodp at which some fif_ifi​ vanishes, let D=∏ideg⁡fiD=\prod_i \deg f_iD=∏i​degfi​, and let

πS(x)=#{ n≤x:∣fi(n)∣ is prime for every i }.\pi_S(x)=\#\{\,n\le x : |f_i(n)| \text{ is prime for every } i\,\}.πS​(x)=#{n≤x:∣fi​(n)∣ is prime for every i}.

The Bateman–Horn constant is the (conditionally convergent) Euler product

C=lim⁡N→∞ ∏p<N(1−1p)−k(1−ωp(S)p).C=\lim_{N\to\infty}\ \prod_{p<N}\Big(1-\tfrac1p\Big)^{-k}\Big(1-\tfrac{\omega_p(S)}{p}\Big).C=N→∞lim​ p<N∏​(1−p1​)−k(1−pωp​(S)​).

The other groups use their own vocabulary, each fixed in a definition item of this mission: Kakeya sets in Rn\mathbb{R}^nRn and over Fq\mathbb{F}_qFq​; Mills' property ⌊A3n⌋∈P\lfloor A^{3^n}\rfloor \in \mathbb{P}⌊A3n⌋∈P; Wagstaff primes and Catalan–Mersenne numbers; polynomial self-maps and their Jacobian matrix; nontrivial closed invariant subspaces; linear extensions of a finite poset; Catalan's constant; and an explicit two-symbol Turing machine model with its maximum-shifts function BB\mathrm{BB}BB.

3. Target

The goal theorem is the Bateman–Horn asymptotic: under the Bunyakovsky and Schinzel hypotheses, CCC exists and is positive and

πS(x) ∼ CD x(log⁡x)k(x→∞).\pi_S(x)\ \sim\ \frac{C}{D}\,\frac{x}{(\log x)^{k}}\qquad (x\to\infty).πS​(x) ∼ DC​(logx)kx​(x→∞).

Weaker statements in the same direction appear as milestones, first of all Bunyakovsky's conjecture: under the same hypotheses with k=1k=1k=1, fff takes prime values infinitely often. The remaining milestones are listed in the milestone panel and are grouped by subject: Diophantine equations (Brocard, Pillai, Lebesgue–Nagell, Catalan/Mihăilescu), Mersenne-type primality (New Mersenne, infinitude of Mersenne primes, Catalan–Mersenne), prime-representing constants (Mills), geometric measure theory (Kakeya in Rn\mathbb{R}^nRn, Kakeya over Fq\mathbb{F}_qFq​, Falconer), operator theory (invariant subspace problem and Read's ℓ1\ell^1ℓ1 counterexample), group algebras (Kaplansky's zero-divisor and idempotent conjectures), affine algebraic geometry (the two-variable Jacobian conjecture), irrationality and transcendence (ζ(5)\zeta(5)ζ(5), all odd zeta values, Zudilin's theorem, e+πe+\pie+π, eπe\pieπ, γ\gammaγ, Catalan's constant), order theory (the 1/31/31/3–2/32/32/3 conjecture), and computability (Radó's theorem).

4. Significance

The results themselves. Bateman–Horn is the quantitative form of Schinzel's hypothesis H: it contains the twin prime conjecture, the infinitude of primes of the form n2+1n^2+1n2+1, and Bunyakovsky as special cases, and it is the standard heuristic behind prime-counting predictions. The other targets are each the headline question of their area: whether every bounded Hilbert-space operator has an invariant subspace; whether group algebras of torsion-free groups are domains; whether Kakeya sets must have full dimension. The solved milestones (Mihăilescu, Davies, Dvir, Zudilin, Read, Saito, Radó) are landmarks whose formal proofs would be significant library contributions in their own right.

Formalizing them. None of the open statements is expected to fall here; the concrete deliverable is a set of faithful, compiling, reusable statements plus formal proofs of the solved milestones, most of which are not in Mathlib today. Several are realistically in reach: the finite-field Kakeya bound (Dvir's polynomial method is short), the elementary fact that π+e\pi+eπ+e and πe\pi eπe cannot both be algebraic, and Radó's diagonal argument.

5. Difficulty

For Bateman–Horn, the obstruction is visible already for k=1k=1k=1, deg⁡f=2\deg f = 2degf=2: sieve methods bound πS(x)\pi_S(x)πS​(x) from above by a constant times the conjectured main term and produce almost-primes, but the parity problem blocks every known sieve from producing a single prime value of an irreducible quadratic. The conditional convergence of the Euler product is a second, smaller trap: the product over p<Np<Np<N must be taken in order, so any reformulation as an unordered infinite product changes the statement.

Each other group has its own obstruction, and they do not transfer: the parity problem says nothing about Kakeya, where the difficulty is that dimension is not stable under the natural compactness arguments, nor about the invariant subspace problem, where the known counterexamples on ℓ1\ell^1ℓ1 show that no soft argument can work.

6. Formalization scope

Conventions this mission commits to, all fixed in the definition items:

  • Polynomials are elements of ℤ[X]; primality of a polynomial value is primality of its absolute value, and the counting function ranges over natural numbers n≤⌊x⌋n \le \lfloor x\rfloorn≤⌊x⌋.
  • The Bateman–Horn constant is the limit of the ordered partial products over p<Np<Np<N, not an unordered infinite product.
  • Kakeya sets carry no compactness or measurability hypothesis, matching the source; the conjecture is stated as an equality of Hausdorff dimensions in [0,∞][0,\infty][0,∞].
  • Falconer's hypothesis is written d<2dim⁡HEd < 2\dim_H Ed<2dimH​E to avoid division in [0,∞][0,\infty][0,∞].
  • Torsion-freeness of a group is spelled out as "every element of finite order is the identity", which is the hypothesis the source intends (it is weaker than Mathlib's IsMulTorsionFree).
  • Linear extensions are order-preserving bijections onto {0,…,∣P∣−1}\{0,\dots,|P|-1\}{0,…,∣P∣−1}, and probabilities are quotients of set cardinalities in Q\mathbb{Q}Q.
  • The busy beaver model is an explicit nnn-state, 222-symbol machine with a bi-infinite Boolean tape; BB\mathrm{BB}BB counts transitions performed (maximum shifts), the halting transition included, and BB(0)=0\mathrm{BB}(0)=0BB(0)=0.
  • Several source statements are phrased as "is XXX true?" with an unknown answer. Prove2Me statements must be definite, so each such question is recorded in its affirmative form (e.g. "e+πe+\pie+π is irrational"); a solver who can refute one should submit a disproof. The one question with no statable answer, "what is BB(6)\mathrm{BB}(6)BB(6)?", is replaced by Radó's growth theorem rather than guessed at.
  • Nothing here is vacuous: each hypothesis set is satisfiable (e.g. closed unit balls are Kakeya sets, and X2+1X^2+1X2+1 satisfies the Bunyakovsky and Schinzel conditions).

Contributions welcome: proofs of the solved milestones; sharper variants; and additional faithful statements from the same source library, which contains far more than fits in one mission.

7. Selected references

  • P. T. Bateman and R. A. Horn, A heuristic asymptotic formula concerning the distribution of prime numbers, Math. Comp. 16 (1962), 363–367. DOI
  • T. Radó, On non-computable functions, Bell System Tech. J. 41 (1962), 877–884. DOI
  • R. O. Davies, Some remarks on the Kakeya problem, Math. Proc. Cambridge Philos. Soc. 69 (1971), 417–421. DOI
  • C. J. Read, A solution to the invariant subspace problem on the space ℓ1\ell_1ℓ1​, Bull. London Math. Soc. 17 (1985), 305–317. DOI
  • K. Falconer, On the Hausdorff dimensions of distance sets, Mathematika 32 (1985), 206–212. DOI
  • W. Zudilin, One of the numbers ζ(5),ζ(7),ζ(9),ζ(11)\zeta(5),\zeta(7),\zeta(9),\zeta(11)ζ(5),ζ(7),ζ(9),ζ(11) is irrational, Russian Math. Surveys 56 (2001), 774–776. DOI
  • P. Mihăilescu, Primary cyclotomic units and a proof of Catalan's conjecture, J. reine angew. Math. 572 (2004), 167–195. DOI
  • Z. Dvir, On the size of Kakeya sets in finite fields, J. Amer. Math. Soc. 22 (2009), 1093–1097. DOI
  • B. Bukh and T.-W. Chao, Sharp density bounds on the finite field Kakeya problem, Discrete Analysis 26 (2021). DOI
  • G. Gardam, A counterexample to the unit conjecture for group rings, Ann. of Math. 194 (2021), 967–979. DOI
  • K. Saito, Mills' constant is irrational, Mathematika 71 (2025), e70027. arXiv:2404.19461
  • H. Wang and J. Zahl, Volume estimates for unions of convex sets, and the Kakeya set conjecture in three dimensions, arXiv:2502.17655
  • Google DeepMind, Formal Conjectures, Apache-2.0, github.com/google-deepmind/formal-conjectures

Provenance note. The Lean statements in this mission are adaptations of the Formal Conjectures library (Apache-2.0), rewritten to depend only on Mathlib and on this mission's own definition items, and checked to compile against the platform's Mathlib revision. Each draft item carries a read-back; those read-backs are non-blind — they were written by the same agent that drafted the statements, and each says so in its first line. They are documentation, not independent testimony.

93 thms14 active usersReviewed
Probability·Captain: mikedeng1

Markov Processes: Characterization and Convergence 15: Diffusions in smooth bounded regionsTextbook

Why smooth-region boundary diffusions matter

Diffusion models in a bounded region need a rule for what happens when a path reaches the boundary. Two standard mechanisms are absorption, where the boundary kills the generator contribution, and oblique reflection, where a prescribed vector field pushes the process back into the region. Ethier and Kurtz treat these mechanisms as neighboring variants of the same uniformly elliptic model in Chapter 8, Section 1 of Markov Processes: Characterization and Convergence. The distinction is structural: the interior differential operator is shared, but its admissible generator graph changes with the boundary condition. This mission formalizes Theorems 1.4 and 1.5, retaining oblique reflection as the capstone and absorbed diffusion as the required related result.

The setting

Let Ω⊂Rd\Omega\subset\mathbb R^dΩ⊂Rd be bounded, open, and connected, with d≥2d\ge 2d≥2. Its boundary is locally represented in orthogonal coordinates as the graph of a scalar function. The formal predicate C²,μ boundary regularity requires one positive chart radius valid at every boundary point, a connected local boundary patch, and a graphing function whose second partial derivatives satisfy the source's componentwise Hölder oscillation condition. The exponent obeys 0<μ≤10<\mu\le 10<μ≤1.

The diffusion coefficients are a symmetric positive-semidefinite matrix field a(x)a(x)a(x) and a drift field b(x)b(x)b(x). Their entries satisfy the same local componentwise Hölder convention. Uniform ellipticity means that one ε>0\varepsilon>0ε>0 satisfies

ε≤∑i,jθiaij(x)θj\varepsilon\le \sum_{i,j}\theta_i a_{ij}(x)\theta_jε≤i,j∑​θi​aij​(x)θj​

for every x∈Ωx\in\Omegax∈Ω and every unit vector θ\thetaθ. For smooth fff, the interior operator is

Gf(x)=12∑i,jaij(x) ∂ijf(x)+Df(x)[b(x)].Gf(x)=\frac12\sum_{i,j}a_{ij}(x)\,\partial_{ij}f(x) +Df(x)[b(x)].Gf(x)=21​i,j∑​aij​(x)∂ij​f(x)+Df(x)[b(x)].

Functions live on the compact closure Ω‾\overline\OmegaΩ as bounded continuous functions. Their ambient extensions are differentiated only at interior points. The second coordinate of each graph is itself continuous on the closure, so it records the boundary trace of GfGfGf rather than assigning an arbitrary value after differentiation.

Formalization targets

Goal: obliquely reflected diffusion generation

Theorem 1.5 adds a reflection field ccc whose components have C¹,μ boundary regularity. An outward unit normal n(x)n(x)n(x) is oriented by a local defining function that is negative precisely inside Ω\OmegaΩ. Uniform obliqueness is the global lower bound

ε≤c(x)⋅n(x),x∈∂Ω,\varepsilon\le c(x)\cdot n(x),\qquad x\in\partial\Omega,ε≤c(x)⋅n(x),x∈∂Ω,

for one positive ε\varepsilonε. The reflected graph requires a continuous derivative trace JJJ that agrees with DfDfDf in the interior and satisfies

Jx(c(x))=0,x∈∂Ω.J_x(c(x))=0,\qquad x\in\partial\Omega.Jx​(c(x))=0,x∈∂Ω.

The target asserts that the uniform closure of this graph is single-valued and is exactly the full generator of a positive strongly continuous contraction semigroup preserving the constant function one. The generator condition is a biconditional derivative limit, so it identifies the complete domain rather than only a convenient operator restriction.

Related target: absorbed diffusion generation

Theorem 1.4 keeps the same smooth-region and ellipticity assumptions but uses the absorbed graph. Its continuous operator trace satisfies Gf=0Gf=0Gf=0 on the boundary. It has the same full generation conclusion: graph single-valuedness, a positive strongly continuous contraction semigroup, preservation of one, and exact identification of the generator. The absorbed zero trace is not imported into the reflected theorem, and the oblique derivative condition is not imposed on the absorbed graph.

Significance

These results connect a local elliptic expression and a geometric boundary condition to a global Markov evolution on continuous functions over the closed region. The conclusions contain more than existence of a semigroup: they determine the whole infinitesimal generator, ensure positivity and contraction, and retain the conservative convention used by Ethier and Kurtz. The paired statements make the effect of the boundary mechanism explicit while holding the interior model fixed.

The formal contribution is a machine-checkable statement layer, not a proof of the source theorems. It records the componentwise Hölder convention, uniform boundary charts, ellipticity, normal orientation, continuous derivative trace, the two distinct generator graphs, and every semigroup clause. These definitions can support later work on reflected processes, elliptic boundary problems, and martingale formulations without rebuilding the geometric conventions.

Where the difficulty lies

The main difficulty is simultaneous control of interior regularity, boundary geometry, and the closed generator domain. Pointwise obliqueness is insufficient: the source requires a uniform positive lower bound over the whole compact boundary. Likewise, merely writing Df(c)=0Df(c)=0Df(c)=0 for an arbitrary ambient extension would not supply a well-defined boundary derivative. The graph therefore carries a continuous derivative trace agreeing with the interior derivative. Replacing the biconditional generator equality by a one-way inclusion, or silently imposing the absorbed zero trace on the reflected graph, would weaken or change the source result.

Formalization scope and conventions

The state space is EuclideanSpace ℝ (Fin (n + 1)) with 2 ≤ n + 1. Connectedness supplies nonemptiness. Matrix positive semidefiniteness supplies symmetry and nonnegative quadratic forms; a separate hypothesis gives strict uniform ellipticity. Local oscillation bounds apply within connected components of small intersections and do not compare different components.

The absorbed and reflected graphs use bounded continuous functions on closure Ω. The arbitrary zero extension outside the closure is never differentiated at a boundary point. The reflected boundary equation uses a continuous field of linear derivative maps, while the absorbed equation uses the continuous second graph coordinate. No vacuous region, pointwise-only ellipticity or obliqueness, weakened generator inclusion, proof-only theorem dependency, or synthetic theorem combining the two boundary mechanisms is admitted.

Selected references

  • Stewart N. Ethier and Thomas G. Kurtz, Markov Processes: Characterization and Convergence, Wiley, 1986, Chapter 8, Section 1, Theorems 1.4–1.5 and equations (1.13)–(1.20). Wiley DOI
  • Stewart N. Ethier and Thomas G. Kurtz, same volume, Chapter 1 for strongly continuous contraction semigroups and generators, and Chapter 4 for the conservative Feller convention. Wiley DOI
38 thms4 active usersReviewed
Partial Differential EquationsSymplectic Geometry·Captain: Mazecto

Fredholm Theory and the Index Formula for Cauchy–Riemann Operators on the CylinderTextbook

Motivation

Linear Cauchy–Riemann operators are the linearizations of the nonlinear Cauchy–Riemann equation for pseudoholomorphic curves. On the cylinder R×S1\mathbb{R}\times S^1R×S1 with the trivial bundle they take the form

DS=∂s+J0 ∂t+S(s,t):W1,p(R×S1,R2n)→Lp(R×S1,R2n),D_S=\partial_s+J_0\,\partial_t+S(s,t):W^{1,p}(\mathbb{R}\times S^1,\mathbb{R}^{2n})\to L^p(\mathbb{R}\times S^1,\mathbb{R}^{2n}),DS​=∂s​+J0​∂t​+S(s,t):W1,p(R×S1,R2n)→Lp(R×S1,R2n),

where S(s,⋅)S(s,\cdot)S(s,⋅) converges to loops S±S^\pmS± of symmetric matrices as s→±∞s\to\pm\inftys→±∞. These are the operators of Floer homology, of symplectic field theory and of contact homology. The dimension of their moduli spaces is the Fredholm index of DSD_SDS​, and the Riemann–Roch formula with punctures computes it from the Conley–Zehnder indices of the asymptotic operators A±=−J0∂t−S±(t)A^\pm=-J_0\partial_t-S^\pm(t)A±=−J0​∂t​−S±(t):

ind⁡DS=μCZ(A+)−μCZ(A−).\operatorname{ind}D_S=\mu_{CZ}(A^+)-\mu_{CZ}(A^-).indDS​=μCZ​(A+)−μCZ​(A−).

This mission formalizes this formula, together with the Fredholm property of DSD_SDS​, following C. Wendl, Lectures on Symplectic Field Theory, Lectures 3–5, in the case of the cylinder (the sphere with one positive and one negative puncture). Mathlib has the notion of a Fredholm operator but no Sobolev spaces on cylinders, no Cauchy–Riemann operators and no Conley–Zehnder index.

Setting

  • Cylinder. S1=R/ZS^1=\mathbb{R}/\mathbb{Z}S1=R/Z. Maps on R×S1\mathbb{R}\times S^1R×S1 are maps u(s,t)u(s,t)u(s,t) on R2\mathbb{R}^2R2 with u(s,t+1)=u(s,t)u(s,t+1)=u(s,t)u(s,t+1)=u(s,t), and Lp(R×S1)L^p(\mathbb{R}\times S^1)Lp(R×S1) is LpL^pLp of the strip R×[0,1)\mathbb{R}\times[0,1)R×[0,1) with Lebesgue measure. R2n=Cn\mathbb{R}^{2n}=\mathbb{C}^nR2n=Cn with J0=(0−110)J_0=\begin{pmatrix}0&-1\\1&0\end{pmatrix}J0​=(01​−10​), multiplication by iii.
  • Sobolev space. W1,p(R×S1,R2n)W^{1,p}(\mathbb{R}\times S^1,\mathbb{R}^{2n})W1,p(R×S1,R2n) is the closure of the smooth maps that vanish for large ∣s∣|s|∣s∣ under the norm ∥u∥p+∥∂su∥p+∥∂tu∥p\|u\|_p+\|\partial_su\|_p+\|\partial_tu\|_p∥u∥p​+∥∂s​u∥p​+∥∂t​u∥p​.
  • Asymptotic operators. For a loop S∞S_\inftyS∞​ of symmetric matrices, A=−J0∂t−S∞(t)A=-J_0\partial_t-S_\infty(t)A=−J0​∂t​−S∞​(t). Its fundamental solution Ψ\PsiΨ solves Ψ′=J0S∞Ψ\Psi'=J_0S_\infty\PsiΨ′=J0​S∞​Ψ, Ψ(0)=Id\Psi(0)=\mathrm{Id}Ψ(0)=Id. AAA is nondegenerate if 111 is not an eigenvalue of Ψ(1)\Psi(1)Ψ(1), and μCZ(A)\mu_{CZ}(A)μCZ​(A) is the Conley–Zehnder index of the symplectic path Ψ∣[0,1]\Psi|_{[0,1]}Ψ∣[0,1]​.
  • Cauchy–Riemann operators. S:R×S1→R2n×2nS:\mathbb{R}\times S^1\to\mathbb{R}^{2n\times2n}S:R×S1→R2n×2n is continuous and S(s,⋅)→S±S(s,\cdot)\to S^\pmS(s,⋅)→S± uniformly as s→±∞s\to\pm\inftys→±∞. DSD_SDS​ acts on W1,pW^{1,p}W1,p; its index is dim⁡ker⁡DS−dim⁡coker⁡DS\dim\ker D_S-\dim\operatorname{coker}D_SdimkerDS​−dimcokerDS​.

Formalization targets

Goal: the index formula on the cylinder

If 1<p<∞1<p<\infty1<p<∞ and the asymptotic operators A±A^\pmA± are nondegenerate, then DS:W1,p→LpD_S:W^{1,p}\to L^pDS​:W1,p→Lp is Fredholm and ind⁡DS=μCZ(A+)−μCZ(A−)\operatorname{ind}D_S=\mu_{CZ}(A^+)-\mu_{CZ}(A^-)indDS​=μCZ​(A+)−μCZ​(A−) (Wendl, Theorem 5.4 with Theorem 4.3, for the cylinder).

Milestones

  1. Translation-invariant operators. For a nondegenerate loop S∞S_\inftyS∞​, ∂s+J0∂t+S∞(t):W1,p→Lp\partial_s+J_0\partial_t+S_\infty(t):W^{1,p}\to L^p∂s​+J0​∂t​+S∞​(t):W1,p→Lp is an isomorphism (Theorem 4.11).
  2. Global regularity. An LpL^pLp weak solution of DSη=f∈LpD_S\eta=f\in L^pDS​η=f∈Lp lies in W1,pW^{1,p}W1,p (Proposition 4.6).
  3. Local estimate. ∥η∥W1,p≤c∥DSη∥p+c∥η∥p\|\eta\|_{W^{1,p}}\le c\|D_S\eta\|_p+c\|\eta\|_p∥η∥W1,p​≤c∥DS​η∥p​+c∥η∥p​ for η\etaη supported in [−R,R]×S1[-R,R]\times S^1[−R,R]×S1 (Proposition 4.8).
  4. Estimate on the ends. ∥η∥W1,p≤c∥DSη∥p\|\eta\|_{W^{1,p}}\le c\|D_S\eta\|_p∥η∥W1,p​≤c∥DS​η∥p​ for η\etaη supported far out in an end with nondegenerate asymptotic operator (Proposition 4.9).
  5. An abstract estimate. If ∥x∥≤c∥Tx∥+c∥Kx∥\|x\|\le c\|Tx\|+c\|Kx\|∥x∥≤c∥Tx∥+c∥Kx∥ with KKK compact, then ker⁡T\ker TkerT is finite-dimensional and TTT has closed range (Lemma 4.12).
  6. Global estimate. ∥η∥W1,p≤c∥DSη∥p+c∥η∥Lp([−R,R]×S1)\|\eta\|_{W^{1,p}}\le c\|D_S\eta\|_p+c\|\eta\|_{L^p([-R,R]\times S^1)}∥η∥W1,p​≤c∥DS​η∥p​+c∥η∥Lp([−R,R]×S1)​ (Lemma 4.13).
  7. Compactness on finite cylinders. Bounded sequences in W1,pW^{1,p}W1,p have subsequences converging in Lp([−R,R]×S1)L^p([-R,R]\times S^1)Lp([−R,R]×S1) (Wendl, p. 74).
  8. Semi-Fredholm property of DSD_SDS​ (Corollary 4.14).
  9. Cokernel and formal adjoint. dim⁡coker⁡DS\dim\operatorname{coker}D_SdimcokerDS​ is finite and equals the kernel dimension of the Cauchy–Riemann operator DSˉD_{\bar S}DSˉ​ on W1,qW^{1,q}W1,q, Sˉ=−CSTC\bar S=-CS^{\mathsf T}CSˉ=−CSTC, 1/p+1/q=11/p+1/q=11/p+1/q=1, with CCC complex conjugation (Lemma 4.17, Proposition 4.18, Theorem 4.20).
  10. Fredholm property of DSD_SDS​ (Theorem 4.3).
  11. Independence of ppp of the kernel dimension and of the index (Theorem 4.3).
  12. Classification of nondegenerate asymptotic operators. Two nondegenerate loops have the same Conley–Zehnder index if and only if they are joined by a path of nondegenerate loops (Theorem 3.34).
  13. Conjugation. μCZ(−J0∂t+CS∞C)=−μCZ(−J0∂t−S∞)\mu_{CZ}(-J_0\partial_t+CS_\infty C)=-\mu_{CZ}(-J_0\partial_t-S_\infty)μCZ​(−J0​∂t​+CS∞​C)=−μCZ​(−J0​∂t​−S∞​) (Lemma 5.8).
  14. Model operators. η↦−J0η˙−πkη−σe2πiktηˉ\eta\mapsto-J_0\dot\eta-\pi k\eta-\sigma e^{2\pi ikt}\bar\etaη↦−J0​η˙​−πkη−σe2πiktηˉ​ on loops in C\mathbb{C}C is nondegenerate with Conley–Zehnder index kkk, for k∈Zk\in\mathbb{Z}k∈Z and σ>0\sigma>0σ>0 (Lemma 5.29).
  15. A plane equation without L2L^2L2 solutions. ∂ˉf+zˉfˉ=0\bar\partial f+\bar z\bar f=0∂ˉf+zˉfˉ​=0 has no nonzero smooth solution in L2(C)L^2(\mathbb{C})L2(C) (Proposition 5.20).
  16. A plane equation with Gaussian solutions. The smooth L2L^2L2 solutions of ∂ˉf+zfˉ=0\bar\partial f+z\bar f=0∂ˉf+zfˉ​=0 are the real multiples of e−∣z∣2/2e^{-|z|^2/2}e−∣z∣2/2 (Proposition 5.21).
  17. Large antilinear perturbations. For a function β\betaβ on the cylinder with normalized zeros, DS+σβ ⋅ ˉD_S+\sigma\beta\bar{\ \cdot\ }DS​+σβ ⋅ ˉ is onto with kernel of dimension #Z+\#Z^+#Z+ when all zeros are positive, and injective with cokernel of dimension #Z−\#Z^-#Z− when all zeros are negative, for all large σ\sigmaσ (Proposition 5.27).
  18. Antilinear deformations of asymptotic operators. If each asymptotic operator has the Conley–Zehnder index of an operator −J0∂t−S′±-J_0\partial_t-S'^\pm−J0​∂t​−S′± whose deformations −J0∂t−S′±−σβ± ⋅ ˉ-J_0\partial_t-S'^\pm-\sigma\beta_\pm\bar{\ \cdot\ }−J0​∂t​−S′±−σβ±​ ⋅ ˉ, σ≥0\sigma\ge0σ≥0, are all nondegenerate, then ind⁡DS=wind⁡β+−wind⁡β−\operatorname{ind}D_S=\operatorname{wind}\beta_+-\operatorname{wind}\beta_-indDS​=windβ+​−windβ−​ (Lemma 5.28).

Significance

The result. The index formula is the dimension formula for moduli spaces of pseudoholomorphic cylinders: Floer trajectories in Hamiltonian Floer homology and holomorphic cylinders in symplectizations. It fixes the grading of these theories, and its sign conventions are those of the Conley–Zehnder index of the asymptotic orbits.

Formalizing it. The mission builds Sobolev spaces on the cylinder, the Fredholm theory of Cauchy–Riemann operators with cylindrical ends, and the Conley–Zehnder index of asymptotic operators. These are the analytic foundations of Floer theory and symplectic field theory and are reusable for transversality arguments and for the indices of other operators. Milestone 5 is a general statement about Banach spaces.

Difficulty

The operators act between infinite-dimensional spaces of functions on a non-compact domain, so finiteness of kernel and cokernel is a global statement that sees the behaviour at both ends. The Sobolev space is defined as a closure, and the operator acts on its elements through their weak derivatives. The Conley–Zehnder index is defined through a continuous argument of a normalized complex determinant along a path of symplectic matrices, extended to a normal form; the conventions (sign of J0J_0J0​, orientation of the cylinder, which end is positive) all enter the final formula. Several milestones are uniform estimates in which the constant is chosen before the function.

Formalization scope

  • Namespace CauchyRiemannIndex. The definition module CauchyRiemannIndex_Setting defines the cylinder measure, W1p, crKernel, crRange, crIndex, IsFredholmCR, asymptotic operators through IsFundamentalSolution, IsNondegenerate and asymptoticCZIndex, and the Conley–Zehnder index czIndex of a symplectic path. The mission is standalone; czIndex and its auxiliary definitions repeat those of the ConleyZehnder mission word for word.
  • Spaces. R2n\mathbb{R}^{2n}R2n is EuclideanSpace ℝ (Fin n ⊕ Fin n), matrices are Matrix (Fin n ⊕ Fin n) (Fin n ⊕ Fin n) ℝ, and J0J_0J0​ is Matrix.J. Maps on the cylinder are maps ℝ × ℝ → ℝ²ⁿ, periodic in the second variable, and LpL^pLp is taken on the strip R×[0,1)\mathbb{R}\times[0,1)R×[0,1). W1,pW^{1,p}W1,p is a closed subspace of Lp × Lp × Lp, consisting of triples (u,∂su,∂tu)(u,\partial_su,\partial_tu)(u,∂s​u,∂t​u).
  • Exponents. ppp is in ℝ≥0∞ with 1<p1<p1<p and p≠∞p\ne\inftyp=∞. Norms of smooth maps are eLpNorm in ℝ≥0∞; constants are in ℝ≥0.
  • Indices. The Fredholm index is finrank ker - finrank (Lp ⧸ range) in ℤ; statements that use it also assert that both are finite-dimensional.
  • Smoothness. Smoothness is ContDiff ℝ ∞ (C∞C^\inftyC∞, not analytic). The coefficient SSS is only assumed continuous, with uniform convergence at the ends.

Contributions welcome: general lemmas on Sobolev spaces of periodic functions, on Fredholm operators between Banach spaces, and on the Conley–Zehnder index.

Selected references

  • C. Wendl, Lectures on Symplectic Field Theory, arXiv:1612.01009, Lectures 3–5. https://arxiv.org/abs/1612.01009
  • J. Gutt, Generalized Conley–Zehnder index, Ann. Fac. Sci. Toulouse Math. (6) 23 (2014), 907–932, arXiv:1307.7239. https://arxiv.org/abs/1307.7239
  • D. Salamon, Lectures on Floer homology, in Symplectic Geometry and Topology, IAS/Park City Math. Ser. 7, AMS (1999), 143–229.
  • M. Schwarz, Cohomology operations from S¹-cobordisms in Floer homology, PhD thesis, ETH Zürich (1995).
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AnalysisPartial Differential Equations·Captain: mikedeng1

Notes on Partial Differential Equations IV: Extension, Trace and the Rellich–Kondrachov TheoremTextbook

Motivation

Existence theory for elliptic, parabolic and nonlinear PDEs mostly runs through one argument: build approximate solutions, bound them in a Sobolev norm, extract a convergent subsequence, and pass to the limit. The extraction step needs a compact embedding: a bound on derivatives must buy convergence of the functions themselves in a weaker norm. On a bounded domain this is the Rellich–Kondrachov theorem. It is what makes the resolvent of the Dirichlet Laplacian compact, and so gives the Fredholm alternative and the discrete spectrum of elliptic operators on bounded domains. The companion topics of the same section, extension and trace, are how Sobolev functions are moved between a domain and all of space, and how they are given boundary values.

This mission follows Chapter 3 (§3.9–3.10) and Theorem 1.15 of J. K. Hunter's Notes on Partial Differential Equations (UC Davis lecture notes, revised 6/18/2014).

Timeline. Rellich proved the compactness of H01↪L2H^1_0 \hookrightarrow L^2H01​↪L2 on bounded domains in 1930. Kondrachov extended it to W1,pW^{1,p}W1,p and exponents below the Sobolev exponent in 1945. The LpL^pLp compactness criterion used in the notes goes back to Kolmogorov (1931) and M. Riesz (1933); a modern account with a history is Hanche-Olsen and Holden 2010. Gagliardo characterized the traces of W1,pW^{1,p}W1,p in 1957.

Setting

Throughout, Rn\mathbb{R}^nRn carries Lebesgue measure, and functions are real-valued. For an open set Ω⊆Rn\Omega \subseteq \mathbb{R}^nΩ⊆Rn, a test function ϕ∈Cc∞(Ω)\phi \in C_c^\infty(\Omega)ϕ∈Cc∞​(Ω) is smooth with compact support inside Ω\OmegaΩ. A locally integrable ggg is the weak derivative ∂αf\partial^\alpha f∂αf of a locally integrable fff if ∫Ωgϕ=(−1)∣α∣∫Ωf ∂αϕ\int_\Omega g\phi = (-1)^{|\alpha|}\int_\Omega f\,\partial^\alpha\phi∫Ω​gϕ=(−1)∣α∣∫Ω​f∂αϕ for every test function ϕ\phiϕ. Here α∈N0n\alpha \in \mathbb{N}_0^nα∈N0n​ is a multi-index of order ∣α∣=∑iαi|\alpha| = \sum_i \alpha_i∣α∣=∑i​αi​.

For k∈Nk \in \mathbb{N}k∈N and 1≤p≤∞1 \le p \le \infty1≤p≤∞, the Sobolev space Wk,p(Ω)W^{k,p}(\Omega)Wk,p(Ω) consists of the fff whose weak derivatives ∂αf\partial^\alpha f∂αf, ∣α∣≤k|\alpha| \le k∣α∣≤k, exist and lie in Lp(Ω)L^p(\Omega)Lp(Ω). For p<∞p < \inftyp<∞ its norm is

∥f∥Wk,p(Ω)=(∑∣α∣≤k∫Ω∣∂αf∣p dx)1/p,\|f\|_{W^{k,p}(\Omega)} = \Big(\sum_{|\alpha|\le k} \int_\Omega |\partial^\alpha f|^p\,dx\Big)^{1/p},∥f∥Wk,p(Ω)​=(∣α∣≤k∑​∫Ω​∣∂αf∣pdx)1/p,

and for p=∞p = \inftyp=∞ it is the maximum of the essential suprema. The space W0k,p(Ω)W^{k,p}_0(\Omega)W0k,p​(Ω) is the closure of Cc∞(Ω)C_c^\infty(\Omega)Cc∞​(Ω) in this norm. For 1≤p<n1 \le p < n1≤p<n the Sobolev conjugate is p∗=np/(n−p)p^* = np/(n-p)p∗=np/(n−p).

The upper half-space is R+n={x=(x′,xn):xn>0}\mathbb{R}^n_+ = \{x = (x', x_n) : x_n > 0\}R+n​={x=(x′,xn​):xn​>0}, with closure R‾+n\overline{\mathbb{R}}^n_+R+n​ and boundary ∂R+n={(x′,0)}≅Rn−1\partial\mathbb{R}^n_+ = \{(x', 0)\} \cong \mathbb{R}^{n-1}∂R+n​={(x′,0)}≅Rn−1. The space Cc∞(R‾+n)C_c^\infty(\overline{\mathbb{R}}^n_+)Cc∞​(R+n​) consists of the functions that are smooth up to the boundary and vanish outside a compact set. Unlike Cc∞(R+n)C_c^\infty(\mathbb{R}^n_+)Cc∞​(R+n​), they need not vanish on ∂R+n\partial\mathbb{R}^n_+∂R+n​.

A subset of a metric space is precompact if its closure is compact. C0(Rn)C_0(\mathbb{R}^n)C0​(Rn) is the space of continuous functions vanishing at infinity, with the sup norm.

In Lean the weak derivative is HasWeakDeriv (with weakDeriv and weakGradNorm) in the series' shared namespace HunterPDE.Shared; the other objects are MemW k p Ω f, sobolevNorm k p Ω f, MemW0 k p Ω f, sobolevConjugate, upperHalfSpace m, IsSmoothCompactClosedHalfSpace and boundaryPoint, in the namespace HunterPDE.Compactness.

Formalization targets

Goal: Rellich–Kondrachov (Theorem 3.45)

Let Ω\OmegaΩ be a bounded open set in Rn\mathbb{R}^nRn, 1≤p<n1 \le p < n1≤p<n and 1≤q<p∗1 \le q < p^*1≤q<p∗. If F⊆W01,p(Ω)\mathcal{F} \subseteq W^{1,p}_0(\Omega)F⊆W01,p​(Ω) satisfies ∥f∥W1,p(Ω)≤M\|f\|_{W^{1,p}(\Omega)} \le M∥f∥W1,p(Ω)​≤M for all f∈Ff \in \mathcal{F}f∈F, then

{ f1Ω:f∈F } is precompact in Lq(Rn).\{\, f\mathbf{1}_\Omega : f \in \mathcal{F} \,\} \ \text{is precompact in } L^q(\mathbb{R}^n).{f1Ω​:f∈F} is precompact in Lq(Rn).

Milestones

  • Theorem 1.15 (Kolmogorov–Riesz). For 1≤p<∞1 \le p < \infty1≤p<∞, a set F⊆Lp(Rn)\mathcal{F} \subseteq L^p(\mathbb{R}^n)F⊆Lp(Rn) is precompact if and only if it is bounded, tight (sup⁡f∥f∥Lp(∣x∣>R)→0\sup_{f}\|f\|_{L^p(|x|>R)} \to 0supf​∥f∥Lp(∣x∣>R)​→0 as R→∞R \to \inftyR→∞), and LpL^pLp-equicontinuous:
∀ε>0 ∃δ>0: ∣h∣<δ  ⟹  ∥f(⋅+h)−f∥Lp(Rn)<ε∀f∈F.\forall \varepsilon > 0\ \exists \delta > 0:\ |h| < \delta \implies \|f(\cdot + h) - f\|_{L^p(\mathbb{R}^n)} < \varepsilon \quad \forall f \in \mathcal{F}.∀ε>0 ∃δ>0: ∣h∣<δ⟹∥f(⋅+h)−f∥Lp(Rn)​<ε∀f∈F.
  • Theorem 3.41 (extension). There is a bounded linear E:W1,p(R+n)→W1,p(Rn)E : W^{1,p}(\mathbb{R}^n_+) \to W^{1,p}(\mathbb{R}^n)E:W1,p(R+n​)→W1,p(Rn) with Ef=fEf = fEf=f a.e. on R+n\mathbb{R}^n_+R+n​ and ∥Ef∥W1,p(Rn)≤C(n,p) ∥f∥W1,p(R+n)\|Ef\|_{W^{1,p}(\mathbb{R}^n)} \le C(n,p)\,\|f\|_{W^{1,p}(\mathbb{R}^n_+)}∥Ef∥W1,p(Rn)​≤C(n,p)∥f∥W1,p(R+n​)​.
  • Theorem 3.42 (density). Cc∞(R‾+n)C_c^\infty(\overline{\mathbb{R}}^n_+)Cc∞​(R+n​) is dense in Wk,p(R+n)W^{k,p}(\mathbb{R}^n_+)Wk,p(R+n​) for 1≤p<∞1 \le p < \infty1≤p<∞.
  • Theorem 3.44 (trace). For 1≤p<∞1 \le p < \infty1≤p<∞ there is a bounded linear T:W1,p(R+n)→Lp(Rn−1)T : W^{1,p}(\mathbb{R}^n_+) \to L^p(\mathbb{R}^{n-1})T:W1,p(R+n​)→Lp(Rn−1) with (Tf)(x′)=f(x′,0)(Tf)(x') = f(x', 0)(Tf)(x′)=f(x′,0) on Cc∞(R‾+n)C_c^\infty(\overline{\mathbb{R}}^n_+)Cc∞​(R+n​) and ∥Tf∥Lp≤C(p) ∥f∥W1,p(R+n)\|Tf\|_{L^p} \le C(p)\,\|f\|_{W^{1,p}(\mathbb{R}^n_+)}∥Tf∥Lp​≤C(p)∥f∥W1,p(R+n​)​, whose kernel is exactly W01,p(R+n)W^{1,p}_0(\mathbb{R}^n_+)W01,p​(R+n​).
  • Theorem 3.48 (p>np > np>n). For Ω\OmegaΩ bounded and n<p<∞n < p < \inftyn<p<∞, a family with supp⁡f⋐Ω\operatorname{supp} f \Subset \Omegasuppf⋐Ω and ∥Df∥Lp≤C\|Df\|_{L^p} \le C∥Df∥Lp​≤C is precompact in C0(Rn)C_0(\mathbb{R}^n)C0​(Rn).

The goal is stated qualitatively (precompactness), with no constants, so it does not depend on any particular form of the Sobolev inequality.

Significance

The result itself. Rellich–Kondrachov is the source of compactness in the L2L^2L2 theory of elliptic equations. With it, the solution operator of a coercive elliptic problem on a bounded domain is compact. That yields the Fredholm alternative, the discreteness of the Dirichlet spectrum, and existence results for semilinear problems via compactness and fixed-point arguments. The trace theorem makes the boundary condition "u=0u = 0u=0 on ∂Ω\partial\Omega∂Ω" meaningful for Sobolev functions, and identifies W01,pW^{1,p}_0W01,p​ as the space in which Dirichlet problems are posed. The extension theorem transfers whole-space results to domains. Theorem 3.48 gives the uniform-norm counterpart above the critical exponent.

Formalizing it. All results here are classical and proved. The notes prove 3.45, 3.48 and the forward direction of 3.44. They describe 3.41 and 3.42 in a sentence each, and cite 1.15 without proof. Mathlib has the Lebesgue spaces Lp, Arzelà–Ascoli for bounded continuous functions, and mollification. It has no weak derivatives, no Sobolev spaces on domains, no trace, no extension operators and no Kolmogorov–Riesz criterion. A complete development would supply the first machine-checked versions of these in the notes' form, and a formal W01,pW^{1,p}_0W01,p​ compactness theorem usable by the elliptic chapters of the same series.

Difficulty

The obvious route to the goal is: approximate by test functions, extend by zero, and verify the three Kolmogorov–Riesz conditions. The first two follow from the Sobolev inequality and the boundedness of Ω\OmegaΩ. The hard parts are elsewhere. First, the Kolmogorov–Riesz criterion is not in Mathlib, and its "if" direction needs a mollification and total-boundedness argument in Lp(Rn)L^p(\mathbb{R}^n)Lp(Rn). Second, the LqL^qLq-equicontinuity for qqq above ppp needs an interpolation between an L1L^1L1 translation estimate and the critical Sobolev embedding into Lp∗L^{p^*}Lp∗, so the Gagliardo–Nirenberg–Sobolev inequality must be available for W01,p(Ω)W^{1,p}_0(\Omega)W01,p​(Ω), not only for smooth compactly supported functions. Third, weak derivatives are defined by integration against test functions, and every density step has to be carried through that definition. The exponent restriction q<p∗q < p^*q<p∗ is sharp (Example 3.47 in the notes), so no argument that ignores it can succeed.

Formalization scope

  • Rn\mathbb{R}^nRn is EuclideanSpace ℝ (Fin n) with volume. Open sets are Ω : Set _ with IsOpen Ω, and bounded means Bornology.IsBounded Ω. Coordinates are 0-based (i : Fin n), and multi-indices are α : Fin n → ℕ.
  • Functions are ℝⁿ → ℝ, and only their values on the relevant set matter. weakDeriv is a chosen representative, used only where a weak derivative is assumed to exist. sobolevNorm takes values in ℝ≥0∞.
  • W01,p(Ω)W^{1,p}_0(\Omega)W01,p​(Ω) is the norm closure of Cc∞(Ω)C_c^\infty(\Omega)Cc∞​(Ω), not "zero trace". "Bounded in W01,p(Ω)W^{1,p}_0(\Omega)W01,p​(Ω)" is a uniform bound on sobolevNorm 1 p Ω.
  • In the goal, F\mathcal{F}F is placed in Lq(Rn)L^q(\mathbb{R}^n)Lq(Rn) by extension by zero (Ω.indicator f). The conclusion asserts both that each extension lies in LqL^qLq and that the set of their classes in Mathlib's Lp ℝ q volume has compact closure. The hypothesis q<p∗q < p^*q<p∗ rules out q=∞q = \inftyq=∞.
  • Half-space results use dimension n=m+1n = m+1n=m+1 and the last coordinate Fin.last m. The boundary is Rm\mathbb{R}^mRm via x′↦(x′,0)x' \mapsto (x',0)x′↦(x′,0). Extension and trace operators are maps on functions that are linear up to a.e. equality on W1,p(R+n)W^{1,p}(\mathbb{R}^n_+)W1,p(R+n​).
  • Conventions read off the page: in Theorem 3.44 the trace constant is quantified before the dimension ("depending only on ppp"), and its final clause is taken with k=1k = 1k=1 (the printed "W0k,pW^{k,p}_0W0k,p​" cannot mean k≥2k \ge 2k≥2, as the notes remark after the proof). Theorem 3.42 is stated for 1≤p<∞1 \le p < \infty1≤p<∞, and Theorem 3.41 for 1≤p≤∞1 \le p \le \infty1≤p≤∞. Theorem 3.48 assumes n≥1n \ge 1n≥1.
  • A trivializing reading is ruled out: the goal's conclusion is compactness of the closure in Lq(Rn)L^q(\mathbb{R}^n)Lq(Rn) of the zero extensions themselves, not of some other representative. The norm bound is on the genuine weak derivatives, which the hypotheses guarantee exist, not on a junk value.
  • Reusable infrastructure: weak derivatives and Sobolev spaces on open sets, the Kolmogorov–Riesz criterion, and the half-space extension and trace operators. Contributions of any of these as standalone lemmas are welcome.

Selected references

  • J. K. Hunter, Notes on Partial Differential Equations, UC Davis lecture notes, revised 6/18/2014, §1.5 and §3.9–3.10. https://www.math.ucdavis.edu/~hunter/pdes/pde_notes.pdf
  • H. Hanche-Olsen and H. Holden, The Kolmogorov–Riesz compactness theorem, Expositiones Mathematicae 28 (2010) 385–394. https://arxiv.org/abs/0906.4883
  • L. C. Evans, Partial Differential Equations, 2nd ed., AMS Graduate Studies in Mathematics 19, 2010, §5.5–5.7. https://doi.org/10.1090/gsm/019
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OptimizationTheoretical Computer Science·Captain: Lucas

The Grothendieck Constant: New Upper and Lower BoundsOpen Problem

Motivation

Given a real matrix A=(aij)∈Rm×nA=(a_{ij})\in\mathbb R^{m\times n}A=(aij​)∈Rm×n, consider maximizing the bilinear form ∑i,jaijxiyj\sum_{i,j}a_{ij}x_iy_j∑i,j​aij​xi​yj​ over sign vectors x∈{±1}mx\in\{\pm1\}^mx∈{±1}m, y∈{±1}ny\in\{\pm1\}^ny∈{±1}n. This discrete optimum, written OPT(A)\mathrm{OPT}(A)OPT(A), is closely tied to the cut norm of a matrix and is NP-hard to compute. Relaxing each sign to a unit vector and each product to an inner product gives the semidefinite value SDP(A)\mathrm{SDP}(A)SDP(A), computable in polynomial time. Grothendieck's inequality (Grothendieck, 1953) states that the relaxation overshoots by at most a universal factor: there is a finite KKK, independent of AAA, of m,nm,nm,n, and of the dimension of the vectors, with SDP(A)≤K⋅OPT(A)\mathrm{SDP}(A)\le K\cdot\mathrm{OPT}(A)SDP(A)≤K⋅OPT(A) for every AAA. The Grothendieck constant KGK_GKG​ is the least such KKK — equivalently, the worst-case integrality gap of the canonical semidefinite relaxation of this bilinear problem.

The constant is not a curiosity of one optimization problem. It originated in functional analysis, where it is central to the geometry of Banach spaces and to harmonic analysis; it governs the approximation ratio available for cut norms; and, in quantum information, it measures the maximal advantage of quantum over classical correlations in Bell-type experiments. Its exact value has been open since 1953.

A timeline of the bounds:

  • 1953, Grothendieck. Existence of a finite KKK, together with the lower bound KG≥π/2=1.5707…K_G\ge\pi/2=1.5707\ldotsKG​≥π/2=1.5707…
  • 1977, Krivine. KG≤π/(2log⁡(1+2))=1.7822…K_G\le\pi/\bigl(2\log(1+\sqrt2)\bigr)=1.7822\ldotsKG​≤π/(2log(1+2​))=1.7822…, obtained by analyzing hyperplane rounding, and conjectured to be optimal.
  • 1984/1991, Davie and Reeds (independently). KG≥1.6769…K_G\ge1.6769\ldotsKG​≥1.6769…, from an explicit high-dimensional Gaussian hard instance.
  • 2011, Braverman–Makarychev–Makarychev–Naor. Krivine's conjecture is false: KG<π/(2log⁡(1+2))K_G<\pi/(2\log(1+\sqrt2))KG​<π/(2log(1+2​)) strictly, with no quantitative gap.
  • 2014, Naor–Regev. Mixtures of Krivine schemes are asymptotically optimal: rounding schemes of this one family approach the true value of KGK_GKG​.
  • 2026, Heilman; Jones–Malavolta. The first improvements on Davie–Reeds, by 10−2610^{-26}10−26 and 10−1210^{-12}10−12 respectively; and the first explicit numerical improvements on Krivine's bound, of order 10−510^{-5}10−5 (Heilman; Li–Saha–Xue et al.).
  • 2026, Saha–Li–Xue–Chaudhuri–Klivans–Kothari–Meka. The bounds this mission targets:
6π11 ≤ KG ≤ π2log⁡(1+2)−3.47×10−4,\frac{6\pi}{11}\ \le\ K_G\ \le\ \frac{\pi}{2\log(1+\sqrt2)}-3.47\times10^{-4},116π​ ≤ KG​ ≤ 2log(1+2​)π​−3.47×10−4,

i.e. 1.7135…≤KG≤1.7818…1.7135\ldots\le K_G\le1.7818\ldots1.7135…≤KG​≤1.7818…, which fixes the tenths digit of KGK_GKG​ at 777.

Setting

Fix m,n∈Nm,n\in\mathbb Nm,n∈N and A∈Rm×nA\in\mathbb R^{m\times n}A∈Rm×n.

OPT(A):=max⁡x∈{±1}m,  y∈{±1}n∑i,jaijxiyj,SDP(A):=sup⁡d∈N sup⁡ui,vj∈Sd−1∑i,jaij⟨ui,vj⟩.\mathrm{OPT}(A):=\max_{x\in\{\pm1\}^m,\;y\in\{\pm1\}^n}\sum_{i,j}a_{ij}x_iy_j,\qquad \mathrm{SDP}(A):=\sup_{d\in\mathbb N}\ \sup_{u_i,v_j\in S^{d-1}}\sum_{i,j}a_{ij}\langle u_i,v_j\rangle .OPT(A):=x∈{±1}m,y∈{±1}nmax​i,j∑​aij​xi​yj​,SDP(A):=d∈Nsup​ ui​,vj​∈Sd−1sup​i,j∑​aij​⟨ui​,vj​⟩.

Here u1,…,umu_1,\dots,u_mu1​,…,um​ and v1,…,vnv_1,\dots,v_nv1​,…,vn​ are unit vectors of a common but arbitrary finite dimension ddd. Since a sign is a unit vector in dimension one, OPT(A)≤SDP(A)\mathrm{OPT}(A)\le\mathrm{SDP}(A)OPT(A)≤SDP(A). Call KKK a Grothendieck bound if SDP(A)≤K⋅OPT(A)\mathrm{SDP}(A)\le K\cdot\mathrm{OPT}(A)SDP(A)≤K⋅OPT(A) for every mmm, nnn and AAA, and set KG:=inf⁡{K:K is a Grothendieck bound}K_G:=\inf\{K: K\text{ is a Grothendieck bound}\}KG​:=inf{K:K is a Grothendieck bound}.

Upper bounds on KGK_GKG​ come from rounding algorithms. A Krivine scheme of dimension kkk is a pair of partitions of Rk\mathbb R^kRk into a +1+1+1 region and a −1-1−1 region, encoded by measurable odd functions f,g:Rk→{±1}f,g:\mathbb R^k\to\{\pm1\}f,g:Rk→{±1}: the algorithm maps each SDP vector to a Gaussian point in Rk\mathbb R^kRk, correlated according to the inner products, and reads off the label of the region the point lands in. Taking f=g=sgn⁡(z1)f=g=\operatorname{sgn}(z_1)f=g=sgn(z1​) recovers random hyperplane rounding. The quality of a scheme is carried by its normalized correlation function

H(t):=π2 E[f(X)g(Y)],H(t):=\frac{\pi}{2}\,\mathbb E\bigl[f(X)g(Y)\bigr],H(t):=2π​E[f(X)g(Y)],

where X,YX,YX,Y are standard Gaussian vectors in Rk\mathbb R^kRk with E[XiYi]=t\mathbb E[X_iY_i]=tE[Xi​Yi​]=t for every coordinate iii. For the half-space partition H(t)=arcsin⁡tH(t)=\arcsin tH(t)=arcsint, whose analysis gives Krivine's bound. Writing the odd expansion H(t)=b1t+b3t3+⋯H(t)=b_1t+b_3t^3+\cdotsH(t)=b1​t+b3​t3+⋯, the hyperplane scheme sits at (b1,b3)=(1,16)(b_1,b_3)=(1,\tfrac16)(b1​,b3​)=(1,61​).

Formalization targets

Goal

6π11 ≤ KG ≤ π2log⁡(1+2)−3.47×10−4\frac{6\pi}{11}\ \le\ K_G\ \le\ \frac{\pi}{2\log(1+\sqrt2)}-3.47\times10^{-4}116π​ ≤ KG​ ≤ 2log(1+2​)π​−3.47×10−4

This is the two-sided bound the source paper states as the outcome of its Theorems 2.1 and 2.2. It is the weakest statement that carries both of the paper's contributions at once; each side is also a milestone in its own right, so partial progress is recorded even if only one direction closes.

Milestones

The milestone list runs from the classical background to the two new bounds: OPT≤SDP\mathrm{OPT}\le\mathrm{SDP}OPT≤SDP; the existence of a finite Grothendieck bound; KG≥π/2K_G\ge\pi/2KG​≥π/2; Krivine's KG≤π/(2log⁡(1+2))K_G\le\pi/(2\log(1+\sqrt2))KG​≤π/(2log(1+2​)); the affine coefficient constraint b3≥2b1−116b_3\ge2b_1-\tfrac{11}{6}b3​≥2b1​−611​ valid for every Krivine scheme (Theorem 2.2, equation (1)); the transfer of a member of the affine family into a lower bound on KGK_GKG​ (Appendix A); the lower bound KG≥6π/11K_G\ge6\pi/11KG​≥6π/11 (Theorem 2.2); and the cubic–quintic upper bound (Theorem 2.1).

Significance

The two target bounds narrow an interval that had been essentially static for four decades: before 2026 the state of the art was 1.6769…≤KG≤1.7822…1.6769\ldots\le K_G\le1.7822\ldots1.6769…≤KG​≤1.7822…, wide enough that the tenths digit was unknown. The lower bound is also methodologically new. Every previous lower bound was obtained by exhibiting a hard instance; this one instead proves a ceiling on the performance of every rounding scheme in the Krivine family and converts that ceiling, through the Naor–Regev optimality theorem, into a bound on the constant. The affine constraint b3≥2b1−116b_3\ge2b_1-\tfrac{11}{6}b3​≥2b1​−611​ is the transportable core of that argument: being affine in the coefficients, it survives mixing schemes and passing to limits, which is exactly what the reduction to KGK_GKG​ requires.

On the formalization side, nothing here is machine-checked today. The upper bound (Theorem 2.1) is certified by interval arithmetic in the companion paper, and the lower bound's central one-dimensional inequality likewise rests on a computer-assisted certificate; reproducing either inside Lean means building a rigorous numeric layer on top of the analytic argument. Ahead of that, the mission needs a formal definition of KGK_GKG​ itself and of the Krivine-scheme apparatus, neither of which exists in Mathlib — these are reusable well beyond this mission, since Grothendieck's inequality feeds cut-norm approximation and Bell-inequality bounds. Contributions of intermediate lemmas about OPT\mathrm{OPT}OPT, SDP\mathrm{SDP}SDP, Gaussian correlation identities, and Hermite expansions are welcome even when the headline bounds stay open.

Difficulty

The obvious route to a lower bound is to write down a matrix and compute. That route is what Davie and Reeds exhausted; improving it has produced gains of order 10−1210^{-12}10−12 at best, because the hard instances are high-dimensional Gaussian objects whose OPT\mathrm{OPT}OPT is itself hard to bound tightly. The route taken here avoids instances entirely, and its difficulty lies elsewhere: a constraint on a single scheme is worthless unless it survives averaging over schemes and passing to limits of schemes of growing dimension, since only then does the Naor–Regev optimality theorem convert it into a statement about KGK_GKG​. Constraints that are nonlinear in the scheme do not survive that passage, which is why the target inequality is affine in (b1,b3)(b_1,b_3)(b1​,b3​). For the upper bound, the difficulty is that the improvement is genuinely asymptotic: it comes from a limit of schemes of growing dimension rather than any fixed low-dimensional partition, and the final margin of 3.47×10−43.47\times10^{-4}3.47×10−4 is certified numerically rather than in closed form.

Formalization scope

OPT(A)\mathrm{OPT}(A)OPT(A) and SDP(A)\mathrm{SDP}(A)SDP(A) are defined as suprema of explicitly described sets of reals, over matrices indexed by Fin m and Fin n with real entries; the sign vectors are real-valued functions constrained to take the values 111 and −1-1−1, and the relaxation quantifies over unit vectors of EuclideanSpace ℝ (Fin d) for an existentially quantified ddd, so no dimension bound is built in. The empty-index cases m=0m=0m=0 or n=0n=0n=0 are included and give value 000 on both sides. KGK_GKG​ is the infimum of the set of Grothendieck bounds; that set is nonempty precisely by Grothendieck's inequality, which is itself a milestone, and it is bounded below, so the infimum is not a junk value.

A Krivine scheme is a structure carrying two measurable ±1\pm1±1-valued functions on Fin k → ℝ, each odd almost everywhere. Almost-everywhere oddness is forced: no ±1\pm1±1-valued function satisfies f(−0)=−f(0)f(-0)=-f(0)f(−0)=−f(0) at the origin, so a pointwise requirement would make the structure empty and every statement about schemes vacuous. With the null-set relaxation the half-space partition is a scheme in every dimension k≥1k\ge1k≥1, and the definition file constructs it, pinning down non-vacuity; dimension k=0k=0k=0 admits no scheme. The correlation function is the explicit double Gaussian integral against the correlated-pair density, scaled by π/2\pi/2π/2, and the coefficients b1,b3b_1,b_3b1​,b3​ are read off as H′(0)H'(0)H′(0) and H′′′(0)/6H'''(0)/6H′′′(0)/6 — where HHH fails to be three times differentiable at 000 these are the ambient junk value 000, which a solver should keep in mind when reading the coefficient milestones.

No trivializing reading is available for the goal: it pins KGK_GKG​ between two explicit numerical constants, so it can be satisfied neither vacuously nor by a degenerate convention. Solvers should be aware that the source paper states its two theorems in abridged form and refers to its companion paper for the full proofs, and that the further bounds reported there — the stronger lower rungs 27π/4927\pi/4927π/49 and 51π/9251\pi/9251π/92, and the upper values 1.7818018410331.7818018410331.781801841033 and 1.78133198106256391.78133198106256391.7813319810625639 — are explicitly described as system-tested but not author-verified; they are deliberately outside this mission's milestone list.

Selected references

  • A. Grothendieck, Résumé de la théorie métrique des produits tensoriels topologiques, Bol. Soc. Mat. São Paulo 8 (1953), 1–79.
  • J.-L. Krivine, Sur la constante de Grothendieck, C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris (1977).
  • M. Braverman, K. Makarychev, Y. Makarychev, A. Naor, The Grothendieck constant is strictly smaller than Krivine's bound, FOCS 2011, 453–462. https://doi.org/10.1109/FOCS.2011.77
  • A. Naor, O. Regev, Krivine schemes are optimal, Proc. Amer. Math. Soc. 142 (2014), 4315–4320. https://doi.org/10.1090/S0002-9939-2014-12145-3
  • N. Alon, A. Naor, Approximating the cut-norm via Grothendieck's inequality, SIAM J. Comput. 35 (2006), 787–803. https://doi.org/10.1137/S0097539704441629
  • A. Li, R. Saha, A. Xue, S. Chaudhuri, A. Klivans, P. K. Kothari, R. Meka, Long-Horizon AI Research for Grothendieck Constant: A Case Study in Human–AI Mathematical Collaboration, arXiv:2608.11195v3, 2026. https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.11195
  • R. Saha, A. Li, A. Xue, S. Chaudhuri, A. Klivans, P. K. Kothari, R. Meka, New upper and lower bounds for the Grothendieck constant, 2026 (companion paper containing the full proofs).
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Machine LearningProbabilityStatistics·Captain: mikedeng1

High-Dimensional Statistics XI: The Moore-Aronszajn TheoremTextbook

Motivation

Many statistical problems — nonparametric regression, density estimation, dimension reduction, testing — are naturally posed as optimization over a space of functions rather than a finite-dimensional parameter vector. Hilbert spaces provide the right generality: they carry an inner product and a norm, so notions of projection, orthogonality and least-squares fitting all make sense, exactly as in ordinary Euclidean space, even though the "vectors" are now functions. Reproducing kernel Hilbert spaces (RKHSs) are the particular class of function-valued Hilbert spaces that make this program computationally tractable: they are generated by a single bivariate kernel function, and every RKHS computation reduces to evaluating that kernel, never to manipulating an infinite-dimensional object directly (the "kernel trick"). Wainwright's High-Dimensional Statistics (2019), Chapter 12, develops the foundational correspondence between kernels and Hilbert spaces that makes this possible, and this mission formalizes its two central theorems.

Setting

A Hilbert space is a complete inner product space (Definitions 12.1–12.2); this mission uses Mathlib's own NormedAddCommGroup/InnerProductSpace ℝ/CompleteSpace typeclasses for this notion throughout. A linear functional L:H→RL:H\to\mathbb RL:H→R is bounded if ∣L(f)∣≤M∥f∥H|L(f)|\le M\|f\|_H∣L(f)∣≤M∥f∥H​ for some M<∞M<\inftyM<∞ and all f∈Hf\in Hf∈H; the Riesz representation theorem (Theorem 12.5) says every such functional is L(f)=⟨f,g⟩HL(f)=\langle f,g\rangle_HL(f)=⟨f,g⟩H​ for a unique g∈Hg\in Hg∈H.

A bivariate function K:X×X→RK:X\times X\to\mathbb RK:X×X→R is a positive semidefinite (PSD) kernel (Definition 12.6) if it is symmetric and every finite Gram matrix (K(xi,xj))i,j=1n(K(x_i,x_j))_{i,j=1}^n(K(xi​,xj​))i,j=1n​ is positive semidefinite — the natural generalization of a PSD matrix to a (possibly infinite) index set XXX, with no topological structure on XXX required. A reproducing kernel Hilbert space (RKHS) for a kernel KKK is a Hilbert space HHH of functions on XXX such that, for every x∈Xx\in Xx∈X, the function K(⋅,x)K(\cdot,x)K(⋅,x) belongs to HHH and

⟨f,K(⋅,x)⟩H=f(x)for all f∈H(12.3)\langle f, K(\cdot,x)\rangle_H = f(x) \qquad \text{for all } f\in H \tag{12.3}⟨f,K(⋅,x)⟩H​=f(x)for all f∈H(12.3)

— the reproducing property. Equivalently (Definition 12.12), HHH is an RKHS exactly when every evaluation functional f↦f(x)f\mapsto f(x)f↦f(x) is bounded on HHH.

Formalization targets

Goal (Theorem 12.11, the Moore-Aronszajn theorem)

Given any PSD kernel function KKK on any set XXX, there is a Hilbert space HHH (embedded into functions on XXX) in which KKK satisfies the reproducing property (12.3) — and this Hilbert space is unique: any two Hilbert spaces with this property for the same KKK are linearly isometric via an isometry intertwining their embeddings into functions on XXX.

Milestones

  • Theorem 12.5 (Riesz representation). Every bounded linear functional on a Hilbert space HHH has a unique representer g∈Hg\in Hg∈H: L(f)=⟨f,g⟩HL(f)=\langle f,g\rangle_HL(f)=⟨f,g⟩H​ for all fff. Used inside the proof of Theorem 12.13 to produce the representer RxR_xRx​ of each evaluation functional.
  • Theorem 12.13 (the converse correspondence). Given any Hilbert space HHH of functions on XXX in which every evaluation functional is bounded, there is a unique PSD kernel KKK satisfying the reproducing property for HHH — completing the Moore-Aronszajn equivalence between PSD kernels and Hilbert spaces with bounded evaluation functionals.
  • Theorem 12.20 (Mercer's theorem). Under compactness of XXX, continuity of KKK, and the Hilbert-Schmidt condition ∫X×XK2 dP dP<∞\int_{X\times X}K^2\,dP\,dP<\infty∫X×X​K2dPdP<∞, the integral operator TK(f)(x)=∫XK(x,z)f(z) dP(z)T_K(f)(x)=\int_XK(x,z)f(z)\,dP(z)TK​(f)(x)=∫X​K(x,z)f(z)dP(z) has an orthonormal eigenbasis (φj)(\varphi_j)(φj​) of L2(X;P)L^2(X;P)L2(X;P) with non-negative eigenvalues (μj)(\mu_j)(μj​), and K(x,z)=∑jμjφj(x)φj(z)K(x,z)=\sum_j\mu_j\varphi_j(x)\varphi_j(z)K(x,z)=∑j​μj​φj​(x)φj​(z), with the series converging absolutely and uniformly.

Significance

Theorem 12.11 is the theorem that makes the entire RKHS apparatus well-posed: every time a statistician writes down a kernel — linear, polynomial, Gaussian — Theorem 12.11 guarantees that a canonical Hilbert space of functions exists in which that kernel reproduces, so that optimizing over "the RKHS associated with KKK" is a well-defined problem, not merely a suggestive shorthand. Theorem 12.13's converse shows the correspondence is exact — the class of kernel-generated Hilbert spaces is exactly the class of function spaces with bounded evaluation, the class relevant to any statistical application that samples a function at finitely many points. Together, these two results are the foundation the book's own later chapters build directly on: Chapter 13's nonparametric least-squares oracle inequality, and Chapter 14's kernel density estimation, both work by optimizing over an RKHS and are only well-posed because of this correspondence. Mercer's theorem, in turn, is what connects the RKHS viewpoint back to the earlier feature-map viewpoint of Chapter 12.2.2 (Eq. 12.2): the eigenfunctions (μjφj)j(\sqrt{\mu_j}\varphi_j)_j(μj​​φj​)j​ give an explicit feature map into ℓ2(N)\ell^2(\mathbb N)ℓ2(N) realizing KKK, and its expansion is what later underlies the book's discussion of kernel PCA and of RKHS balls as ellipsoids in ℓ2(N)\ell^2(\mathbb N)ℓ2(N)-coordinates.

Difficulty

The formalization difficulty is concentrated in getting the type of the existence-and- uniqueness claim right, not in any single hypothesis. A Hilbert space is not naturally a subtype of a fixed ambient space in Lean, so "the Hilbert space HHH" of Theorem 12.11 is formalized as an abstract type together with its own NormedAddCommGroup/InnerProductSpace ℝ/CompleteSpace instances, connected to "a space of functions on XXX" via an injective linear embedding into X→RX\to\mathbb RX→R — and uniqueness must then be stated as an isometric equivalence between any two witnessing Hilbert spaces that respects this embedding, the faithful rendering of the book's own proof, which literally shows two candidate Hilbert spaces are equal as sets of functions. A second subtlety is keeping Theorem 12.11's hypotheses (a bare PSD kernel, no topology on XXX) cleanly separated from Mercer's theorem's additional compactness, continuity and measure-theoretic apparatus — the two theorems are frequently conflated informally, but the book is explicit that Theorem 12.11 needs none of Mercer's structure.

Formalization scope

XXX is an unconstrained Type* for Theorem 12.5, 12.11 and 12.13 — no topology, matching the book's own generality. Mercer's theorem (Theorem 12.20) additionally requires [MetricSpace X] [CompactSpace X] [MeasurableSpace X] [BorelSpace X] and a finite measure P, matching its own compactness/continuity/measure-theoretic hypotheses exactly, never applied outside that scope. The integral operator TKT_KTK​ of Eq. (12.11a) is presented as an abstract linear map on Lp ℝ 2 P tied to the defining integral formula via an explicit hypothesis, rather than constructed as a def, since constructing it as a genuine well-defined operator (needing integrability and a.e.-measurability arguments) is proof content, not definitional content, and this mission's definitions file is sorry-free by convention. Mercer's orthonormal-basis index type is existentially quantified over a countable ι (∃ (ι : Type) (_ : Countable ι), ...) rather than fixed to ℕ, since L²(X;P) can be finite-dimensional for finite X (Example 12.18/12.21), where no infinite orthonormal basis exists; the uniform-convergence conjunct is correspondingly quantified over every bijection e : ℕ ≃ ι (vacuous when ι is finite, a genuine order-independent claim when ι is countably infinite). A trivializing formalization of this chapter would state only existence in Theorem 12.11 and drop uniqueness (explicitly warned against by this chapter's own brief), or state Mercer's convergence merely pointwise or in L2L^2L2 rather than absolutely and uniformly; this mission avoids both. Out of scope: the constructive proof detail of Theorem 12.11 (the explicit span-and-complete construction is proof content, not part of the statement), the chapter's worked kernel examples (linear, polynomial, Gaussian kernels, Examples 12.7–12.9), and the further consequences of Mercer's theorem (Corollary 12.26 on RKHS-ball ellipsoids, the feature-map connection of Eq. 12.14) — all natural follow-on work for a future mission on kernel-based nonparametric regression (Chapter 13, mission 13-nonparametric-ls), which restates whatever RKHS objects it needs locally rather than importing this mission's draft, per this book's series-wide convention.

Selected references

  • Wainwright, M. J. High-Dimensional Statistics: A Non-Asymptotic Viewpoint. Cambridge University Press, 2019. Chapter 12. DOI: 10.1017/9781108627771.
  • Aronszajn, N. "Theory of reproducing kernels." Transactions of the American Mathematical Society, 68(3), 1950, 337–404.
  • Mercer, J. "Functions of positive and negative type, and their connection with the theory of integral equations." Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A, 209, 1909, 415–446.
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Mathematical Physics·Captain: Lucas

Heathcote 1990: A Normalized State Outside the Domains of Position and MomentumResearch Paper

Motivation

Quantum mechanics represents the states of a system by unit vectors (normed rays) of a complex Hilbert space H\mathcal HH and its observables by self-adjoint operators on H\mathcal HH. The most important observables — position, momentum, energy — are unbounded. A. Heathcote's paper Unbounded Operators and the Incompleteness of Quantum Mechanics (Philosophy of Science 57, 1990, 523–534) draws attention to a mathematical fact that is routinely glossed over in physical texts: an unbounded self-adjoint operator cannot be defined on all of H\mathcal HH, and there are concrete normalized wave functions on which the position and momentum operators do not act at all. The paper uses this to argue that the standard postulates of quantum mechanics are, in a precise sense, incomplete.

This mission isolates the mathematical content of that argument, which is a clean and checkable piece of functional analysis on L2(R)L^2(\mathbb R)L2(R).

Setting

Let H\mathcal HH be a complex Hilbert space. A (partially defined) linear operator AAA has a domain D(A)⊆HD(A)\subseteq\mathcal HD(A)⊆H; it is bounded if there is k∈Rk\in\mathbb Rk∈R with ∥Aψ∥≤k∥ψ∥\|A\psi\|\le k\|\psi\|∥Aψ∥≤k∥ψ∥ for all ψ∈D(A)\psi\in D(A)ψ∈D(A), and unbounded otherwise. It is self-adjoint if it equals its Hilbert adjoint, A=A∗A=A^*A=A∗, which includes D(A)=D(A∗)D(A)=D(A^*)D(A)=D(A∗).

On H=L2(R)\mathcal H=L^2(\mathbb R)H=L2(R):

  1. The position operator acts by (Qψ)(x)=x ψ(x)(Q\psi)(x)=x\,\psi(x)(Qψ)(x)=xψ(x) on
D(Q)={ψ∈L2(R):∫Rx2∣ψ(x)∣2 dx<∞}(eq. (3)).D(Q)=\Big\{\psi\in L^2(\mathbb R): \int_{\mathbb R}x^2|\psi(x)|^2\,dx<\infty\Big\}\qquad\text{(eq. (3))}.D(Q)={ψ∈L2(R):∫R​x2∣ψ(x)∣2dx<∞}(eq. (3)).
  1. The momentum operator Pψ=ℏi−1 dψ/dxP\psi=\hbar i^{-1}\,d\psi/dxPψ=ℏi−1dψ/dx has, in the paper's description, domain D(P)D(P)D(P) consisting of the absolutely continuous functions in L2(R)L^2(\mathbb R)L2(R).
  2. Heathcote's wave function (eq. (4)) is
ψ(x)={x−1,x≥1,0,x<1.\psi(x)=\begin{cases}x^{-1}, & x\ge 1,\\ 0, & x<1.\end{cases}ψ(x)={x−1,0,​x≥1,x<1.​

Formalization targets

Goal

There is a unit vector of L2(R)L^2(\mathbb R)L2(R), namely the class of ψ\psiψ, lying in neither domain:

∃ φ∈L2(R):φ=ψ a.e.,∥φ∥=1,φ∉D(Q),φ∉D(P).\exists\,\varphi\in L^2(\mathbb R):\quad \varphi=\psi\ \text{a.e.},\qquad \|\varphi\|=1,\qquad \varphi\notin D(Q),\qquad \varphi\notin D(P).∃φ∈L2(R):φ=ψ a.e.,∥φ∥=1,φ∈/D(Q),φ∈/D(P).

Milestones

  1. Hellinger–Toeplitz (p. 2, footnote 1): a symmetric operator defined on all of a Hilbert space is bounded (an existing platform theorem).
  2. Unbounded self-adjoint operators (p. 2, footnote 2): if A=A∗A=A^*A=A∗ is unbounded then D(A)D(A)D(A) is dense and D(A)≠HD(A)\neq\mathcal HD(A)=H.
  3. Normalization (p. 5): ψ∈L2(R)\psi\in L^2(\mathbb R)ψ∈L2(R) and ∫∣ψ∣2=∫1∞x−2dx=1\int|\psi|^2=\int_1^\infty x^{-2}dx=1∫∣ψ∣2=∫1∞​x−2dx=1.
  4. Not in D(Q)D(Q)D(Q) (p. 5): ∫x2∣ψ(x)∣2dx=∞\int x^2|\psi(x)|^2dx=\infty∫x2∣ψ(x)∣2dx=∞.
  5. Not in D(P)D(P)D(P) (pp. 5–6): no a.e.-representative of ψ\psiψ is absolutely continuous on every compact interval.
  6. Infinite position expectation (p. 9): ∫∣x∣ ∣ψ(x)∣2dx=∫1∞x−1dx=∞\int|x|\,|\psi(x)|^2dx=\int_1^\infty x^{-1}dx=\infty∫∣x∣∣ψ(x)∣2dx=∫1∞​x−1dx=∞.

Significance

The result. The goal shows that the two postulates "every normed ray is a state" and "observables are self-adjoint operators" force the existence of states on which the position operator (and, independently, the momentum operator) is undefined. Milestone 5 is what the paper uses to separate this phenomenon from the canonical commutation relations: the failure of ψ∈D(Q)\psi\in D(Q)ψ∈D(Q) is not explained by ψ\psiψ being "sharp in momentum", because ψ\psiψ is not even in D(P)D(P)D(P). Milestone 6 records the physical reading: the mean position of this normalized state is infinite.

Formalizing it. The individual facts are standard and elementary; none of them is new. What the mission produces is a machine-checked version of the paper's argument stated against the actual L2L^2L2 space and Mathlib's notion of unbounded operators and adjoints, with the domain conventions made explicit.

Difficulty

The calculus is easy; the subtleties are in the bookkeeping. Elements of L2(R)L^2(\mathbb R)L2(R) are almost-everywhere classes, so "ψ\psiψ is discontinuous at 111" does not by itself show ψ∉D(P)\psi\notin D(P)ψ∈/D(P): one must rule out every a.e.-modification of ψ\psiψ being absolutely continuous. Similarly, the Hellinger–Toeplitz argument gives D(A)≠HD(A)\neq\mathcal HD(A)=H but not density, which comes from the adjoint being a genuine operator.

Formalization scope

  • Operators are Mathlib's partially defined linear maps H →ₗ.[ℂ] H; self-adjointness is IsSelfAdjoint with respect to the adjoint A†, over a complex complete inner product space.
  • L2(R)L^2(\mathbb R)L2(R) is Lp ℂ 2 volume on ℝ; D(Q)D(Q)D(Q) and D(P)D(P)D(P) are subsets of it. Integrals of non-negative quantities are Lebesgue integrals valued in [0,∞][0,\infty][0,∞], so "=∞=\infty=∞" is literal and not a junk value.
  • D(P)D(P)D(P) follows the paper (absolutely continuous elements, i.e. having a representative absolutely continuous on every [a,b][a,b][a,b]) and omits the standard requirement ψ′∈L2\psi'\in L^2ψ′∈L2. This set contains the standard domain, so non-membership is a stronger statement.
  • The paper's further claim that ψ∉D(H)\psi\notin D(H)ψ∈/D(H) for a Hamiltonian H=P2/2m+VH=P^2/2m+VH=P2/2m+V is stated there without proof and for an unspecified potential VVV, and is not included.
  • Trivialization is excluded: the goal pins φ\varphiφ to the explicit function ψ\psiψ and requires ∥φ∥=1\|\varphi\|=1∥φ∥=1.

Selected references

  • A. Heathcote, Unbounded Operators and the Incompleteness of Quantum Mechanics, Philosophy of Science 57 (1990), 523–534.
  • M. Reed and B. Simon, Methods of Modern Mathematical Physics I: Functional Analysis, revised ed., Academic Press, 1980.
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Number Theory·Captain: waitingintime

Connes–Weil arithmetic lower bound: cofinal actual-quartet certificatesOpen Problem

Why an arithmetic lower bound is needed

The Riemann hypothesis asks whether every nontrivial zero of the actual Riemann zeta function has real part one half. The Connes formalization has a certified implication from positivity of the Weil distribution to RH. That implication supplies a criterion; its positivity hypothesis still needs a proof. The Green realization formalization supplies an independently certified physical carrier, actual-zero columns and bounded synthesis operators. Their construction does not establish the arithmetic inequality.

This open problem isolates a finite-certificate formulation of that inequality. The goal is new research within the existing formal development, not a theorem asserted by the cited papers. It is an RH-equivalent target. A proof of the reductions below is already available; a proof of the target itself is not.

The relevant historical distinction is explicit: Riemann stated the zero-location hypothesis in 1859; Connes' 1999 paper relates trace-formula and positivity questions to the zeros; the present Lean development certifies the conditional positivity criterion and the Green realization. None of these citations is offered as an unconditional proof of the new arithmetic certificate bound.

Actual zeros and the fixed physical carrier

Let ZZZ be the subtype of complex numbers ρ\rhoρ satisfying ζ(ρ)=0\zeta(\rho)=0ζ(ρ)=0 and 0<Re⁡ρ<10<\operatorname{Re}\rho<10<Reρ<1. Multiplicities are the existing natural analytic multiplicities. Reflection is ρ↦1−ρ‾\rho\mapsto1-\overline\rhoρ↦1−ρ​, and conjugation is ρ↦ρ‾\rho\mapsto\overline\rhoρ↦ρ​. For each actual zero, let SρS_\rhoSρ​ be its finite reflection/conjugation orbit, called its quartet. Repeated orbit elements are removed by the finite-set construction, so the term does not assert four distinct zeros.

At a positive support radius TTT, the physical carrier HTH_THT​ is the existing closed Dirichlet energy-image completion on [−T,T][-T,T][−T,T]. Its energy convention is the integral of ∣u′∣2+∣u∣2/4|u'|^2+|u|^2/4∣u′∣2+∣u∣2/4. Source lifts, Green columns and their pair normalization retain their published definitions. The original admissible tests are smooth compactly supported functions; the carrier is not defined from an arbitrary replacement zero family.

Write pT,τp_{T,\tau}pT,τ​ for the original positive column of an actual zero τ\tauτ, with the original reflected-pair and multiplicity normalization. Their complete squared-norm sum is certified summable at each positive radius. For a finite set F⊂ZF\subset ZF⊂Z, PFP_FPF​ is the published synthesis of exactly these positive columns into HTH_THT​. Let NSN_SNS​ be the original selected negative synthesis on the coefficient space for the unchanged quartet S=SρS=S_\rhoS=Sρ​.

Formalization target

For a positive accuracy δ\deltaδ, define the already-published operators

BF=PF∗PF+δIF,CF,S=PF∗NS,B_F=P_F^*P_F+\delta I_F,\qquad C_{F,S}=P_F^*N_S,BF​=PF∗​PF​+δIF​,CF,S​=PF∗​NS​,

and the selected coefficient correction

DS(T,F,δ)=δIS−NS∗NS+CF,S∗BF−1CF,S.D_S(T,F,\delta)=\delta I_S-N_S^*N_S+C_{F,S}^*B_F^{-1}C_{F,S}.DS​(T,F,δ)=δIS​−NS∗​NS​+CF,S∗​BF−1​CF,S​.

The positive regularization makes BFB_FBF​ strictly positive, including dependent or repeated columns. Its ring inverse is certified to be a genuine inverse for positive δ\deltaδ.

The goal is

∀ρ∈Z  ∀b∈R  ∃T>max⁡(b,0)  ∀δ>0  ∃F⊂Z finite:\forall\rho\in Z\;\forall b\in\mathbb R\;\exists T>\max(b,0)\;\forall\delta>0\;\exists F\subset Z\text{ finite}:∀ρ∈Z∀b∈R∃T>max(b,0)∀δ>0∃F⊂Z finite: Sρ⊆F,F is reflection-closed,∑τ∉F∥pT,τ∥2<δ,DSρ(T,F,δ)⪰0.S_\rho\subseteq F,\quad F\text{ is reflection-closed},\quad \sum_{\tau\notin F}\|p_{T,\tau}\|^2<\delta,\quad D_{S_\rho}(T,F,\delta)\succeq0.Sρ​⊆F,F is reflection-closed,τ∈/F∑​∥pT,τ​∥2<δ,DSρ​​(T,F,δ)⪰0.

Here T>max⁡(b,0)T>\max(b,0)T>max(b,0) abbreviates the two strict inequalities in the Lean statement. The window is chosen before accuracy. The finite cutoff can depend on accuracy, but the selected negative quartet remains unchanged. The same accuracy occurs in the complete omitted tail and the correction operator.

What this target would establish

The certified fixed-window theorem identifies all-accuracy finite certificates with the original Picard marker being at least half the identity. The certified cofinal quartet criterion identifies arbitrarily large such quartet windows with Mathlib's Riemann hypothesis. Their composition has also been checked independently in the native Lean environment against the exact goal statement.

These two reductions are the principal milestones, alongside the existing literature-form positivity implication. Shared definitions and supporting theorems remain reusable library nodes. Certification of a reduction is distinct from establishing the nonnegative correction demanded by the goal. The goal is currently unproved and carries no RH or desired-positivity hypothesis.

The remaining difficulty

Finite tail cutoffs exist by summability, and regularized coefficient inverses exist by strict positivity. Those facts leave the sign of DSD_SDS​ undetermined. An arithmetic representation of the full Weil operator alone also leaves that sign undetermined. The selected negative packet and the unselected negative background are different parts of the original signed operator; replacing one by the other changes the obligation.

The arithmetic transfer audit ZP-WEIL-MARKER-TRANSFER / RH-ZERO-PROV-2 records this distinction. Endpoint estimates or neutral-shell arguments contribute only when they supply the original lower bound with the required window and accuracy quantifiers. A bound at one boundary, an accuracy-dependent choice of window, or an estimate with a positive residual error floor does not supply the displayed target. No easier status is implied by its finite coefficient representation.

Formalization scope

The proposal uses Lean 4.33.1 and Mathlib revision 0df444a360eaa60ab8c11dca51a86af692955474, with the published original quartet and selected-correction definitions. A separate native audit uses the existing Lean 4.34.0 repository environment. Complex Hilbert inner products are conjugate-linear in the first argument. Operator nonnegativity uses the existing continuous-linear-map order. Infinite tails are unordered sums on the actual-zero complement.

No simple-zero assumption, independence of columns, unregularized Gram inverse, replacement carrier, changed coefficient metric or silently restricted zero family is permitted. Quartets include zeros on the critical line; an empty actual-zero subtype would make the universal target vacuous, exactly as specified by the existing actual-zero indexing. New auxiliary definitions belong in shared definition bundles, and reusable algebraic lemmas belong in the library. The existing Green milestone history and dependency graph are retained.

Selected references

  • B. Riemann, Ueber die Anzahl der Primzahlen unter einer gegebenen Grösse, Monatsberichte der Berliner Akademie, 1859. Original paper and translations.
  • A. Connes, Trace formula in noncommutative Geometry and the zeros of the Riemann zeta function, Selecta Mathematica 5, 1999. arXiv:math/9811068. Source of the conditional positivity/RH context, not the new certificate inequality.
  • H. Brezis, Functional Analysis, Sobolev Spaces and Partial Differential Equations, Springer, 2011. DOI. Functional-analytic background for the certified carrier.
  • Published Lean results: cofinal quartet criterion, fixed-window selected certificates, and selected-correction definitions.
  • monocap-tech/provenance, RH-ZERO-PROV-2 arithmetic-transfer checkpoint, 2026. Its stated status is representation complete, lower-bound theorem open, RH not proved.

Literature and source audit

The exact cofinal-quartet finite-certificate goal remains open. An independent Lean audit verifies its equivalence to Mathlib RiemannHypothesis by composing the two certified milestone reductions. The window is chosen before every positive regularization parameter; the selected actual-zero quartet is fixed, and the same parameter controls the full positive tail and selected correction. Tail summability and existence of inverses alone do not establish the required sign.

The foreign graph export ConnesRZ.weil_positivity_implies_RH matches the native ConnesRZClosed.weil_positivity_implies_RH: the older native ConnesRZ theorem takes explicitFormula as an input, discharged in Closed. The foreign record has a staged source qualification; it has not been edited.

Arithmetic transfer checkpoint: monocap-tech/provenance 178c83225b2300506ff622899d08ec3c987137d5, rh/checkpoints/RH_ZERO_PROV_2_EULER_WEIL_MARKER_TRANSFER_20260920.md, SHA256 0bb48b950f09220f7b2f193c16b45b15add0333906f919f8b50ca915f77a1a0d. Retained local Git bytes were verified; public availability is unverified. Critical-window location, the prescribed ordered-limit interface, and arithmetic endpoint/neutral-shell control remain open. RH is not established.

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Markov ChainProbabilityStatistics·Captain: mikedeng1

Spectral Gaps for a Metropolis–Hastings Algorithm in Infinite Dimensions I: The pCN Algorithm Has a Wasserstein Spectral Gap Uniform in the Dimension When the Potential Is Globally LipschitzResearch Paper

Motivation

Sampling from a distribution described relative to a Gaussian reference law is common in Bayesian inverse problems, where an unknown function or initial condition is inferred from noisy observations. Such a distribution is naturally infinite dimensional before it is approximated on a computer. A numerical method must therefore behave reliably as the approximation dimension grows. Hairer, Stuart and Vollmer study this question for Metropolis–Hastings chains and prove that the preconditioned Crank–Nicolson (pCN) chain admits a Wasserstein mixing bound with an iteration count independent of the projection dimension Hairer, Stuart and Vollmer (2014). This mission formalizes their globally Lipschitz case, Theorem 2.12.

The central practical concern is concrete: refining a discretization should improve the target approximation without forcing the number of Markov steps needed for a fixed contraction to grow with the number of coordinates. A bound on each finite dimensional chain separately would not settle that concern, because its constants could deteriorate with dimension. The theorem requires one set of constants for the infinite dimensional chain and every finite dimensional projection.

Setting

Let HHH be a separable real Hilbert space. Its Gaussian reference measure γ\gammaγ has mean zero and a covariance eigenbasis e1,e2,…e_1,e_2,\ldotse1​,e2​,…. The subspace KmK_mKm​ is the span of the first mmm eigenvectors, and γm\gamma_mγm​ is the law of the orthogonal projection of a γ\gammaγ-distributed vector onto KmK_mKm​. The potential Φ:H→R\Phi:H\to\mathbb RΦ:H→R determines the target measures

μ(dx)=Me−Φ(x)γ(dx),μm(dx)=Mme−Φ(x)γm(dx),\mu(dx)=M e^{-\Phi(x)}\gamma(dx),\qquad \mu_m(dx)=M_m e^{-\Phi(x)}\gamma_m(dx),μ(dx)=Me−Φ(x)γ(dx),μm​(dx)=Mm​e−Φ(x)γm​(dx),

where MMM and MmM_mMm​ normalize each measure. The paper's finite dimensional chain has state space KmK_mKm​, rather than the whole space HHH with unused coordinates Hairer, Stuart and Vollmer (2014), (1.1)–(1.2).

At step size 0<δ≤1/20<\delta\le1/20<δ≤1/2, the pCN proposal from xxx is y=1−2δ x+2δ ξy=\sqrt{1-2\delta}\,x+\sqrt{2\delta}\,\xiy=1−2δ​x+2δ​ξ, with ξ\xiξ drawn from γ\gammaγ or γm\gamma_mγm​ as appropriate. The move is accepted with probability 1∧eΦ(x)−Φ(y)1\wedge e^{\Phi(x)-\Phi(y)}1∧eΦ(x)−Φ(y); rejection leaves the state at xxx. Write PPP and PmP_mPm​ for these transition kernels Hairer, Stuart and Vollmer (2014), (1.3), (1.5)–(1.6).

The potential is globally Lipschitz, e−Φe^{-\Phi}e−Φ is γ\gammaγ-integrable, and the acceptance probability has a positive lower bound in specified balls centered at 1−2δ x\sqrt{1-2\delta}\,x1−2δ​x outside a bounded region. These are Assumptions 2.10 and 2.11 Hairer, Stuart and Vollmer (2014), p. 12. The allowed ball radius is either a positive constant or r0∥x∥ar_0\|x\|^ar0​∥x∥a with r0>0r_0>0r0​>0 and 1/2<a<11/2<a<11/2<a<1.

Formalization targets

Uniform Wasserstein contraction

For ε>0\varepsilon>0ε>0, set dε(x,y)=1∧∥x−y∥/εd_\varepsilon(x,y)=1\wedge\|x-y\|/\varepsilondε​(x,y)=1∧∥x−y∥/ε. Choose the Lyapunov function V(x)=∥x∥iV(x)=\|x\|^iV(x)=∥x∥i, where i≥1i\ge1i≥1, or, in the growing-radius case, V(x)=ev∥x∥V(x)=e^{v\|x\|}V(x)=ev∥x∥ with v>0v>0v>0. The weighted cost is d~(x,y)=dε(x,y)(1+V(x)+V(y))\widetilde d(x,y)=\sqrt{d_\varepsilon(x,y)(1+V(x)+V(y))}d(x,y)=dε​(x,y)(1+V(x)+V(y))​, and Wd~W_{\widetilde d}Wd​ is its infimum over couplings.

Theorem 2.12 asserts that μ\muμ and each μm\mu_mμm​ are the unique invariant probability measures of PPP and PmP_mPm​. It also asserts that, for every sufficiently small ε\varepsilonε, there is one integer n~\widetilde nn satisfying both bounds for all probability measures on the respective spaces and for every mmm Hairer, Stuart and Vollmer (2014), p. 12:

Wd~(ν1Pn~,ν2Pn~)≤12Wd~(ν1,ν2),W_{\widetilde d}(\nu_1P^{\widetilde n},\nu_2P^{\widetilde n})\le\tfrac12 W_{\widetilde d}(\nu_1,\nu_2),Wd​(ν1​Pn,ν2​Pn)≤21​Wd​(ν1​,ν2​), Wd~m(ν1Pmn~,ν2Pmn~)≤12Wd~m(ν1,ν2).W_{\widetilde d_m}(\nu_1P_m^{\widetilde n},\nu_2P_m^{\widetilde n})\le\tfrac12 W_{\widetilde d_m}(\nu_1,\nu_2).Wdm​​(ν1​Pmn​,ν2​Pmn​)≤21​Wdm​​(ν1​,ν2​).

Here d~m\widetilde d_mdm​ is the same formula restricted to KmK_mKm​. The milestone list includes the uniform Lyapunov, contraction and smallness claims and the cited weak Harris theorem; the Gaussian projection comparison of Lemma 3.1 is a further stated lemma of the mission. Fernique's Gaussian exponential-moment result is linked to its existing published formalization.

Significance

The result bounds the number of pCN iterations needed for a fixed Wasserstein contraction uniformly over the finite dimensional approximations. It also identifies the intended target as the only invariant probability measure, so the contraction describes convergence toward the measure used by the inverse problem. The weighted Wasserstein cost permits this statement on an unbounded Hilbert space, where an ordinary total variation small-set argument would impose a different kind of regularity Hairer, Stuart and Vollmer (2014), §§2.2–2.3.

The paper proved Theorem 2.12 in 2014. The remaining work here is a machine-checked development of the pCN kernels, Gaussian projections, Wasserstein estimates, and weak Harris application. A formalized Fernique theorem already exists in the platform library; the pCN estimates and Theorem 2.12 are open draft statements in this proposal. They will be reusable in the locally Lipschitz pCN regime and in analyses of other Metropolis kernels that satisfy the same abstract contraction conditions.

Difficulty

The pCN proposal contracts the starting points, but the accept–reject step can break that direct coupling: one chain may accept a proposal while the other rejects it. A bound on the proposal distance alone therefore does not imply a bound on the transition laws. The probability of that mismatched decision must be controlled near each pair of starting points, while the acceptance lower bound must remain uniform on the projected spaces. Large starting points also require a Lyapunov estimate to enter the bounded region used by the weak Harris theorem Hairer, Stuart and Vollmer (2014), §§3.1.1–3.1.3.

Formalization scope

The Lean development represents HHH as a complete separable real inner product space with Borel measurable structure, γ\gammaγ as a centered Gaussian probability measure, and the chosen Hilbert basis as diagonalizing its covariance. Second countability is stated explicitly for the measurable pCN construction; for a separable metric space it follows from the standing setting. The projected law is the pushforward by the orthogonal projection onto KmK_mKm​, a reading of the Karhunen–Loève formula in the paper. A measurable map is essential here: Mathlib's pushforward returns zero for a nonmeasurable map.

The target is Mathlib's normalized tilted measure. The theorem explicitly concludes that both the infinite dimensional and projected targets are probability measures, so the possible junk zero from a nonintegrable tilt cannot satisfy the result. Wasserstein costs and Lyapunov expectations use extended nonnegative integrals. This avoids the junk zero of a nonintegrable Bochner integral and the junk values of a real infimum. Couplings are measures with the prescribed marginals. The acceptance kernel uses the paper's 1∧eΦ(x)−Φ(y)1\wedge e^{\Phi(x)-\Phi(y)}1∧eΦ(x)−Φ(y), including the first proposal and its rejection probability.

“Sufficiently small ε\varepsilonε” means ∃ε0>0 ∀ε∈(0,ε0]\exists\varepsilon_0>0\,\forall\varepsilon\in(0,\varepsilon_0]∃ε0​>0∀ε∈(0,ε0​]. The iteration count is chosen before mmm and before the input probability measures. Positive radius, positive power exponent and positive exponential coefficient exclude empty acceptance balls and the constant Lyapunov function. The m=0m=0m=0 projection is retained as the zero dimensional subspace. Contributions that establish the Gaussian comparison, the three pCN estimates, or the abstract weak Harris statement are within scope.

Selected references

  • M. Hairer, A. M. Stuart and S. J. Vollmer, Spectral gaps for a Metropolis–Hastings algorithm in infinite dimensions, Annals of Applied Probability 24(6), 2014, 2455–2490. arXiv:1112.1392v4, DOI:10.1214/13-AAP982.
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Convex OptimizationMachine LearningOperations Research+1·Captain: mikedeng1

Kernel Distributionally Robust Optimization: Generalized Duality Theorem and Stochastic Approximation: The Worst-Case Risk over an RKHS Ambiguity Set Equals Its Support-Function DualResearch Paper

Motivation

Distributionally robust optimization (DRO) chooses a decision θ\thetaθ that minimizes the expected loss under the worst distribution in an ambiguity set K\mathcal KK of plausible distributions, min⁡θsup⁡P∈K∫l(θ,ξ) dP(ξ)\min_\theta\sup_{P\in\mathcal K}\int l(\theta,\xi)\,dP(\xi)minθ​supP∈K​∫l(θ,ξ)dP(ξ). It sits between stochastic optimization, which trusts a single distribution, and worst-case robust optimization, which trusts none. The inner supremum is a problem of moments, studied since Stieltjes and made computable by duality (Isii 1962; Shapiro 2001; Bertsimas and Popescu 2005). Existing tractable reformulations require the ambiguity set to be described by finitely many moments, a ϕ\phiϕ-divergence or a Wasserstein ball, and they usually require a structural property of the loss: affine or quadratic form, or a known Lipschitz constant.

Zhu, Jitkrittum, Diehl and Schölkopf (AISTATS 2021; arXiv:2006.06981) describe the ambiguity set through kernel mean embeddings: a distribution is represented by its mean in a reproducing kernel Hilbert space, and the ambiguity set is the set of distributions whose embedding lies in a convex set C\mathcal CC of that space. Moment sets, MMD balls, scenario polytopes and the whole space (worst-case RO) all arise for suitable kernels and sets C\mathcal CC. Their Generalized Duality Theorem (Theorem 3.1) turns the inner worst-case problem into a minimization over a function of the RKHS that majorizes the loss, with no assumption on the loss beyond upper semicontinuity.

Setting

Let X\mathcal XX be a compact metric space (in the paper, a compact X⊂Rd\mathcal X\subset\mathbb R^dX⊂Rd) with its Borel σ\sigmaσ-algebra, and P\mathcal PP the set of Borel probability measures on X\mathcal XX. Let H\mathcal HH be a real Hilbert space and φ:X→H\varphi:\mathcal X\to\mathcal Hφ:X→H a continuous feature map; k(x,y)=⟨φ(x),φ(y)⟩Hk(x,y)=\langle\varphi(x),\varphi(y)\rangle_{\mathcal H}k(x,y)=⟨φ(x),φ(y)⟩H​ is then a continuous positive definite kernel, and an element f∈Hf\in\mathcal Hf∈H acts on X\mathcal XX by the reproducing property f(ξ)=⟨f,φ(ξ)⟩Hf(\xi)=\langle f,\varphi(\xi)\rangle_{\mathcal H}f(ξ)=⟨f,φ(ξ)⟩H​ (rkhsEval).

  • The mean embedding of P∈PP\in\mathcal PP∈P is μP=∫φ dP∈H\mu_P=\int\varphi\,dP\in\mathcal HμP​=∫φdP∈H (meanEmbedding).
  • For C⊆H\mathcal C\subseteq\mathcal HC⊆H, the ambiguity set is KC={P∈P:μP∈C}\mathcal K_{\mathcal C}=\{P\in\mathcal P:\mu_P\in\mathcal C\}KC​={P∈P:μP​∈C} (ambiguitySet).
  • The support function of C\mathcal CC is δC∗(f)=sup⁡μ∈C⟨f,μ⟩H∈[−∞,∞]\delta^*_{\mathcal C}(f)=\sup_{\mu\in\mathcal C}\langle f,\mu\rangle_{\mathcal H}\in[-\infty,\infty]δC∗​(f)=supμ∈C​⟨f,μ⟩H​∈[−∞,∞] (supportFun).
  • A loss is a function l:Θ×X→[−∞,∞)l:\Theta\times\mathcal X\to[-\infty,\infty)l:Θ×X→[−∞,∞), where Θ\ThetaΘ is an arbitrary set of decisions; ∫l dP\int l\,dP∫ldP is the extended-real expectation.

For fixed θ\thetaθ (written l=l(θ,⋅)l=l(\theta,\cdot)l=l(θ,⋅)), the primal inner problem (11) and the dual inner problem (12) are

(P)θ=sup⁡P∈KC∫l dP,(D)θ=inf⁡{f0+δC∗(f): f0∈R, f∈H, l(ξ)≤f0+f(ξ) ∀ξ∈X}\mathrm{(P)}_\theta=\sup_{P\in\mathcal K_{\mathcal C}}\int l\,dP,\qquad \mathrm{(D)}_\theta=\inf\Big\{f_0+\delta^*_{\mathcal C}(f):\ f_0\in\mathbb R,\ f\in\mathcal H,\ l(\xi)\le f_0+f(\xi)\ \forall\xi\in\mathcal X\Big\}(P)θ​=P∈KC​sup​∫ldP,(D)θ​=inf{f0​+δC∗​(f): f0​∈R, f∈H, l(ξ)≤f0​+f(ξ) ∀ξ∈X}

(primalValue, dualValue, with the constraint IsDualFeasible). Assumption 3.1 of the paper asks that each l(θ,⋅)l(\theta,\cdot)l(θ,⋅) be proper (not identically −∞-\infty−∞) and upper semicontinuous, that C\mathcal CC be closed and convex, and that ri(KC)≠∅\mathrm{ri}(\mathcal K_{\mathcal C})\neq\emptysetri(KC​)=∅.

The PDF prints no page numbers; every page cited in this mission is the PDF page of arXiv:2006.06981v3.

Formalization targets

Goal: Theorem 3.1 (Generalized Duality), p. 5

Under the hypotheses above, with KC≠∅\mathcal K_{\mathcal C}\ne\emptysetKC​=∅,

∀θ∈Θ:sup⁡P∈KC∫l(θ,ξ) dP(ξ)=inf⁡f0∈R,f∈Hl(θ,⋅)≤f0+ff0+δC∗(f),\forall\theta\in\Theta:\quad \sup_{P\in\mathcal K_{\mathcal C}}\int l(\theta,\xi)\,dP(\xi)=\inf_{\substack{f_0\in\mathbb R,\,f\in\mathcal H\\ l(\theta,\cdot)\le f_0+f}}f_0+\delta^*_{\mathcal C}(f),∀θ∈Θ:P∈KC​sup​∫l(θ,ξ)dP(ξ)=f0​∈R,f∈Hl(θ,⋅)≤f0​+f​inf​f0​+δC∗​(f),

and consequently (P)=inf⁡θ(P)θ=inf⁡θ(D)θ=(D)\mathrm{(P)}=\inf_\theta\mathrm{(P)}_\theta=\inf_\theta\mathrm{(D)}_\theta=\mathrm{(D)}(P)=infθ​(P)θ​=infθ​(D)θ​=(D), the equality of the Kernel DRO problem (2) and its dual (4).

Milestones (the proof of Proposition A.1, pp. 13–15, and Appendix D, pp. 22–23)

  1. The reproducing identity ∫f dP=⟨f,μP⟩H\int f\,dP=\langle f,\mu_P\rangle_{\mathcal H}∫fdP=⟨f,μP​⟩H​ (p. 13).
  2. Lemma D.1: ∫(l−f0−f) dP≤0\int(l-f_0-f)\,dP\le0∫(l−f0​−f)dP≤0 for all PPP iff l≤f0+fl\le f_0+fl≤f0​+f on X\mathcal XX.
  3. Weak duality: ∫l dP≤f0+δC∗(f)\int l\,dP\le f_0+\delta^*_{\mathcal C}(f)∫ldP≤f0​+δC∗​(f) for P∈KCP\in\mathcal K_{\mathcal C}P∈KC​ and feasible (f0,f)(f_0,f)(f0​,f) (p. 6).
  4. Lemmas D.2–D.4: T(P)={μP}\mathcal T(\mathcal P)=\{\mu_P\}T(P)={μP​}, C∩T(P)\mathcal C\cap\mathcal T(\mathcal P)C∩T(P) and KC\mathcal K_{\mathcal C}KC​ are compact.
  5. Primal attainment (p. 15), via the upper semicontinuity of P↦∫l dPP\mapsto\int l\,dPP↦∫ldP (a supporting lemma the paper uses without stating).
  6. The separation (14), the sign τ<0\tau<0τ<0 with the rescaled dual feasible point, and (D)≤(P)+ϵ\mathrm{(D)}\le\mathrm{(P)}+\epsilon(D)≤(P)+ϵ (p. 15).
  7. Proposition A.1: (P)θ=(D)θ\mathrm{(P)}_\theta=\mathrm{(D)}_\theta(P)θ​=(D)θ​ (p. 13).

Companions

Lemma A.2 (complementarity (19)), Corollary 3.1.3 (the optimal majorant interpolates lll P∗P^*P∗-a.e.), the support function 1N∑if(ξi)+ϵ∥f∥H\frac1N\sum_i f(\xi_i)+\epsilon\|f\|_{\mathcal H}N1​∑i​f(ξi​)+ϵ∥f∥H​ of the RKHS norm ball (Table 1), and the weak-duality content of Corollary 3.1.1 for integral probability metrics.

Significance

The theorem replaces an optimization over probability measures by a semi-infinite program over (f0,f)∈R×H(f_0,f)\in\mathbb R\times\mathcal H(f0​,f)∈R×H, whose objective is explicit for the common choices of C\mathcal CC (Table 1). The majorant f0+ff_0+ff0​+f needs no Lipschitz constant and no parametric form of the loss, and the dual variable f∗f^*f∗ doubles as a witness function for the MMD. This is the basis of the paper's batch and stochastic functional gradient algorithms, and it places moment-based DRO, scenario optimization, MMD-ball DRO and worst-case RO in one framework.

The result is proved on paper; it has no machine-checked proof that we know of. Formalizing it builds the duality theory of moment problems with infinitely many moment constraints, on top of Mathlib's Hilbert spaces, Bochner integrals and the weak topology on probability measures. The formal statements also fix points the paper leaves loose: the infimum in place of the printed "min", the reading of the Slater condition, and the role of the continuity of the kernel.

Difficulty

Weak duality is a two-line computation. The work is strong duality. The paper's route separates the cone A={(∫1 dP,∫φ dP,∫l dP):P∈co(P)}A=\{(\int1\,dP,\int\varphi\,dP,\int l\,dP):P\in\mathrm{co}(\mathcal P)\}A={(∫1dP,∫φdP,∫ldP):P∈co(P)} from Bϵ={(1,μ,t+ϵ):μ∈C}B_\epsilon=\{(1,\mu,t+\epsilon):\mu\in\mathcal C\}Bϵ​={(1,μ,t+ϵ):μ∈C} in R×H×R\mathbb R\times\mathcal H\times\mathbb RR×H×R. A Hahn–Banach strict separation needs one set compact or the two at positive distance, and AAA is neither obviously closed nor bounded. The step goes through only because KC\mathcal K_{\mathcal C}KC​ is compact in the weak topology and P↦∫l dPP\mapsto\int l\,dPP↦∫ldP is upper semicontinuous, which also gives primal attainment and the sign τ<0\tau<0τ<0. The loss may take the value −∞-\infty−∞, so every expectation lives in [−∞,∞)[-\infty,\infty)[−∞,∞). The infinite primal case also needs an argument of its own.

Formalization scope

  • X\mathcal XX is a compact metric space with a Borel σ\sigmaσ-algebra; a compact subset of Rd\mathbb R^dRd is an instance. P\mathcal PP is ProbabilityMeasure X with its topology of weak convergence; the paper's MMD topology agrees with it for a universal continuous kernel.
  • The RKHS is in feature-map form: a real Hilbert space H\mathcal HH and a continuous φ\varphiφ. Continuity of the kernel is not written in Assumption 3.1 but is used by Appendix D.
  • Losses are X → EReal, upper semicontinuous, never +∞+\infty+∞, and not identically −∞-\infty−∞. Expectations use the published definition WassersteinDRO.Duality.erealExpectation, which for such losses is the usual ∫l dP∈[−∞,∞)\int l\,dP\in[-\infty,\infty)∫ldP∈[−∞,∞).
  • Support function, primal and dual values are extended reals. δ∅∗=−∞\delta^*_\emptyset=-\inftyδ∅∗​=−∞; δH∗(f)=+∞\delta^*_{\mathcal H}(f)=+\inftyδH∗​(f)=+∞ for f≠0f\ne0f=0; an empty ambiguity set gives primal value −∞-\infty−∞; an infeasible dual gives +∞+\infty+∞. The sum f0+δC∗(f)f_0+\delta^*_{\mathcal C}(f)f0​+δC∗​(f) adds a real to an extended real, so +∞+(−∞)+\infty+(-\infty)+∞+(−∞) never occurs.
  • The Slater clause ri(KC)≠∅\mathrm{ri}(\mathcal K_{\mathcal C})\ne\emptysetri(KC​)=∅ names no topology on measures and is used only to obtain a primal solution (p. 15). It is read as KC≠∅\mathcal K_{\mathcal C}\ne\emptysetKC​=∅, which it implies under any reading, so the formal goal is at least as strong as the paper's.
  • Every printed "min" is read as an infimum. Dual attainment is not proved and can fail: for X=[0,1]\mathcal X=[0,1]X=[0,1], φ(x)=x\varphi(x)=xφ(x)=x, C=(−∞,0]\mathcal C=(-\infty,0]C=(−∞,0] and l(x)=xl(x)=\sqrt xl(x)=x​, the dual infimum 000 is not attained.
  • The dual variable ranges over H\mathcal HH, never over arbitrary functions on X\mathcal XX. Over all bounded functions, the choice f=lf=lf=l would make the duality trivial (Example 3.3). The goal is also not closed by unfolding: for C=H\mathcal C=\mathcal HC=H it says sup⁡P∫l dP=sup⁡ξl(ξ)\sup_P\int l\,dP=\sup_\xi l(\xi)supP​∫ldP=supξ​l(ξ), worst-case RO.
  • Corollary 3.1.2 (p. 6) is not stated: it is false under Assumption 3.1 alone (for C=H\mathcal C=\mathcal HC=H and l=1{0}l=\mathbf 1_{\{0\}}l=1{0}​, (2) equals 111 while (6) equals 000).

Reusable pieces: the kernel mean embedding and its continuity on ProbabilityMeasure X, compactness of RKHS ambiguity sets, and the upper semicontinuity of P↦∫l dPP\mapsto\int l\,dPP↦∫ldP for upper semicontinuous lll (a portmanteau-type fact not yet in Mathlib). Proofs of any milestone are welcome. So are support-function computations for the other rows of Tables 1 and 3.

Selected references

  • J.-J. Zhu, W. Jitkrittum, M. Diehl, B. Schölkopf, Kernel Distributionally Robust Optimization: Generalized Duality Theorem and Stochastic Approximation, AISTATS 2021 (PMLR 130); cited here as arXiv:2006.06981v3, 2021. https://arxiv.org/abs/2006.06981
  • A. Shapiro, On duality theory of conic linear problems, in Semi-Infinite Programming, Kluwer, 2001. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-3403-4_7
  • K. Isii, On sharpness of Tchebycheff-type inequalities, Annals of the Institute of Statistical Mathematics 14, 1962. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02868641
  • D. Bertsimas, I. Popescu, Optimal inequalities in probability theory: a convex optimization approach, SIAM Journal on Optimization 15(3), 2005. https://doi.org/10.1137/S1052623401399903
  • A. Gretton, K. Borgwardt, M. Rasch, B. Schölkopf, A. Smola, A kernel two-sample test, Journal of Machine Learning Research 13, 2012. https://jmlr.org/papers/v13/gretton12a.html
  • A. Ben-Tal, L. El Ghaoui, A. Nemirovski, Robust Optimization, Princeton University Press, 2009. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400831050
15 thms2 active usersReviewed
Convex OptimizationOptimization·Captain: mikedeng1

A Monotone+Skew Splitting Model for Composite Monotone Inclusions in Duality: The Inexact Primal–Dual Forward–Backward–Forward Iterates Converge Weakly to a Primal and a Dual SolutionResearch Paper

Motivation

Many problems in convex optimization, variational inequalities, mechanics, traffic equilibrium and signal processing reduce to finding a zero of a monotone operator on a Hilbert space. Frequently that operator is a sum A+L∗∘B∘LA + L^*\circ B\circ LA+L∗∘B∘L of a monotone operator and a monotone operator composed with a linear map and its adjoint, and one also wants the solution of an associated dual inclusion. The prototype is Fenchel–Rockafellar duality: with A=∂fA=\partial fA=∂f and B=∂gB=\partial gB=∂g, the pair of problems is min⁡xf(x)+g(Lx−r)−⟨x∣z⟩\min_x f(x)+g(Lx-r)-\langle x\mid z\rangleminx​f(x)+g(Lx−r)−⟨x∣z⟩ and min⁡vf∗(z−L∗v)+g∗(v)+⟨v∣r⟩\min_v f^*(z-L^*v)+g^*(v)+\langle v\mid r\rangleminv​f∗(z−L∗v)+g∗(v)+⟨v∣r⟩.

Before this paper, splitting methods for the primal problem needed BBB to be single-valued and smooth (forward–backward, or Tseng's forward–backward–forward method), or needed the resolvent of L∗∘B∘LL^*\circ B\circ LL∗∘B∘L, which has no closed form in terms of BBB and LLL in general. Briceño-Arias and Combettes (arXiv:1011.5517, SIAM J. Optim. 2011) observed that the primal–dual pair is equivalent to a single inclusion on the product space involving a maximally monotone operator plus a bounded skew linear operator. Applying an inexact forward–backward–forward method to that inclusion gives the first algorithm that solves the primal and dual inclusions simultaneously and uses AAA, BBB and LLL separately. Later primal–dual methods, including those of Combettes–Pesquet (2012), Vũ (2013) and Condat (2013), build on this construction.

Setting

Let H\mathcal HH and G\mathcal GG be real Hilbert spaces. A set-valued operator M:H→2HM:\mathcal H\to2^{\mathcal H}M:H→2H assigns to each point a subset; its graph is {(x,u)∣u∈Mx}\{(x,u)\mid u\in Mx\}{(x,u)∣u∈Mx}, its inverse M−1M^{-1}M−1 has graph {(u,x)∣u∈Mx}\{(u,x)\mid u\in Mx\}{(u,x)∣u∈Mx}, and zer⁡M={x∣0∈Mx}\operatorname{zer}M=\{x\mid 0\in Mx\}zerM={x∣0∈Mx}. MMM is monotone if ⟨x−y∣u−v⟩≥0\langle x-y\mid u-v\rangle\ge0⟨x−y∣u−v⟩≥0 whenever u∈Mxu\in Mxu∈Mx, v∈Myv\in Myv∈My, and maximally monotone if no monotone operator has a strictly larger graph. For γ>0\gamma>0γ>0 the resolvent JγM=(Id+γM)−1J_{\gamma M}=(\mathrm{Id}+\gamma M)^{-1}JγM​=(Id+γM)−1 is then an everywhere-defined single-valued map.

Problem 1.1. Let A:H→2HA:\mathcal H\to2^{\mathcal H}A:H→2H and B:G→2GB:\mathcal G\to2^{\mathcal G}B:G→2G be maximally monotone, L:H→GL:\mathcal H\to\mathcal GL:H→G bounded linear, z∈Hz\in\mathcal Hz∈H, r∈Gr\in\mathcal Gr∈G. Solve the primal inclusion

z∈Ax+L∗B(Lx−r)(1.2)z\in Ax+L^*B(Lx-r)\qquad(1.2)z∈Ax+L∗B(Lx−r)(1.2)

and the dual inclusion

−r∈−LA−1(z−L∗v)+B−1v.(1.3)-r\in -LA^{-1}(z-L^*v)+B^{-1}v.\qquad(1.3)−r∈−LA−1(z−L∗v)+B−1v.(1.3)

Their solution sets are P\mathcal PP and D\mathcal DD.

Problem 1.2. On the Hilbert direct sum K=H⊕G\mathcal K=\mathcal H\oplus\mathcal GK=H⊕G set

M:(x,v)↦(−z+Ax)×(r+B−1v),S:(x,v)↦(L∗v,−Lx),M:(x,v)\mapsto(-z+Ax)\times(r+B^{-1}v),\qquad S:(x,v)\mapsto(L^*v,-Lx),M:(x,v)↦(−z+Ax)×(r+B−1v),S:(x,v)↦(L∗v,−Lx),

and find a zero of M+SM+SM+S.

The algorithm (3.1) of the paper, for step sizes γn\gamma_nγn​ and error sequences ai,n,bi,n,ci,na_{i,n},b_{i,n},c_{i,n}ai,n​,bi,n​,ci,n​, reads

y1,n=xn−γn(L∗vn+a1,n),y2,n=vn+γn(Lxn+a2,n),p1,n=JγnA(y1,n+γnz)+b1,n,p2,n=JγnB−1(y2,n−γnr)+b2,n,q1,n=p1,n−γn(L∗p2,n+c1,n),q2,n=p2,n+γn(Lp1,n+c2,n),xn+1=xn−y1,n+q1,n,vn+1=vn−y2,n+q2,n.\begin{aligned}y_{1,n}&=x_n-\gamma_n(L^*v_n+a_{1,n}), & y_{2,n}&=v_n+\gamma_n(Lx_n+a_{2,n}),\\ p_{1,n}&=J_{\gamma_nA}(y_{1,n}+\gamma_nz)+b_{1,n}, & p_{2,n}&=J_{\gamma_nB^{-1}}(y_{2,n}-\gamma_nr)+b_{2,n},\\ q_{1,n}&=p_{1,n}-\gamma_n(L^*p_{2,n}+c_{1,n}), & q_{2,n}&=p_{2,n}+\gamma_n(Lp_{1,n}+c_{2,n}),\\ x_{n+1}&=x_n-y_{1,n}+q_{1,n}, & v_{n+1}&=v_n-y_{2,n}+q_{2,n}.\end{aligned}y1,n​p1,n​q1,n​xn+1​​=xn​−γn​(L∗vn​+a1,n​),=Jγn​A​(y1,n​+γn​z)+b1,n​,=p1,n​−γn​(L∗p2,n​+c1,n​),=xn​−y1,n​+q1,n​,​y2,n​p2,n​q2,n​vn+1​​=vn​+γn​(Lxn​+a2,n​),=Jγn​B−1​(y2,n​−γn​r)+b2,n​,=p2,n​+γn​(Lp1,n​+c2,n​),=vn​−y2,n​+q2,n​.​

Formalization targets

Goal: Theorem 3.1

Assume L≠0L\neq0L=0, z∈ran⁡(A+L∗∘B∘(L⋅−r))z\in\operatorname{ran}(A+L^*\circ B\circ(L\cdot-r))z∈ran(A+L∗∘B∘(L⋅−r)), all six error sequences absolutely summable, ε∈ ]0,1/(∥L∥+1)[\varepsilon\in\,]0,1/(\|L\|+1)[ε∈]0,1/(∥L∥+1)[ and γn∈[ε,(1−ε)/∥L∥]\gamma_n\in[\varepsilon,(1-\varepsilon)/\|L\|]γn​∈[ε,(1−ε)/∥L∥]. Then for some xˉ∈P\bar x\in\mathcal Pxˉ∈P and vˉ∈D\bar v\in\mathcal Dvˉ∈D with z−L∗vˉ∈Axˉz-L^*\bar v\in A\bar xz−L∗vˉ∈Axˉ and vˉ∈B(Lxˉ−r)\bar v\in B(L\bar x-r)vˉ∈B(Lxˉ−r):

xn−p1,n→0,vn−p2,n→0,xn, p1,n⇀xˉ,vn, p2,n⇀vˉ,x_n-p_{1,n}\to0,\quad v_n-p_{2,n}\to0,\qquad x_n,\,p_{1,n}\rightharpoonup\bar x,\quad v_n,\,p_{2,n}\rightharpoonup\bar v,xn​−p1,n​→0,vn​−p2,n​→0,xn​,p1,n​⇀xˉ,vn​,p2,n​⇀vˉ,

and the convergence of xn,p1,nx_n,p_{1,n}xn​,p1,n​ (resp. vn,p2,nv_n,p_{2,n}vn​,p2,n​) is strong if AAA is uniformly monotone at xˉ\bar xxˉ (resp. B−1B^{-1}B−1 at vˉ\bar vvˉ).

Milestones

  1. Lemma 2.1: αn+1≤αn−βn+εn\alpha_{n+1}\le\alpha_n-\beta_n+\varepsilon_nαn+1​≤αn​−βn​+εn​ with nonnegative terms and summable εn\varepsilon_nεn​ implies (αn)(\alpha_n)(αn​) converges and ∑βn<∞\sum\beta_n<\infty∑βn​<∞. Covered by the proved platform theorem GradErrors.Deterministic.lemma_1 (Bertsekas–Tsitsiklis), of which it is the special case Y=α≥0Y=\alpha\ge0Y=α≥0, so that the alternative Yt→−∞Y_t\to-\inftyYt​→−∞ cannot occur.
  2. Lemma 2.2: a quasi-Fejér sequence whose sequential weak cluster points lie in CCC converges weakly to a point of CCC.
  3. Theorem 2.5(i)–(ii): for AAA maximally monotone and BBB monotone and β\betaβ-Lipschitz with zer⁡(A+B)≠∅\operatorname{zer}(A+B)\ne\varnothingzer(A+B)=∅, the inexact forward–backward–forward iteration has ∑∥xn−pn∥2<∞\sum\|x_n-p_n\|^2<\infty∑∥xn​−pn​∥2<∞, ∑∥yn−qn∥2<∞\sum\|y_n-q_n\|^2<\infty∑∥yn​−qn​∥2<∞, and xn,pn⇀xˉ∈zer⁡(A+B)x_n,p_n\rightharpoonup\bar x\in\operatorname{zer}(A+B)xn​,pn​⇀xˉ∈zer(A+B).
  4. Proposition 2.7(i)–(iv): MMM and M+SM+SM+S are maximally monotone; SSS is bounded linear with S∗=−SS^*=-SS∗=−S and ∥S∥=∥L∥\|S\|=\|L\|∥S∥=∥L∥; JγM(x,v)=(JγA(x+γz),JγB−1(v−γr))J_{\gamma M}(x,v)=(J_{\gamma A}(x+\gamma z),J_{\gamma B^{-1}}(v-\gamma r))JγM​(x,v)=(JγA​(x+γz),JγB−1​(v−γr)).
  5. Proposition 2.8: zer⁡(M+S)\operatorname{zer}(M+S)zer(M+S) is a closed convex subset of P×D\mathcal P\times\mathcal DP×D, and z∈ran⁡(A+L∗∘B∘(L⋅−r))z\in\operatorname{ran}(A+L^*\circ B\circ(L\cdot-r))z∈ran(A+L∗∘B∘(L⋅−r)), P≠∅\mathcal P\ne\varnothingP=∅, zer⁡(M+S)≠∅\operatorname{zer}(M+S)\ne\varnothingzer(M+S)=∅, D≠∅\mathcal D\ne\varnothingD=∅ and −r∈ran⁡(−L∘A−1∘(z−L∗⋅)+B−1)-r\in\operatorname{ran}(-L\circ A^{-1}\circ(z-L^*\cdot)+B^{-1})−r∈ran(−L∘A−1∘(z−L∗⋅)+B−1) are equivalent.

Significance

Theorem 3.1 gives a method that handles two arbitrary maximally monotone operators coupled by an arbitrary bounded linear map, with only resolvent evaluations of AAA and B−1B^{-1}B−1 (computed in parallel) and forward applications of LLL and L∗L^*L∗. It tolerates summable errors in every step and variable step sizes, and it produces a primal and a dual solution simultaneously, assuming only that the primal problem is solvable. The paper derives from it, as instances, methods for sums of composite operators (Theorem 3.8) and for Fenchel–Rockafellar-type composite minimization (Section 4).

The theorem is proved in the literature. This mission formalizes it, which in turn requires a machine-checked inexact forward–backward–forward theorem (Theorem 2.5) and the structural facts about the monotone+skew reformulation (Propositions 2.7, 2.8). These intermediate results are reusable for the descendants of this algorithm. No machine-checked proof of Theorem 3.1, of Theorem 2.5, or of the quasi-Fejér Lemma 2.2 is known to the mission's authors. On Prove2Me, CondatPD.FB.lemma_4_4 (inexact forward–backward with a cocoercive operator) and CondatPD.FB.theorem_3_1 (Condat's primal–dual method) concern related algorithms; CondatPD.PPA.A_maximal_monotone is an open subdifferential special case of Proposition 2.7(iii).

Difficulty

The obvious route, applying a known splitting method directly to A1+A2A_1+A_2A1​+A2​ with A2=L∗∘B∘(L⋅−r)A_2=L^*\circ B\circ(L\cdot-r)A2​=L∗∘B∘(L⋅−r), fails: A2A_2A2​ need not be maximally monotone, and its resolvent cannot be computed from that of BBB. The reformulation on K\mathcal KK avoids this, but at a cost. M+SM+SM+S is not a subdifferential, SSS is not cocoercive (it is skew, so ⟨Sx∣x⟩=0\langle Sx\mid x\rangle=0⟨Sx∣x⟩=0), and forward–backward theory does not apply; one needs the forward–backward–forward method with Lipschitz, merely monotone SSS. Proving that method's convergence with errors requires quasi-Fejér analysis in a possibly infinite-dimensional space, where bounded sequences only have weakly convergent subsequences and the limit must be identified through the maximal monotonicity of M+SM+SM+S, whose graph is sequentially closed in the weak–strong topology. The strong convergence clauses (iii)–(iv) need a further estimate, since uniform monotonicity of AAA at xˉ\bar xxˉ does not by itself control the coupled iterate.

Formalization scope

  • Hilbert spaces are [NormedAddCommGroup E] [InnerProductSpace ℝ E] [CompleteSpace E]; set-valued operators are maps E → Set E. Monotonicity, maximal monotonicity (no proper monotone extension of the graph), zer, the resolvent predicate IsResolvent, weak convergence WeakTendsto (⟨un,y⟩→⟨u,y⟩\langle u_n,y\rangle\to\langle u,y\rangle⟨un​,y⟩→⟨u,y⟩ for all yyy), opInv and opAdd are imported from published platform definitions.
  • K=H⊕G\mathcal K=\mathcal H\oplus\mathcal GK=H⊕G is WithLp 2 (H × G), whose inner product is ⟨x∣x′⟩+⟨v∣v′⟩\langle x\mid x'\rangle+\langle v\mid v'\rangle⟨x∣x′⟩+⟨v∣v′⟩; the plain product would carry the sup norm.
  • Resolvents are given maps with the resolvent property, one per iteration since γn\gamma_nγn​ varies: JA n satisfies γn−1(w−JnAw)∈A(JnAw)\gamma_n^{-1}(w-J^A_nw)\in A(J^A_nw)γn−1​(w−JnA​w)∈A(JnA​w) for all www, and likewise for B−1B^{-1}B−1. For maximally monotone operators and γn>0\gamma_n>0γn​>0 such maps exist (Minty's theorem) and are unique, so quantifying over them is the paper's statement. Proposition 2.7(iv) is stated as "the product map is a resolvent of γM\gamma MγM", which is the equality by uniqueness.
  • "Absolutely summable" is Summable (fun n => ‖a n‖); indices start at 000; ∥L∥\|L\|∥L∥ is the operator norm and L≠0L\ne0L=0 is kept, so the step-size window is nonempty.
  • "S∈B(K)S\in\mathcal B(\mathcal K)S∈B(K)" is the existence of a continuous linear operator equal to SSS pointwise, whose adjoint is its negative and whose norm is ∥L∥\|L\|∥L∥.
  • "Uniformly monotone at xxx" (Lemma 2.4(i)) uses a nondecreasing ϕ:[0,∞[→[0,+∞]\phi:[0,\infty[\to[0,+\infty]ϕ:[0,∞[→[0,+∞] vanishing only at 000, compared in EReal, against every point of the graph. It is neither strong monotonicity nor uniform monotonicity on a set.
  • Lemma 2.1 is not restated: the mission references the proved platform theorem GradErrors.Deterministic.lemma_1, of which it is a special case.
  • A trivializing formalization is ruled out. The resolvents are constrained by their defining property (an unconstrained map would make the goal false), the existence hypothesis is the paper's only one (z∈ran⁡(A+L∗∘B∘(L⋅−r))z\in\operatorname{ran}(A+L^*\circ B\circ(L\cdot-r))z∈ran(A+L∗∘B∘(L⋅−r)), not a dual solution or a zero of M+SM+SM+S), and the hypotheses are satisfiable (H=G=R\mathcal H=\mathcal G=\mathbb RH=G=R, A=B=0A=B=0A=B=0, L=IdL=\mathrm{Id}L=Id is a checked instance).

The mission needs Minty-type facts (existence of resolvents), demiclosedness of maximally monotone graphs, sums of a maximally monotone and a Lipschitz monotone operator, and quasi-Fejér/Opial arguments in Hilbert space. None of these is in Mathlib in this form, and all are reusable beyond this mission. Contributions toward any of the milestones, or toward this general infrastructure, are welcome.

Selected references

  • L. M. Briceño-Arias, P. L. Combettes, A monotone+skew splitting model for composite monotone inclusions in duality, arXiv:1011.5517v1 (2010); SIAM J. Optim. 21 (2011) 1230–1250. https://arxiv.org/abs/1011.5517v1 , https://doi.org/10.1137/10081602X
  • P. Tseng, A modified forward-backward splitting method for maximal monotone mappings, SIAM J. Control Optim. 38 (2000) 431–446. https://doi.org/10.1137/S0363012998338806
  • H. H. Bauschke, P. L. Combettes, Convex Analysis and Monotone Operator Theory in Hilbert Spaces, Springer, 2011. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-9467-7
  • D. P. Bertsekas, J. N. Tsitsiklis, Gradient convergence in gradient methods with errors, SIAM J. Optim. 10 (2000) 627–642. https://doi.org/10.1137/S1052623497331063
  • P. L. Combettes, J.-C. Pesquet, Primal-dual splitting algorithm for solving inclusions with mixtures of composite, Lipschitzian, and parallel-sum type monotone operators, Set-Valued Var. Anal. 20 (2012) 307–330. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11228-011-0191-y
  • B. C. Vũ, A splitting algorithm for dual monotone inclusions involving cocoercive operators, Adv. Comput. Math. 38 (2013) 667–681. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10444-011-9254-8
  • L. Condat, A primal–dual splitting method for convex optimization involving Lipschitzian, proximable and linear composite terms, J. Optim. Theory Appl. 158 (2013) 460–479. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10957-012-0245-9
13 thms2 active usersReviewed
Markov ChainProbability·Captain: mikedeng1

Logarithmic Sobolev Inequalities for Finite Markov Chains 3: Lower Bound α ≥ (1 − 2/q)λ / 2(λt_q + log M_q + (q − 2)/q) from a Bound on ‖H_{t_q}‖_{2→q}Research Paper

Motivation

A finite Markov chain describes a system that changes state according to fixed transition probabilities. For a chain that settles toward an equilibrium distribution, a central question is how quickly the effect of its starting state disappears. The logarithmic Sobolev constant supplies quantitative control of this convergence and, through hypercontractive estimates, also governs how the continuous-time transition operator changes the size of functions measured in different norms. Diaconis and Saloff-Coste's 1996 paper develops these relations for finite chains and uses them to study mixing on graphs and product spaces.

The constant can be hard to calculate directly. Its definition is an infimum over all nonconstant functions, while a particular Markov semigroup may admit an accessible bound from ℓ2\ell^2ℓ2 to ℓq\ell^qℓq at one time. Theorem 3.9 turns such an operator estimate into a numerical lower bound for the log-Sobolev constant. This mission formalizes that result, including both finite qqq and the supremum-norm endpoint.

Setting

Let X\mathcal XX be a finite state space. A Markov kernel K(x,y)K(x,y)K(x,y) is nonnegative, with ∑yK(x,y)=1\sum_yK(x,y)=1∑y​K(x,y)=1 for every xxx. A strictly positive stationary distribution π\piπ satisfies ∑xπ(x)K(x,y)=π(y)\sum_x\pi(x)K(x,y)=\pi(y)∑x​π(x)K(x,y)=π(y) and ∑xπ(x)=1\sum_x\pi(x)=1∑x​π(x)=1. The chain is reversible when π(x)K(x,y)=π(y)K(y,x)\pi(x)K(x,y)=\pi(y)K(y,x)π(x)K(x,y)=π(y)K(y,x) for every pair of states. Its continuous-time heat semigroup is Ht=e−t(I−K)H_t=e^{-t(I-K)}Ht​=e−t(I−K), acting on a function fff by HtfH_tfHt​f. These conventions follow §§2.1–2.3 of the source paper.

For a real function on X\mathcal XX, write ∥f∥p=(∑x∣f(x)∣pπ(x))1/p\|f\|_p=(\sum_x|f(x)|^p\pi(x))^{1/p}∥f∥p​=(∑x​∣f(x)∣pπ(x))1/p when ppp is finite, and ∥f∥∞=max⁡x∣f(x)∣\|f\|_\infty=\max_x|f(x)|∥f∥∞​=maxx​∣f(x)∣. The Dirichlet form is E(f,g)=∑x(f(x)−Kf(x))g(x)π(x)\mathcal E(f,g)=\sum_x(f(x)-Kf(x))g(x)\pi(x)E(f,g)=∑x​(f(x)−Kf(x))g(x)π(x). The quadratic entropy functional is L(f)=∑x∣f(x)∣2log⁡(∣f(x)∣2/∥f∥22)π(x)\mathcal L(f)=\sum_x|f(x)|^2\log(|f(x)|^2/\|f\|_2^2)\pi(x)L(f)=∑x​∣f(x)∣2log(∣f(x)∣2/∥f∥22​)π(x), with a zero contribution where f(x)=0f(x)=0f(x)=0. Write Ef=∑xf(x)π(x)Ef=\sum_xf(x)\pi(x)Ef=∑x​f(x)π(x) and Var⁡π(f)=∥f−Ef∥22\operatorname{Var}_\pi(f)=\|f-Ef\|_2^2Varπ​(f)=∥f−Ef∥22​.

The spectral gap in this mission is the variational constant λ=inf⁡Var⁡π(f)≠0E(f,f)/Var⁡π(f)\lambda=\inf_{\operatorname{Var}_\pi(f)\ne0}\mathcal E(f,f)/\operatorname{Var}_\pi(f)λ=infVarπ​(f)=0​E(f,f)/Varπ​(f), as in (2.4). The log-Sobolev constant is α=inf⁡L(f)≠0E(f,f)/L(f)\alpha=\inf_{\mathcal L(f)\ne0}\mathcal E(f,f)/\mathcal L(f)α=infL(f)=0​E(f,f)/L(f), as in (3.1). These definitions specify the quantities that Theorem 3.9 relates; in particular, λ\lambdaλ is the paper's variational quantity, rather than an eigenvalue expression imported from a different convention.

Formalization targets

Theorem 3.9: a single heat-operator estimate bounds α\alphaα

Suppose 2<q<∞2<q<\infty2<q<∞, tq>0t_q>0tq​>0, and MqM_qMq​ satisfy ∥Htqf∥q≤Mq∥f∥2\|H_{t_q}f\|_q\le M_q\|f\|_2∥Htq​​f∥q​≤Mq​∥f∥2​ for every function fff. The paper's theorem asserts

α≥(1−2/q)λ2(λtq+log⁡Mq+(q−2)/q).\alpha\ge\frac{(1-2/q)\lambda}{2\left(\lambda t_q+\log M_q+(q-2)/q\right)}.α≥2(λtq​+logMq​+(q−2)/q)(1−2/q)λ​.

It also covers q=∞q=\inftyq=∞: the hypothesis then uses ∥Htqf∥∞\|H_{t_q}f\|_\infty∥Htq​​f∥∞​, and the two fractions involving qqq in the displayed bound become 111.

Companion results

Theorem 3.10 replaces HtqH_{t_q}Htq​​ in the norm hypothesis with Htq−EH_{t_q}-EHtq​​−E, where EEE sends a function to its constant mean. Corollary 3.11 relates α\alphaα to τ\tauτ, the first time at which every heat-kernel density htx(y)=Ht(x,y)/π(y)h_t^x(y)=H_t(x,y)/\pi(y)htx​(y)=Ht​(x,y)/π(y) is within 1/e1/e1/e of 111 in ℓ2(π)\ell^2(\pi)ℓ2(π):

12α≤τ≤4+log⁡log⁡(1/π∗)4α,π∗=min⁡xπ(x).\frac1{2\alpha}\le\tau\le\frac{4+\log\log(1/\pi_*)}{4\alpha}, \qquad \pi_*=\min_x\pi(x).2α1​≤τ≤4α4+loglog(1/π∗​)​,π∗​=xmin​π(x).

The three milestones reproduce the interpolation estimate (3.6), the resulting entropy inequality, and the centering inequality (3.7). Theorem 3.10's printed finite-qqq denominator contains (q−2)/2(q-2)/2(q−2)/2; its displayed proof and the q=∞q=\inftyq=∞ use in Corollary 3.11 require (q−2)/q(q-2)/q(q−2)/q. That proof also needs log⁡Mq+(q−2)/q≥0\log M_q+(q-2)/q\ge0logMq​+(q−2)/q≥0, which the page does not state and without which the printed statement fails on a four-state product chain. The formal companion records both corrections, while the main goal follows the printed Theorem 3.9 exactly.

Significance

Theorem 3.9 makes a norm bound at a chosen time useful beyond that time: it yields a bound on a functional inequality that holds for every function on the state space. Thus estimates obtained from an explicit heat kernel or another analytic method can be compared across chains using the same constant α\alphaα. The centered version and the bound for τ\tauτ connect this functional viewpoint back to convergence from a point mass, as the paper explains in §3.4.

The mathematical results are proved in the 1996 paper. Here the remaining work is to give their finite-state objects, norm hypotheses, and constants machine-checked meanings, then formalize the proofs. The definition layer and the centering inequality have use beyond this mission: they can support other statements about entropy decay and heat-kernel convergence in the same paper.

Difficulty

A bound for HtH_tHt​ in the same norm is too weak to recover the displayed lower bound: the information here is the change from an ℓ2\ell^2ℓ2 input to an ℓq\ell^qℓq output. The dependence of the exponent on time must retain the factors (1−2/q)(1-2/q)(1−2/q) and (q−2)/q(q-2)/q(q−2)/q exactly. The endpoint q=∞q=\inftyq=∞ also requires a separate norm statement, since a real exponent cannot represent infinity. The centering inequality (3.7) is another substantial step; the paper points to earlier proofs rather than treating it as immediate.

Formalization scope

The state space is a finite Lean type, the kernel a real matrix, and the invariant law a positive real-valued probability vector. Reversibility is detailed balance, and irreducibility is retained from the standing setting of §3.1. The heat semigroup uses the already published Poissonized heat kernel. Operator norms are represented by inequalities quantified over every real function. The finite-qqq and q=∞q=\inftyq=∞ conclusions are separate clauses of the goal. Time is real; tq>0t_q>0tq​>0 makes explicit the positive-time convention used in §3.4. Theorem 3.10 carries the condition Mq≥e−(q−2)/qM_q\ge e^{-(q-2)/q}Mq​≥e−(q−2)/q (and M∞≥e−1M_\infty\ge e^{-1}M∞​≥e−1) described above; Corollary 3.11 is stated without any extra condition.

The variational constants are real infima, the logarithms and real powers use Lean's total operations, and the supremum norm is a supremum over the finite state space. The stationary probability hypothesis rules out an empty state space; the operator hypothesis on the constant function forces Mq≥1M_q\ge1Mq​≥1 in Theorem 3.9. These facts prevent the bound from arising from a zero norm, an empty operator test, an invalid logarithm, or an eigenvalue convention different from (2.4). Useful contributions include finite-state entropy inequalities, interpolation machinery, estimates for the heat operator, and proofs of the three stated milestones.

Selected references

  • P. Diaconis and L. Saloff-Coste, Logarithmic Sobolev inequalities for finite Markov chains, Annals of Applied Probability 6 (1996), 695–750. DOI.
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A Dual Algorithm for the Solution of Nonlinear Variational Problems via Finite Element Approximation 2: Internal Approximations Under (4.1)–(4.3) Have Solutions v_h Converging Strongly to vResearch Paper

Motivation

An infinite dimensional variational problem can be described by continuous linear operators and convex functionals, yet numerical work needs finite dimensional spaces. The question is whether a solution computed in a finite dimensional approximation still approaches the solution of the original problem when the approximation is refined. Gabay and Mercier's IRIA report studies this question alongside a dual algorithm. Its Section 4 gives a convergence statement for internal approximations of the primal problem. The result is relevant to finite element methods because it identifies conditions on the discrete spaces, discrete operators, and nonsmooth part of the objective that ensure convergence of the minimizers.

The report is the June 1975 preprint of a 1976 journal paper. This mission follows the pinned report version, hal-04716124v1, whose theorem and equation numbers are used throughout. Its Section 4 first states the abstract approximation theorem and then turns to a concrete finite element construction. The abstract theorem is the target here. Gabay and Mercier, pp. 20–23.

Setting

Let VVV and YYY be real Hilbert spaces, and let A:V→YA:V\to YA:V→Y be a continuous linear operator. A continuous linear functional b∈V′b\in V'b∈V′ supplies a linear term. Let f2:Y→(−∞,+∞]f_2:Y\to(-\infty,+\infty]f2​:Y→(−∞,+∞] be a proper, convex, lower semicontinuous function. Its value may be +∞+\infty+∞, which excludes an inadmissible point. The continuous problem (P)({\cal P})(P) is to minimize

J(v)=12∥Av∥2+f2(Av)−⟨b,v⟩,v∈V.J(v)=\frac12\|Av\|^2+f_2(Av)-\langle b,v\rangle,\qquad v\in V.J(v)=21​∥Av∥2+f2​(Av)−⟨b,v⟩,v∈V.

A solution has finite objective value and minimizes JJJ over all of VVV. The report's coercivity condition (2.5) supplies α>0\alpha>0α>0 such that ∥Av∥2≥α2∥v∥2\|Av\|^2\ge\alpha^2\|v\|^2∥Av∥2≥α2∥v∥2 for every v∈Vv\in Vv∈V. It also assumes the interior of the effective domain of f2f_2f2​ is nonempty. The proof of Proposition 2.1 explicitly requires a point v0∈Vv_0\in Vv0​∈V with f2(Av0)<+∞f_2(Av_0)<+\inftyf2​(Av0​)<+∞; this feasibility condition is made explicit here. Gabay and Mercier, pp. 8–9.

For each approximation index kkk, let Vk⊆VV_k\subseteq VVk​⊆V be a finite dimensional subspace and Ak:Vk→YA_k:V_k\to YAk​:Vk​→Y a continuous linear operator. The discrete problem (Pk)({\cal P}_k)(Pk​) minimizes 12∥Akw∥2+f2(Akw)−⟨b,w⟩\frac12\|A_kw\|^2+f_2(A_kw)-\langle b,w\rangle21​∥Ak​w∥2+f2​(Ak​w)−⟨b,w⟩ over w∈Vkw\in V_kw∈Vk​. The same AkA_kAk​ appears in both terms involving the image of www. The report also describes a subspace Yh⊆YY_h\subseteq YYh​⊆Y containing the range of AhA_hAh​; the abstract convergence claim uses those images only as elements of YYY. Gabay and Mercier, pp. 20, 23.

The operator assumptions (4.1) include uniform constants α′>0\alpha'>0α′>0 and MMM with α′∥w∥≤∥Akw∥≤M∥w∥\alpha'\|w\|\le\|A_kw\|\le M\|w\|α′∥w∥≤∥Ak​w∥≤M∥w∥, preservation of weak and strong limits, and ∥Akw−Aw∥→0\|A_kw-Aw\|\to0∥Ak​w−Aw∥→0 for uniformly bounded families. The compatibility condition (4.3) requires, for each v∈Vv\in Vv∈V, points wk∈Vkw_k\in V_kwk​∈Vk​ with wk→vw_k\to vwk​→v and f2(Akwk)→f2(Av)f_2(A_kw_k)\to f_2(Av)f2​(Ak​wk​)→f2​(Av). The latter limit is extended valued when necessary. These conditions define what counts as an internal approximation for this theorem. Gabay and Mercier, p. 20.

Formalization targets

The main target is Theorem 4.1. The continuous problem has a unique solution v∗v^*v∗; the discrete problems have unique solutions for all sufficiently fine approximations; and

vk∗⟶v∗strongly in V.v_k^*\longrightarrow v^*\quad\text{strongly in }V.vk∗​⟶v∗strongly in V.

The theorem's phrase “in VhV_hVh​ strongly” is read in the common ambient space VVV, because the spaces VhV_hVh​ vary. The claim covers every selection of discrete minimizers once they exist. The paper's conditions allow a few early discrete problems to be infeasible, so existence is asserted eventually. Gabay and Mercier, p. 21, Theorem 4.1.

The milestone list follows the report's own path from the application of Proposition 2.1 on p. 20 through the variational inequality (4.4), the bound after (4.5), weak convergence after (4.7), the estimate (4.8), and the limits (4.10)–(4.11). The equations (4.5) and (4.8) contain printing slips; their milestone excerpts preserve the printed text, while their formal statements use the mathematically consistent readings explained with each item. Gabay and Mercier, pp. 21–22.

Significance

The theorem gives a precise guarantee for a family of finite dimensional problems: a computed minimizer is meaningful as an approximation to the unique solution of the infinite dimensional problem when the discretization satisfies the stated conditions. The operator AkA_kAk​ may differ from the restriction of AAA to VkV_kVk​, and the nonsmooth term f2f_2f2​ may assign +∞+\infty+∞ outside its domain. The conclusion therefore covers settings in which simply restricting the continuous objective to a subspace would describe the wrong numerical problem. Gabay and Mercier, pp. 20–23.

The result is proved in the report; the remaining task is a machine checked proof of the abstract approximation theorem and its cited intermediate claims. A formal development would also leave reusable statements about extended valued convex minimization, weak convergence of Hilbert space sequences, and uniformly consistent discrete operators. This proposal supplies statements for those claims; it does not claim that they already have machine checked proofs.

Difficulty

Strong convergence cannot be read off from a bound on the discrete solution norms. Uniform boundedness yields only access to weak limits in the Hilbert space; the solution's images and the nonsmooth objective must still behave correctly under the varying operators. Weak convergence of vk∗v_k^*vk∗​ alone also does not imply convergence in norm. A proof must keep the weak limit, the lower semicontinuity of f2f_2f2​, and the discrepancy between AkA_kAk​ and AAA aligned under the same approximation assumptions. The fact that f2f_2f2​ may be infinite makes unguarded subtraction of its values invalid. Gabay and Mercier, pp. 21–22.

Formalization scope

Lean uses real complete inner product spaces for VVV and YYY, continuous linear maps for AAA and AkA_kAk​, and StrongDual ℝ V for bbb. The index k→∞k\to\inftyk→∞ represents a sequence of mesh parameters hk→0h_k\to0hk​→0; the report's convergence claims are sequential. Each VkV_kVk​ is finite dimensional. The codomain spaces YhY_hYh​ are suppressed through their inclusions in YYY. Weak convergence uses all Hilbert inner products as tests, while “strongly” means convergence in the norm topology.

The function f2f_2f2​ takes values in EReal, with properness excluding −∞-\infty−∞. Its limit in (4.3) uses the extended real topology. The quadratic term is real valued. A solution must have a finite objective value, and the continuous problem must have a feasible point. The section's interior-domain assumption (2.4) is retained even though the abstract proof does not use it. Condition (4.1)(iv) quantifies over every uniformly bounded family. These choices rule out the vacuous interpretation in which all continuous or discrete objective values are +∞+\infty+∞.

The report's f1(y)=12∥y∥2f_1(y)=\frac12\|y\|^2f1​(y)=21​∥y∥2 automatically satisfies the earlier gradient monotonicity requirement (2.3). The published InertialFB.IFB.ConvexAnalysis definition provides properness, convexity, and weak convergence with matching conventions. The new local definition supplies the two objectives, solution predicates, and approximation hypotheses. Contributions proving the goal and its milestones are welcome; separate treatments of the concrete triangulation and quadrature construction of Proposition 4.1 are outside this mission. Gabay and Mercier, pp. 20–26.

Selected references

  • D. Gabay and B. Mercier, A dual algorithm for the solution of non linear variational problems via finite element approximation, IRIA Rapport de Recherche no. 126, June 1975, hal-04716124v1. This report is the version whose numbering the mission uses.
  • D. Gabay and B. Mercier, A dual algorithm for the solution of nonlinear variational problems via finite element approximation, Computers & Mathematics with Applications 2 (1976) 17–40, doi:10.1016/0898-1221(76)90003-1. The journal version; its numbering is not used here.
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Duality and Stability in Extremum Problems Involving Convex Functions 3: If f Is Finite at x and g Is Finite and Continuous at Ax, Then (P) Is Stably Set and inf (P(z)) Is Continuous Near z = 0Research Paper

Motivation

A convex program is useful in practice only if its optimal value responds reasonably to small changes in the data. Lagrangian and Fenchel duality theory makes this precise: the dual problem attains its optimum and has no duality gap exactly when the primal value function does not fall off infinitely steeply under small perturbations. A constraint qualification is a checkable condition on the data that guarantees this good behaviour; Slater's condition (a strictly feasible point) is the best-known example in finite dimensions.

R. T. Rockafellar's 1967 paper Duality and Stability in Extremum Problems Involving Convex Functions (Pacific J. Math. 21 (1967) 167–187) develops Fenchel-type duality for the problem of minimizing f(x)−g(Ax)f(x) - g(Ax)f(x)−g(Ax) in general locally convex spaces. It introduces the notion of a stably set problem, shows that stability is equivalent to strong duality with an attained dual optimum (its Theorem 3), and gives in Theorem 1 a general sufficient condition for stability. Theorem 1 is the infinite-dimensional analogue of Slater's condition and is the form in which the result is usually applied: one exhibits a single point where fff is finite and ggg is finite and continuous.

Timeline. Fenchel (1951) proved the duality theorem for A=IA = IA=I in Rn\mathbb{R}^nRn under relative-interior conditions. Brøndsted (1964) and Moreau (1966–67) extended conjugate duality to paired locally convex spaces. Rockafellar's 1967 paper (this mission) added the linear map AAA, the perturbation function hhh, the notion of stability, and Theorem 1. The perturbational approach was later systematized in Rockafellar's Conjugate Duality and Optimization (SIAM, 1974).

Setting

Let EEE and FFF be real locally convex Hausdorff topological vector spaces and A:E→FA : E \to FA:E→F a continuous linear map. Let f:E→[−∞,+∞]f : E \to [-\infty, +\infty]f:E→[−∞,+∞] and g:F→[−∞,+∞]g : F \to [-\infty, +\infty]g:F→[−∞,+∞].

  • fff is convex if its epigraph {(x,μ)∣x∈E,μ∈R,μ≥f(x)}\{(x, \mu) \mid x \in E, \mu \in \mathbb{R}, \mu \ge f(x)\}{(x,μ)∣x∈E,μ∈R,μ≥f(x)} is a convex subset of E×RE \times \mathbb{R}E×R; it is proper if f(x)>−∞f(x) > -\inftyf(x)>−∞ for all xxx and f(x)<+∞f(x) < +\inftyf(x)<+∞ for some xxx. ggg is concave if −g-g−g is convex, and proper concave if g<+∞g < +\inftyg<+∞ everywhere and g>−∞g > -\inftyg>−∞ somewhere.
  • Throughout, fff is lower semicontinuous proper convex and ggg is upper semicontinuous proper concave. Their effective domains are C={x∣f(x)<+∞}C = \{x \mid f(x) < +\infty\}C={x∣f(x)<+∞} and D={y∣g(y)>−∞}D = \{y \mid g(y) > -\infty\}D={y∣g(y)>−∞}.
  • The primal problem is
(P)minimize f(x)−g(Ax) over x∈E,(P) \qquad \text{minimize } f(x) - g(Ax) \text{ over } x \in E,(P)minimize f(x)−g(Ax) over x∈E,

and its perturbations are (P(z))(P(z))(P(z)): minimize f(x)−g(Ax−z)f(x) - g(Ax - z)f(x)−g(Ax−z), for z∈Fz \in Fz∈F. The perturbation function is h(z)=inf⁡(P(z))=inf⁡x{f(x)−g(Ax−z)}∈[−∞,+∞]h(z) = \inf (P(z)) = \inf_x \{ f(x) - g(Ax - z) \} \in [-\infty, +\infty]h(z)=inf(P(z))=infx​{f(x)−g(Ax−z)}∈[−∞,+∞], so h(0)=inf⁡(P)h(0) = \inf (P)h(0)=inf(P). (P)(P)(P) is consistent if h(0)<+∞h(0) < +\inftyh(0)<+∞.

  • When h(0)h(0)h(0) is finite, the directional derivative is h′(0;z)=lim⁡ε↓0[h(εz)−h(0)]/εh'(0; z) = \lim_{\varepsilon \downarrow 0} [h(\varepsilon z) - h(0)]/\varepsilonh′(0;z)=limε↓0​[h(εz)−h(0)]/ε.
  • (P)(P)(P) is unstably set if h(0)h(0)h(0) is finite and every neighbourhood of 000 contains vectors zzz with h′(0;z)h'(0; z)h′(0;z) a negative number of arbitrarily large magnitude (−∞-\infty−∞ included). (P)(P)(P) is stably set if it is consistent but not unstably set.

Formalization targets

Goal: Theorem 1 (p. 175)

Suppose there exists x∈Ex \in Ex∈E such that fff is finite at xxx and ggg is finite and continuous at AxAxAx. Then

(P) is stably setandthere is a neighbourhood U of 0 on which z↦inf⁡(P(z)) is continuous.(P) \text{ is stably set} \quad\text{and}\quad \text{there is a neighbourhood } U \text{ of } 0 \text{ on which } z \mapsto \inf (P(z)) \text{ is continuous}.(P) is stably setandthere is a neighbourhood U of 0 on which z↦inf(P(z)) is continuous.

The neighbourhood UUU is left unspecified, as in the paper.

Milestones (in the order the proof uses them)

  1. (4.4) {z∣h(z)<+∞}={Ax−y∣f(x)<+∞, g(y)>−∞}=A(C)−D\{z \mid h(z) < +\infty\} = \{Ax - y \mid f(x) < +\infty,\ g(y) > -\infty\} = A(C) - D{z∣h(z)<+∞}={Ax−y∣f(x)<+∞, g(y)>−∞}=A(C)−D.
  2. (4.5) A(C)A(C)A(C) meets int⁡D\operatorname{int} DintD, and 0∈A(C)−int⁡D⊆int⁡(A(C)−D)0 \in A(C) - \operatorname{int} D \subseteq \operatorname{int}(A(C) - D)0∈A(C)−intD⊆int(A(C)−D).
  3. Epigraph of hhh has interior (p. 176): the hypograph G={(y,μ)∣g(y)≥μ>−∞}G = \{(y, \mu) \mid g(y) \ge \mu > -\infty\}G={(y,μ)∣g(y)≥μ>−∞} has nonempty interior, (Ax,λ)−G(Ax, \lambda) - G(Ax,λ)−G lies in the epigraph of hhh for every (x,λ)(x, \lambda)(x,λ) in the epigraph of fff, and so the epigraph of hhh has nonempty interior.
  4. Continuity on the interior of the domain (p. 176): 0∈int⁡{h<+∞}0 \in \operatorname{int}\{h < +\infty\}0∈int{h<+∞} and hhh is continuous there.
  5. (4.6) For a convex hhh with h(0)h(0)h(0) finite: h(z)≥h(0)+h′(0;z)h(z) \ge h(0) + h'(0; z)h(z)≥h(0)+h′(0;z) and h′(0;z)≥−h′(0;−z)h'(0; z) \ge -h'(0; -z)h′(0;z)≥−h′(0;−z) for all zzz.

Significance

The result. Combined with the paper's Theorem 3, Theorem 1 yields: if fff is finite at some xxx where ggg is finite and continuous at AxAxAx, then inf⁡(P)=max⁡(P∗)\inf (P) = \max (P^*)inf(P)=max(P∗), with the dual maximum attained. This is the standard sufficient condition for Fenchel–Rockafellar duality in infinite dimensions, used in calculus of variations, optimal control, and the convex analysis of integral functionals. The continuity half of Theorem 1 says that the optimal value depends continuously on translations of the constraint data near the unperturbed problem, a basic sensitivity statement.

Formalizing it. The theorem is proved (1967) and appears in many textbooks, but there is no machine-checked version on this platform. Mathlib contains continuity criteria for real-valued convex functions on open sets of normed or finite-dimensional spaces (ConvexOn.continuousOn_tfae, ConvexOn.continuousOn_interior), but nothing for extended-real-valued convex functions on general topological vector spaces, no perturbation function, and no notion of a stably set problem. A complete development would provide reusable infrastructure: the epigraph-interior continuity criterion for [−∞,+∞][-\infty, +\infty][−∞,+∞]-valued convex functions and the elementary calculus of one-sided directional derivatives.

Difficulty

The obvious argument says: ggg is continuous at AxAxAx, so h(z)≤f(x)−g(Ax−z)h(z) \le f(x) - g(Ax - z)h(z)≤f(x)−g(Ax−z) is bounded above near 000, hence hhh is continuous at 000 and its directional derivatives are bounded. Two steps of this fail without care. First, the passage from "bounded above near a point" to "continuous" requires convexity of hhh (Lemma 2 of the paper, proved in the companion mission) and a continuity criterion valid in an arbitrary topological vector space, with values in [−∞,+∞][-\infty, +\infty][−∞,+∞]; the normed-space proofs in Mathlib do not apply. Second, hhh may take the value −∞-\infty−∞, and the derivative may be −∞-\infty−∞ in some directions; the bookkeeping of extended-real arithmetic (where (+∞)+(−∞)(+\infty) + (-\infty)(+∞)+(−∞) is not defined mathematically and is given a junk value in Lean) has to be done honestly. Finally, upper bounds on h′(0;⋅)h'(0;\cdot)h′(0;⋅) must be converted into lower bounds, which is where the second inequality of (4.6) enters; an upper bound alone does not give stability.

Formalization scope

All values are in Lean's EReal. Convexity is convexity of the epigraph with real second coordinate (the paper's definition, p. 170); concavity is convexity of −g-g−g. Properness is stated as in the paper. The perturbation function is the EReal infimum ⨅ x, f x - g (A x - z); under properness the undefined form (+∞)−(+∞)(+\infty) - (+\infty)(+∞)−(+∞) never arises. The directional derivative (4.3) is the lower limit of the difference quotient along ε→0+\varepsilon \to 0^+ε→0+, which equals the paper's limit whenever it exists (always, for convex hhh with h(0)h(0)h(0) finite). "Unstably set" quantifies over all neighbourhoods of 000 and all real MMM, with h′(0;z)<−Mh'(0;z) < -Mh′(0;z)<−M allowing −∞-\infty−∞. "Stably set" is h(0)<+∞h(0) < +\inftyh(0)<+∞ together with "not unstably set", so inf⁡(P)=−∞\inf (P) = -\inftyinf(P)=−∞ is stably set, as the paper says on p. 176. Continuity is with respect to the order topology of EReal, and "continuous at AxAxAx" is continuity of ggg itself at that point, not of its restriction to DDD.

The paper's standing setting (§3) includes dual spaces E∗,F∗E^*, F^*E∗,F∗, the adjoint A∗A^*A∗ and the conjugates f∗,g∗f^*, g^*f∗,g∗. Neither Theorem 1 nor its proof uses them, so they are omitted and the theorem is stated for every pair of real locally convex Hausdorff spaces, which includes every paired setting. The lower and upper semicontinuity of fff and ggg are standing hypotheses of the paper and are kept, although the proof does not use them. Inequality (4.6) is stated for an arbitrary convex function finite at 000, the generality in which the paper invokes it. No statement was repaired.

A definition of "stably set" that already presumed finiteness or continuity of hhh near 000, or that tested the derivative only in a fixed set of directions, would make the first conclusion of Theorem 1 trivial; the definition used here is the paper's p. 175 definition verbatim, applied to an arbitrary function hhh. The definitions are local to this mission; the companion missions on Theorem 3 and Theorem 6 of the same paper define the same objects in their own namespaces. Contributions are welcome on the milestones in any order, and in particular on a general continuity criterion for extended-real-valued convex functions on topological vector spaces, which is reusable well beyond this mission.

Selected references

  • R. T. Rockafellar, Duality and stability in extremum problems involving convex functions, Pacific J. Math. 21 (1967) 167–187. https://doi.org/10.2140/pjm.1967.21.167
  • A. Brøndsted, Conjugate convex functions in topological vector spaces, Mat.-Fys. Medd. Dansk. Vid. Selsk. 34 (1964), no. 2.
  • W. Fenchel, Convex Cones, Sets and Functions, lecture notes, Princeton University, 1951.
  • J. J. Moreau, Fonctionnelles convexes, Séminaire Leray, Collège de France, 1966–67.
  • R. T. Rockafellar, Conjugate Duality and Optimization, CBMS-NSF Regional Conference Series in Applied Mathematics 16, SIAM, 1974. https://doi.org/10.1137/1.9781611970524
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Convex OptimizationOptimization·Captain: mikedeng1

A Dual Algorithm for the Solution of Nonlinear Variational Problems via Finite Element Approximation 1: For 0 < ρ < 2r, the Modified Dual Algorithm Converges Strongly to (v*, Av*)Research Paper

Motivation

Many problems in mechanics and optimal control are posed as the minimization of a convex functional of the form f(Av)−⟨b,v⟩f(Av)-\langle b,v\ranglef(Av)−⟨b,v⟩, where AAA is a differential operator and fff is non-smooth: an obstacle, a friction term, a plasticity threshold. Splitting the variable, y=Avy=Avy=Av, separates the linear operator from the non-smooth function, and a Lagrange multiplier for the constraint Av−y=0Av-y=0Av−y=0 turns the problem into a sequence of two simpler ones: a linear system in vvv and a pointwise nonlinear problem in yyy. The scheme that alternates between the two and then updates the multiplier is now called the alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM). It is one of the standard algorithms of large-scale convex optimization, statistics and imaging (Boyd, Parikh, Chu, Peleato and Eckstein, 2011).

Gabay and Mercier (IRIA report RR-126, 1975; Comput. Math. Appl., 1976) gave a convergence proof of this method in Hilbert space, for a stepsize ρ\rhoρ anywhere in (0,2r)(0,2r)(0,2r), where rrr is the penalty parameter of the augmented Lagrangian.

Timeline.

  • 1969: Hestenes and Powell introduce the augmented Lagrangian (method of multipliers).
  • 1975: Glowinski and Marrocco propose the alternating scheme for nonlinear Dirichlet problems.
  • 1975–76: Gabay and Mercier prove strong convergence of the primal iterates for 0<ρ<2r0<\rho<2r0<ρ<2r under strong monotonicity of f1′f_1'f1′​ (this mission).
  • 1983: Gabay identifies ADMM with Douglas–Rachford splitting applied to the dual.
  • 1992: Eckstein and Bertsekas extend convergence to maximal monotone operators, without strong monotonicity, for ρ=r\rho=rρ=r.

Setting

VVV and YYY are real Hilbert spaces; (⋅,⋅)(\cdot,\cdot)(⋅,⋅) and ∣⋅∣|\cdot|∣⋅∣ are the inner product and norm of YYY, ∥⋅∥\|\cdot\|∥⋅∥ the norm of VVV. A:V→YA:V\to YA:V→Y is a continuous linear operator and bbb is a continuous linear functional on VVV, with value ⟨b,v⟩\langle b,v\rangle⟨b,v⟩ at vvv. The dual of YYY is identified with YYY. The function f:Y→(−∞,+∞]f:Y\to(-\infty,+\infty]f:Y→(−∞,+∞] is a sum f=f1+f2f=f_1+f_2f=f1​+f2​ where

  1. f1:Y→Rf_1:Y\to\mathbb Rf1​:Y→R is convex and continuously differentiable, and its gradient is strongly monotone: (f1′(y)−f1′(z),y−z)≥γ∣y−z∣2(f_1'(y)-f_1'(z),y-z)\ge\gamma|y-z|^2(f1′​(y)−f1′​(z),y−z)≥γ∣y−z∣2 for some γ>0\gamma>0γ>0 (2.3);
  2. f2f_2f2​ is proper (never −∞-\infty−∞, somewhere finite), convex and lower semicontinuous;
  3. ∣Av∣2≥α2∥v∥2|Av|^2\ge\alpha^2\|v\|^2∣Av∣2≥α2∥v∥2 for some α>0\alpha>0α>0 (2.5);
  4. some Av0Av_0Av0​ lies in the interior of dom⁡f2={y:f2(y)<+∞}\operatorname{dom}f_2=\{y:f_2(y)<+\infty\}domf2​={y:f2​(y)<+∞} (qualification).

The problem is

(P)inf⁡v∈V f(Av)−⟨b,v⟩,(\mathcal P)\qquad \inf_{v\in V}\ f(Av)-\langle b,v\rangle ,(P)v∈Vinf​ f(Av)−⟨b,v⟩,

and a solution v∗v^*v∗ is a point where this value is finite and minimal. The Lagrangian and augmented Lagrangian are, for λ∈Y\lambda\in Yλ∈Y and r>0r>0r>0,

L(v,y;λ)=f(y)+(λ,Av−y)−⟨b,v⟩,Lr=L+r2∣Av−y∣2.\mathcal L(v,y;\lambda)=f(y)+(\lambda,Av-y)-\langle b,v\rangle,\qquad \mathcal L_r=\mathcal L+\frac r2|Av-y|^2 .L(v,y;λ)=f(y)+(λ,Av−y)−⟨b,v⟩,Lr​=L+2r​∣Av−y∣2.

The modified dual algorithm (3.4) starts from any (y0,λ0)∈Y×Y(y^0,\lambda^0)\in Y\times Y(y0,λ0)∈Y×Y and, for n≥0n\ge0n≥0,

  1. finds vn+1v^{n+1}vn+1 with r(Avn+1,Aw)=(ryn−λn,Aw)+⟨b,w⟩r(Av^{n+1},Aw)=(ry^n-\lambda^n,Aw)+\langle b,w\rangler(Avn+1,Aw)=(ryn−λn,Aw)+⟨b,w⟩ for all w∈Vw\in Vw∈V (minimization of Lr\mathcal L_rLr​ in vvv);
  2. finds yn+1y^{n+1}yn+1 with λn+rAvn+1−ryn+1−f1′(yn+1)∈∂f2(yn+1)\lambda^n+rAv^{n+1}-ry^{n+1}-f_1'(y^{n+1})\in\partial f_2(y^{n+1})λn+rAvn+1−ryn+1−f1′​(yn+1)∈∂f2​(yn+1) (minimization of Lr\mathcal L_rLr​ in yyy);
  3. sets λn+1=λn+ρ(Avn+1−yn+1)\lambda^{n+1}=\lambda^n+\rho(Av^{n+1}-y^{n+1})λn+1=λn+ρ(Avn+1−yn+1).

PPP denotes the orthogonal projection of YYY onto the range R(A)R(A)R(A), which is closed by (2.5).

Formalization targets

Goal: Theorem 3.1

For r>0r>0r>0 and every stepsize with

0<ρ<2r,0<\rho<2r,0<ρ<2r,

every run of the algorithm satisfies

∥vn−v∗∥→0,∣yn−Av∗∣→0,sup⁡n∣λn∣<∞,\|v^n-v^*\|\to0,\qquad |y^n-Av^*|\to0,\qquad \sup_n|\lambda^n|<\infty,∥vn−v∗∥→0,∣yn−Av∗∣→0,nsup​∣λn∣<∞,

where v∗v^*v∗ is the unique solution of (P)(\mathcal P)(P). The multipliers need not converge.

Milestones

  1. Proposition 2.1: (P)(\mathcal P)(P) has a unique solution.
  2. Theorem 2.1: a saddle point (v∗,y∗;λ∗)(v^*,y^*;\lambda^*)(v∗,y∗;λ∗) of L\mathcal LL consists of the solution v∗v^*v∗, y∗=Av∗y^*=Av^*y∗=Av∗ and λ∗∈∂f(Av∗)\lambda^*\in\partial f(Av^*)λ∗∈∂f(Av∗) with A′λ∗=bA'\lambda^*=bA′λ∗=b; and a saddle point exists.
  3. Theorem 2.2: for r>0r>0r>0, Lr\mathcal L_rLr​ and L\mathcal LL have the same saddle points.
  4. (3.8)–(3.10): a saddle point is a fixed point of Steps 1–2.
  5. (3.11)–(3.12): A(vn+1−v∗)=P(yn−y∗)−1rP(λn−λ∗)A(v^{n+1}-v^*)=P(y^n-y^*)-\frac1rP(\lambda^n-\lambda^*)A(vn+1−v∗)=P(yn−y∗)−r1​P(λn−λ∗).
  6. (3.19)–(3.20): the energy estimate
γ∣yn+1−y∗∣2+(r−ρ2)∣(I−P)(yn+1−y∗)∣2+r2∣P(yn+1−y∗)∣2+12ρ∣(I−P)(λn+1−λ∗)∣2≤r2∣P(yn−y∗)∣2+12ρ∣(I−P)(λn−λ∗)∣2\gamma|y^{n+1}-y^*|^2+\Bigl(r-\frac\rho2\Bigr)|(I-P)(y^{n+1}-y^*)|^2+\frac r2|P(y^{n+1}-y^*)|^2+\frac1{2\rho}|(I-P)(\lambda^{n+1}-\lambda^*)|^2\le\frac r2|P(y^n-y^*)|^2+\frac1{2\rho}|(I-P)(\lambda^n-\lambda^*)|^2γ∣yn+1−y∗∣2+(r−2ρ​)∣(I−P)(yn+1−y∗)∣2+2r​∣P(yn+1−y∗)∣2+2ρ1​∣(I−P)(λn+1−λ∗)∣2≤2r​∣P(yn−y∗)∣2+2ρ1​∣(I−P)(λn−λ∗)∣2

and its sum over n=0,…,Nn=0,\dots,Nn=0,…,N. 7. yn→y∗y^n\to y^*yn→y∗ for 0<ρ≤2r0<\rho\le2r0<ρ≤2r. 8. (3.22)–(3.23): a contraction-plus-summable-forcing recursion for ∣P(λn−λ∗)∣2|P(\lambda^n-\lambda^*)|^2∣P(λn−λ∗)∣2, and the scalar lemma that such recursions tend to 000. 9. P(λn−λ∗)→0P(\lambda^n-\lambda^*)\to0P(λn−λ∗)→0 and vn→v∗v^n\to v^*vn→v∗ for 0<ρ<2r0<\rho<2r0<ρ<2r.

Significance

The theorem says that ADMM converges without any step-size tuning beyond ρ<2r\rho<2rρ<2r, and that the primal iterates converge in norm in infinite dimension, which is what makes the method usable for finite element discretizations of variational problems (the companion mission on internal approximations treats the discretization). It covers obstacle problems, Bingham fluids and elasto-plastic torsion, where f2f_2f2​ is an indicator or a non-differentiable norm.

The result is proved in the 1975 report. To our knowledge it has no machine-checked proof. Formalizing it adds a library-level convergence theorem for ADMM in Hilbert space with EReal\mathrm{EReal}EReal-valued convex functions, a saddle-point existence theorem for linearly constrained convex problems, and the energy estimate (3.19) as a reusable lemma. The formalization also fixes two defects of the printed text (see Formalization scope): a sign in Step 1 and a qualification hypothesis that is too weak.

Difficulty

The energy estimate (3.19) only controls the multiplier through its component in R(A)⊥R(A)^\perpR(A)⊥, and only the yyy-error through γ>0\gamma>0γ>0. The natural first idea, a Lyapunov function in ∣λn−λ∗∣2|\lambda^n-\lambda^*|^2∣λn−λ∗∣2 alone that decreases at each step, does not work for ρ≠r\rho\ne rρ=r: the component P(λn−λ∗)P(\lambda^n-\lambda^*)P(λn−λ∗) obeys a separate recursion whose contraction factor ∣1−ρ/r∣|1-\rho/r|∣1−ρ/r∣ is below one only for 0<ρ<2r0<\rho<2r0<ρ<2r, and whose forcing term must be shown summable from the yyy-estimate. The existence of a multiplier, i.e. of a saddle point, is a separate difficulty: it needs the subdifferential chain rule ∂(f∘A)=A′∂f(A ⋅)\partial(f\circ A)=A'\partial f(A\,\cdot)∂(f∘A)=A′∂f(A⋅) in infinite dimension, under a constraint qualification.

Formalization scope

Lean conventions:

  • VVV, YYY are InnerProductSpace ℝ with CompleteSpace; multipliers are elements of YYY; bbb is a StrongDual ℝ V.
  • f1:Y→Rf_1:Y\to\mathbb Rf1​:Y→R (a Gateaux-differentiable function is finite), with a gradient f₁' at every point (HasGradientAt) that is continuous; "weakly continuous on finite-dimensional subspaces" is then automatic.
  • f2:Y→f_2:Y\tof2​:Y→ EReal, with IsProperFn, IsConvexFn, IsSubgradient from the published InertialFB.IFB.ConvexAnalysis and Mathlib's LowerSemicontinuous. No subtraction in EReal occurs: the variational inequalities (3.6), (3.9) are stated as subgradient inclusions, and the Lagrangians as a real part plus f2(y)f_2(y)f2​(y).
  • A solution of (P)(\mathcal P)(P) has finite value. A run is any triple of sequences indexed by N\mathbb NN satisfying Steps 1–3 for every nnn; the start is arbitrary, and the well-posedness of the steps is not assumed or used.
  • PPP is the orthogonal projection onto the closure of R(A)R(A)R(A), equal to R(A)R(A)R(A) under (2.5).
  • Strong convergence is convergence in norm; "bounded" is Bornology.IsBounded (Set.range λ).

Corrections to the printed text, each explained in the item's statement:

  • Step 1 (3.5) and (3.8) carry +⟨b,v⟩+\langle b,v\rangle+⟨b,v⟩. The paper prints −⟨b,v⟩-\langle b,v\rangle−⟨b,v⟩ there and in Remark 1 of p. 15, which is inconsistent with L\mathcal LL and (P)(\mathcal P)(P): with the printed sign the iteration solves the problem with −b-b−b.
  • The qualification (2.4), "int⁡dom⁡f2≠∅\operatorname{int}\operatorname{dom}f_2\ne\emptysetintdomf2​=∅", is strengthened to int⁡dom⁡f2∩R(A)≠∅\operatorname{int}\operatorname{dom}f_2\cap R(A)\ne\emptysetintdomf2​∩R(A)=∅. With (2.4) alone, Theorem 2.1's saddle point need not exist and the multipliers of Theorem 3.1 need not be bounded: V=RV=\mathbb RV=R, Y=R2Y=\mathbb R^2Y=R2, Av=(v,0)Av=(v,0)Av=(v,0), f1=∣⋅∣2/2f_1=|\cdot|^2/2f1​=∣⋅∣2/2, f2f_2f2​ the indicator of the disc of centre (0,1)(0,1)(0,1) and radius 111, ⟨b,v⟩=v\langle b,v\rangle=v⟨b,v⟩=v.
  • Proposition 2.1 assumes that f2∘Af_2\circ Af2​∘A is somewhere finite, which its proof requires.

Ruled out: the solution v∗v^*v∗ is a hypothesis of the goal, so the hypotheses must not be contradictory. They are met by V=Y=RV=Y=\mathbb RV=Y=R, A=idA=\mathrm{id}A=id, f1(y)=y2/2f_1(y)=y^2/2f1​(y)=y2/2, f2=0f_2=0f2​=0, b=0b=0b=0, and a proper f2f_2f2​ excludes the degenerate reading in which every point "solves" (P)(\mathcal P)(P) with value +∞+\infty+∞.

A complete development needs: existence of minimizers of coercive convex l.s.c. functions on a Hilbert space; the subdifferential sum and chain rules under a continuity qualification; orthogonal projections onto closed ranges; and elementary facts about summable sequences. The saddle-point theory (Theorems 2.1–2.2) and the scalar lemma (3.23) are reusable beyond this mission. Proofs of any milestone are welcome, as are proofs of the goal by a different route.

Selected references

  • D. Gabay and B. Mercier, A dual algorithm for the solution of non linear variational problems via finite element approximation, IRIA Rapport de Recherche 126, 1975. https://hal.science/hal-04716124v1 ; journal version: Computers & Mathematics with Applications 2 (1976) 17–40, https://doi.org/10.1016/0898-1221(76)90003-1
  • R. Glowinski and A. Marrocco, Sur l'approximation, par éléments finis d'ordre un, et la résolution, par pénalisation-dualité, d'une classe de problèmes de Dirichlet non linéaires, RAIRO Analyse Numérique 9 (1975) 41–76. https://doi.org/10.1051/m2an/197509R200411
  • M. R. Hestenes, Multiplier and gradient methods, J. Optim. Theory Appl. 4 (1969) 303–320. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00927673
  • I. Ekeland and R. Temam, Analyse convexe et problèmes variationnels, Dunod, 1974 (the paper's [E]).
  • J. Eckstein and D. P. Bertsekas, On the Douglas–Rachford splitting method and the proximal point algorithm for maximal monotone operators, Math. Programming 55 (1992) 293–318. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01581204
  • S. Boyd, N. Parikh, E. Chu, B. Peleato and J. Eckstein, Distributed optimization and statistical learning via the alternating direction method of multipliers, Found. Trends Mach. Learn. 3 (2011) 1–122. https://doi.org/10.1561/2200000016
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Algorithmic Game TheoryOperations ResearchOptimization·Captain: mikedeng1

A Variational Inequality Formulation of the Dynamic Network User Equilibrium Problem I: Route-Departure Equilibria Are Exactly the Solutions of the Path-Integral Variational InequalityResearch Paper

Motivation

Commuters choose not only a route but also a departure time, trading travel delay against the penalty of arriving early or late. Static traffic assignment, in the tradition of Wardrop's user-equilibrium principle, ignores the time dimension; dynamic traffic assignment adds it, and its central modelling question is what "equilibrium" means when flows, delays and costs all vary over a time horizon. Friesz, Bernstein, Smith, Tobin and Wie (Oper. Res. 41(1), 1993) proposed the simultaneous route-departure (SRD) equilibrium of a path-based dynamic model and showed that it is equivalent to an infinite-dimensional variational inequality. That equivalence is the starting point of a large literature on dynamic user equilibrium: existence theory, solution algorithms and differential-variational formulations all take the variational inequality as their definition of the problem.

Timeline, as far as this mission is concerned:

  • 1952: Wardrop states the static user-equilibrium criterion (equal and minimal travel times on used routes).
  • 1979–1980: Smith and Dafermos formulate static user equilibrium as a finite-dimensional variational inequality.
  • 1989: Friesz, Luque, Tobin and Wie treat dynamic route choice with a fixed departure schedule as an optimal-control problem.
  • 1993: Friesz et al. (this paper) formulate simultaneous route and departure-time equilibrium and prove its equivalence with a variational inequality on (L2[0,T])∣P∣(L^2[0,T])^{|P|}(L2[0,T])∣P∣ (Theorem 2, p. 187).

Setting

A traffic network has a finite set PPP of paths. Each path ppp connects exactly one origin–destination (OD) pair klklkl; PklP_{kl}Pkl​ denotes the paths of pair klklkl. Travellers depart during the horizon [0,T][0,T][0,T], T>0T>0T>0, which carries Lebesgue measure ν\nuν; "∀ν(t)\forall_\nu(t)∀ν​(t)" means "for ν\nuν-almost every t∈[0,T]t\in[0,T]t∈[0,T]".

A vector of departure-time densities h=(hp)p∈Ph=(h_p)_{p\in P}h=(hp​)p∈P​ assigns to each path a square-integrable, almost everywhere nonnegative function hph_php​ on [0,T][0,T][0,T]: hp(t)h_p(t)hp​(t) is the rate at which travellers depart at time ttt on path ppp. The set of such vectors is H+H_+H+​. Each OD pair has a fixed travel demand QklQ_{kl}Qkl​, and the feasible set is

Λ={h∈H+:∑p∈Pkl∫0Thp(t) dν(t)=Qkl for every OD pair kl}.(38)\Lambda=\Big\{h\in H_+ : \sum_{p\in P_{kl}}\int_0^T h_p(t)\,d\nu(t)=Q_{kl}\ \text{for every OD pair } kl\Big\}.\qquad(38)Λ={h∈H+​:p∈Pkl​∑​∫0T​hp​(t)dν(t)=Qkl​ for every OD pair kl}.(38)

A cost operator gives the effective delay Cp(t,h)≥0C_p(t,h)\ge 0Cp​(t,h)≥0 of departing at time ttt on path ppp when the densities are hhh: travel time plus a penalty for early or late arrival (13). Because densities are defined only up to null sets, the relevant lowest achievable cost on a path is an essential infimum,

μp(h)=ess inf⁡{Cp(t,h):t∈[0,T]}=sup⁡{x∈R: ν{t:Cp(t,h)<x}=0},\mu_p(h)=\operatorname{ess\,inf}\{C_p(t,h):t\in[0,T]\}=\sup\{x\in\mathbb R:\ \nu\{t: C_p(t,h)<x\}=0\},μp​(h)=essinf{Cp​(t,h):t∈[0,T]}=sup{x∈R: ν{t:Cp​(t,h)<x}=0},

and the lowest achievable cost for pair klklkl is μkl(h)=min⁡p∈Pklμp(h)\mu_{kl}(h)=\min_{p\in P_{kl}}\mu_p(h)μkl​(h)=minp∈Pkl​​μp​(h).

Definition 3. For h∈Λh\in\Lambdah∈Λ and a nonnegative vector μ=(μkl)\mu=(\mu_{kl})μ=(μkl​), the pair (h,μ)(h,\mu)(h,μ) is an SRD equilibrium if for every OD pair klklkl and every p∈Pklp\in P_{kl}p∈Pkl​:

hp(t)>0 ⇒ Cp(t,h)=μkl∀ν(t),Cp(t,h)≥μkl∀ν(t).h_p(t)>0\ \Rightarrow\ C_p(t,h)=\mu_{kl}\quad\forall_\nu(t),\qquad C_p(t,h)\ge\mu_{kl}\quad\forall_\nu(t).hp​(t)>0 ⇒ Cp​(t,h)=μkl​∀ν​(t),Cp​(t,h)≥μkl​∀ν​(t).

No positive-measure set of travellers can lower its cost by switching route or departure time.

Formalization targets

Goal: Theorem 2 (PIE VIP)

For h∗h^*h∗ with nonnegative, square-integrable costs Cp(⋅,h∗)C_p(\cdot,h^*)Cp​(⋅,h∗):

(∃ μ∗: (h∗,μ∗) SRD equilibrium) ⟹ h∗∈Λ and ∑p∈P∫0TCp(t,h∗) [hp(t)−hp∗(t)] dν(t)≥0  ∀h∈Λ,(39)\big(\exists\,\mu^*:\ (h^*,\mu^*)\ \text{SRD equilibrium}\big)\ \Longrightarrow\ h^*\in\Lambda\ \text{and}\ \sum_{p\in P}\int_0^T C_p(t,h^*)\,[h_p(t)-h^*_p(t)]\,d\nu(t)\ge 0\ \ \forall h\in\Lambda,\qquad(39)(∃μ∗: (h∗,μ∗) SRD equilibrium) ⟹ h∗∈Λ and p∈P∑​∫0T​Cp​(t,h∗)[hp​(t)−hp∗​(t)]dν(t)≥0  ∀h∈Λ,(39)

and conversely, if h∗∈Λh^*\in\Lambdah∗∈Λ solves (39), then (h∗,μ(h∗))(h^*,\mu(h^*))(h∗,μ(h∗)) with μkl∗=μkl(h∗)\mu^*_{kl}=\mu_{kl}(h^*)μkl∗​=μkl​(h∗) is an SRD equilibrium. The formal goal states the two directions as two conjuncts; the second names the equilibrium cost vector explicitly, which is stronger than an equivalence with an existential μ∗\mu^*μ∗.

Milestones

  1. Lemma 2: a measurable function positive on a set of positive measure exceeds some ε0>0\varepsilon_0>0ε0​>0 on a set of positive measure.
  2. The pointwise inequality (42) at an equilibrium, and the necessity half of Theorem 2.
  3. Condition (17) holds by construction for μ∗=μ(h∗)\mu^*=\mu(h^*)μ∗=μ(h∗).
  4. The positive-measure sets (44)–(46) and (47) produced by a failure of (16).
  5. Feasibility (50) of the mass-shifted vector (48)–(49), the value bound (54), and the sufficiency half of Theorem 2.

Significance

The result. Theorem 2 converts an equilibrium defined by almost-everywhere complementarity conditions into a single variational inequality over a convex subset of a Hilbert space. This is what makes dynamic user equilibrium accessible to the general theory of variational inequalities: existence via monotonicity or compactness arguments, and projection-type algorithms in function space or after time discretization. The sufficiency half also identifies the equilibrium cost levels: they are the essential infima μkl(h∗)\mu_{kl}(h^*)μkl​(h∗), so the multiplier μ∗\mu^*μ∗ need not be found separately.

Formalizing it. The theorem is proved in the paper; no machine-checked version is known. A formal proof requires essential infima, the shifting of mass between paths on sets of prescribed measure (the paper cites Halmos, Proposition 41.2, for the nonatomicity of Lebesgue measure), and careful integrability bookkeeping. The development is a self-contained template for "complementarity conditions a.e. ⇔ variational inequality in L2L^2L2" arguments, which recur in continuous-time equilibrium models.

Difficulty

Necessity is routine once integrability is in place, though the paper's text asserts the per-path identity ∫0T[hp−hp∗] dν=0\int_0^T[h_p-h^*_p]\,d\nu=0∫0T​[hp​−hp∗​]dν=0, which is false; only the sum over PklP_{kl}Pkl​ vanishes, and that suffices. Sufficiency is the substantive half. The obvious approach, testing (39) against a perturbation that moves flow from an expensive to a cheap route, has to be carried out with sets rather than points: the costs are only defined almost everywhere, the minimal cost is an essential infimum that need not be attained at any time, and the perturbation must keep the demand constraints exact. This forces the choice of sets of exactly equal positive measure inside the positive-measure sets Sp(ε,δ)S_p(\varepsilon,\delta)Sp​(ε,δ) and Tq(ε)T_q(\varepsilon)Tq​(ε), a nonatomicity argument that a pointwise proof would miss.

Formalization scope

Densities are plain functions R→R\mathbb R\to\mathbb RR→R with a square-integrability condition with respect to ν=\nu=ν= Lebesgue measure restricted to [0,T][0,T][0,T], not L2L^2L2 equivalence classes; every pointwise condition is ν\nuν-almost everywhere, and values outside [0,T][0,T][0,T] are unconstrained. Paths and OD pairs are finite types, with a map sending each path to its OD pair. The essential infimum is the literal formula (12), a real supremum; it is not the pointwise infimum, which changes when CCC is altered on a null set and makes sufficiency false. μkl\mu_{kl}μkl​ is a real infimum over PklP_{kl}Pkl​; for a pair with no paths it is an unused default value.

The cost operator C is abstract, with the paper's measurability assumption strengthened to square-integrability so that every integral in (39) is a genuine Lebesgue integral. The network dynamics (3)–(11) that produce C in the paper are not formalized. Nonnegativity (the codomain R+\mathbb R_+R+​ of (13)) and square-integrability are assumed only at h∗h^*h∗, which makes the formal statements stronger than the paper's. Without integrability, Lean's integral of a non-integrable function is 000, so (39) could hold vacuously; the added hypothesis excludes that trivialization. The goal quantifies over every cost operator satisfying these hypotheses and never fixes one. In the milestones, the reduction from p=qp=qp=q to p≠qp\ne qp=q (p. 188) is taken as the hypothesis p≠qp\ne qp=q.

A complete development needs: properties of the real essential infimum (12) on a finite measure space; Lemma 2 (continuity of measure from below); the existence of measurable subsets of prescribed measure in Lebesgue measure (nonatomicity, available in Mathlib in some form); and integral bookkeeping for products of L2L^2L2 functions on a finite measure. The essential-infimum and mass-shift lemmas are reusable for other continuous-time equilibrium models. Proofs of any milestone, and cleaner restatements of the essential-infimum API, are welcome.

Selected references

  • T. L. Friesz, D. Bernstein, T. E. Smith, R. L. Tobin and B. W. Wie, A variational inequality formulation of the dynamic network user equilibrium problem, Operations Research 41(1):179–191, 1993. https://doi.org/10.1287/opre.41.1.179
  • J. G. Wardrop, Some theoretical aspects of road traffic research, Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers 1(3):325–362, 1952. https://doi.org/10.1680/ipeds.1952.11259
  • M. J. Smith, The existence, uniqueness and stability of traffic equilibria, Transportation Research B 13(4):295–304, 1979. https://doi.org/10.1016/0191-2615(79)90022-5
  • S. Dafermos, Traffic equilibrium and variational inequalities, Transportation Science 14(1):42–54, 1980. https://doi.org/10.1287/trsc.14.1.42
  • T. L. Friesz, J. Luque, R. L. Tobin and B. W. Wie, Dynamic network traffic assignment considered as a continuous time optimal control problem, Operations Research 37(6):893–901, 1989. https://doi.org/10.1287/opre.37.6.893
  • P. R. Halmos, Measure Theory, Van Nostrand, 1950 (Proposition 41.2, nonatomicity of Lebesgue measure).
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Convex OptimizationOptimization·Captain: mikedeng1

A Primal–Dual Splitting Method for Convex Optimization Involving Lipschitzian, Proximable and Linear Composite Terms II: With F = 0, Iterates Converge Weakly to a Primal–Dual Solution When στ‖L‖² < 1Research Paper

Motivation

Many problems in imaging, signal processing and statistics are convex minimizations of the form

min⁡x∈X F(x)+G(x)+H(Lx),\min_{x\in\mathcal X}\ F(x)+G(x)+H(Lx),x∈Xmin​ F(x)+G(x)+H(Lx),

where FFF is smooth, GGG and HHH are nonsmooth but have computable proximity operators, and LLL is a bounded linear operator, for example a discrete gradient in total-variation denoising. Primal–dual splitting methods solve such problems using only ∇F\nabla F∇F, the proximity operators of GGG and H∗H^*H∗, and applications of LLL and L∗L^*L∗, without ever inverting LLL or computing the proximity operator of H∘LH\circ LH∘L.

Condat's 2013 paper (JOTA 158(2):460–479; final author's version HAL hal-00609728v5) introduced Algorithms 3.1 and 3.2, which handle all three kinds of terms at once, allow relaxation and summable errors, and contain earlier methods as special cases. Together with the closely related work of Vũ (Adv. Comput. Math. 2013), it is the standard reference for the "Condat–Vũ" algorithm.

Timeline. Chambolle and Pock (2011) proved convergence of their primal–dual algorithm, without a smooth term and without relaxation, under στ∥L∥2<1\sigma\tau\|L\|^2<1στ∥L∥2<1 (J. Math. Imaging Vis. 40). He and Yuan (2012) interpreted it as a proximal point algorithm in a modified metric (SIAM J. Imaging Sci. 5). Condat (2013) added the smooth term FFF, relaxation and errors (Theorem 3.1), and, for F=0F=0F=0, proved weak convergence for relaxation parameters up to 222 (Theorem 3.2), the result of this mission.

Setting

Let X\mathcal XX and Y\mathcal YY be real Hilbert spaces and L:X→YL:\mathcal X\to\mathcal YL:X→Y a bounded linear operator with adjoint L∗L^*L∗ and operator norm ∥L∥\|L\|∥L∥. Write Γ0(H)\Gamma_0(\mathcal H)Γ0​(H) for the proper, lower semicontinuous, convex functions H→R∪{+∞}\mathcal H\to\mathbb R\cup\{+\infty\}H→R∪{+∞}. For J∈Γ0(H)J\in\Gamma_0(\mathcal H)J∈Γ0​(H), the conjugate is J∗(s)=sup⁡s′[⟨s,s′⟩−J(s′)]J^*(s)=\sup_{s'}[\langle s,s'\rangle-J(s')]J∗(s)=sups′​[⟨s,s′⟩−J(s′)], the proximity operator is proxJ(s)=arg⁡min⁡s′[J(s′)+12∥s−s′∥2]\mathrm{prox}_J(s)=\arg\min_{s'}[J(s')+\tfrac12\|s-s'\|^2]proxJ​(s)=argmins′​[J(s′)+21​∥s−s′∥2], and the subdifferential is ∂J(u)={v: J(u)+⟨v,u′−u⟩≤J(u′) ∀u′}\partial J(u)=\{v:\ J(u)+\langle v,u'-u\rangle\le J(u')\ \forall u'\}∂J(u)={v: J(u)+⟨v,u′−u⟩≤J(u′) ∀u′}.

Fix G∈Γ0(X)G\in\Gamma_0(\mathcal X)G∈Γ0​(X), H∈Γ0(Y)H\in\Gamma_0(\mathcal Y)H∈Γ0​(Y) and F:X→RF:\mathcal X\to\mathbb RF:X→R. The primal–dual inclusion (6) asks for (x^,y^)(\hat x,\hat y)(x^,y^​) with

0∈∂G(x^)+L∗y^+∇F(x^),0∈−Lx^+∂H∗(y^);0\in\partial G(\hat x)+L^*\hat y+\nabla F(\hat x),\qquad 0\in-L\hat x+\partial H^*(\hat y);0∈∂G(x^)+L∗y^​+∇F(x^),0∈−Lx^+∂H∗(y^​);

then x^\hat xx^ minimizes F+G+H∘LF+G+H\circ LF+G+H∘L and y^\hat yy^​ solves the dual problem. The paper assumes this inclusion has a solution.

Given τ,σ>0\tau,\sigma>0τ,σ>0, relaxation parameters (ρn)(\rho_n)(ρn​) and error terms eF,n,eG,n∈Xe_{F,n},e_{G,n}\in\mathcal XeF,n​,eG,n​∈X, eH,n∈Ye_{H,n}\in\mathcal YeH,n​∈Y, Algorithm 3.1 iterates, from any (x0,y0)(x_0,y_0)(x0​,y0​),

x~n+1=proxτG(xn−τ(∇F(xn)+eF,n)−τL∗yn)+eG,n,\tilde x_{n+1}=\mathrm{prox}_{\tau G}\big(x_n-\tau(\nabla F(x_n)+e_{F,n})-\tau L^*y_n\big)+e_{G,n},x~n+1​=proxτG​(xn​−τ(∇F(xn​)+eF,n​)−τL∗yn​)+eG,n​, y~n+1=proxσH∗(yn+σL(2x~n+1−xn))+eH,n,\tilde y_{n+1}=\mathrm{prox}_{\sigma H^*}\big(y_n+\sigma L(2\tilde x_{n+1}-x_n)\big)+e_{H,n},y~​n+1​=proxσH∗​(yn​+σL(2x~n+1​−xn​))+eH,n​, (xn+1,yn+1)=ρn(x~n+1,y~n+1)+(1−ρn)(xn,yn).(x_{n+1},y_{n+1})=\rho_n(\tilde x_{n+1},\tilde y_{n+1})+(1-\rho_n)(x_n,y_n).(xn+1​,yn+1​)=ρn​(x~n+1​,y~​n+1​)+(1−ρn​)(xn​,yn​).

Algorithm 3.2 exchanges the roles: it computes y~n+1\tilde y_{n+1}y~​n+1​ from yn+σLxny_n+\sigma Lx_nyn​+σLxn​ first, then x~n+1\tilde x_{n+1}x~n+1​ using L∗(2y~n+1−yn)L^*(2\tilde y_{n+1}-y_n)L∗(2y~​n+1​−yn​).

Formalization targets

Goal: Theorem 3.2

Suppose F=0F=0F=0 and eF,n=0e_{F,n}=0eF,n​=0, τ,σ>0\tau,\sigma>0τ,σ>0, and

στ∥L∥2<1,ρn∈ ]0,2[,∑nρn(2−ρn)=+∞,∑nρn∥eG,n∥<+∞,  ∑nρn∥eH,n∥<+∞.\sigma\tau\|L\|^2<1,\qquad \rho_n\in\,]0,2[,\qquad \sum_n\rho_n(2-\rho_n)=+\infty,\qquad \sum_n\rho_n\|e_{G,n}\|<+\infty,\ \ \sum_n\rho_n\|e_{H,n}\|<+\infty.στ∥L∥2<1,ρn​∈]0,2[,n∑​ρn​(2−ρn​)=+∞,n∑​ρn​∥eG,n​∥<+∞,  n∑​ρn​∥eH,n​∥<+∞.

Then for every run of Algorithm 3.1, and for every run of Algorithm 3.2, there is a solution (x^,y^)(\hat x,\hat y)(x^,y^​) of (6) with xn⇀x^x_n\rightharpoonup\hat xxn​⇀x^ and yn⇀y^y_n\rightharpoonup\hat yyn​⇀y^​ weakly.

Milestones

  1. Lemma 4.1 (Krasnosel'skii–Mann): relaxed inexact iterates of a nonexpansive map converge weakly to a fixed point.
  2. Lemma 4.2 (proximal point algorithm): for maximally monotone MMM, sn+1=sn+ρn((I+M)−1sn+en−sn)s_{n+1}=s_n+\rho_n((I+M)^{-1}s_n+e_n-s_n)sn+1​=sn​+ρn​((I+M)−1sn​+en​−sn​) converges weakly to a zero of MMM under the same conditions on ρn\rho_nρn​, ene_nen​ as the goal.
  3. PPP bounded from below: if στ∥L∥2<1\sigma\tau\|L\|^2<1στ∥L∥2<1, the operators P=(τ−1I−L∗−Lσ−1I)P=\begin{pmatrix}\tau^{-1}I&-L^*\\-L&\sigma^{-1}I\end{pmatrix}P=(τ−1I−L​−L∗σ−1I​) and P′P'P′ (with +L∗+L^*+L∗, +L+L+L) satisfy ⟨z,Pz⟩≥c∥z∥2\langle z,Pz\rangle\ge c\|z\|^2⟨z,Pz⟩≥c∥z∥2.
  4. Inclusions (22) and (44): each error-free step satisfies −(∇F(xn),0)∈A(z~n+1)+P(z~n+1−zn)-(\nabla F(x_n),0)\in A(\tilde z_{n+1})+P(\tilde z_{n+1}-z_n)−(∇F(xn​),0)∈A(z~n+1​)+P(z~n+1​−zn​) (resp. P′P'P′), where A(x,y)=(∂G(x)+L∗y)×(−Lx+∂H∗(y))A(x,y)=(\partial G(x)+L^*y)\times(-Lx+\partial H^*(y))A(x,y)=(∂G(x)+L∗y)×(−Lx+∂H∗(y)); with F=0F=0F=0 the left side is 000.
  5. AAA is maximally monotone on X×Y\mathcal X\times\mathcal YX×Y.

Further items

Remark 3.2 (the goal with FFF affine, β=0\beta=0β=0, instead of F=0F=0F=0) and Theorem 5.2 (the version with m≥2m\ge2m≥2 composite terms ∑iHi(Lix)\sum_iH_i(L_ix)∑i​Hi​(Li​x) and condition στ∥∑iLi∗Li∥<1\sigma\tau\|\sum_iL_i^*L_i\|<1στ∥∑i​Li∗​Li​∥<1).

Significance

The result. Theorem 3.2 covers the Chambolle–Pock algorithm with relaxation ρn∈ ]0,2[\rho_n\in\,]0,2[ρn​∈]0,2[ and summable errors, in arbitrary real Hilbert spaces. Over-relaxation ρn>1\rho_n>1ρn​>1 often speeds the method up in practice, and the error terms justify inexact proximity operators. Theorem 5.2 extends it to any finite number of composite terms by full splitting. The convergence statement makes no reference to a Lipschitz constant, so it applies whenever the problem has no smooth part.

Formalizing it. The result is proved on paper; no machine-checked version of Theorem 3.2, of the Krasnosel'skii–Mann lemma with errors, or of the proximal point algorithm under the condition ∑ρn(2−ρn)=+∞\sum\rho_n(2-\rho_n)=+\infty∑ρn​(2−ρn​)=+∞ is known to exist. A formal proof would supply reusable pieces of monotone-operator theory in Hilbert spaces: weak convergence of Fejér-type iterations, the change of metric induced by a positive operator, and maximal monotonicity of sums with a skew operator.

Difficulty

The algorithm is not a fixed-point iteration of a nonexpansive map in the original inner product: the coupling between the primal and dual steps breaks nonexpansiveness. The difficulty is to find a metric in which it becomes one, to show this metric is equivalent to the original one (which is where στ∥L∥2<1\sigma\tau\|L\|^2<1στ∥L∥2<1, strictly, is needed), and to transfer maximal monotonicity, zeros and summability of the errors to the new metric. Weak convergence in infinite dimension also requires an Opial-type argument rather than compactness. Mathlib provides inner product spaces, the operator norm and adjoints, but neither maximal monotone operators nor resolvents nor Krasnosel'skii–Mann iteration theory.

Formalization scope

The spaces are real Hilbert spaces (InnerProductSpace ℝ and CompleteSpace). Functions valued in R∪{+∞}\mathbb R\cup\{+\infty\}R∪{+∞} are EReal-valued, with Γ0\Gamma_0Γ0​ the published IsProperClosedConvex. The conjugate is an EReal supremum, so H∗H^*H∗ can take the value +∞+\infty+∞. Proximity operators enter as maps with the published IsProx property; the subdifferential is the published IsSubgradient. The product X×Y\mathcal X\times\mathcal YX×Y with the inner product ⟨x,x′⟩+⟨y,y′⟩\langle x,x'\rangle+\langle y,y'\rangle⟨x,x′⟩+⟨y,y′⟩ is WithLp 2 (X × Y). Weak convergence is ⟨xn,v⟩→⟨x^,v⟩\langle x_n,v\rangle\to\langle\hat x,v\rangle⟨xn​,v⟩→⟨x^,v⟩ for all vvv. "∑an=+∞\sum a_n=+\infty∑an​=+∞" means partial sums tend to +∞+\infty+∞, and "∑ρn∥en∥<+∞\sum\rho_n\|e_n\|<+\infty∑ρn​∥en​∥<+∞" means summability of a nonnegative series.

Standing assumptions are hypotheses: G,H∈Γ0G,H\in\Gamma_0G,H∈Γ0​, and (6) has a solution. With F=0F=0F=0 the smoothness assumption on FFF is automatic. The paper's assumption that (1) has a minimizer follows from the solvability of (6) and is not stated. The goal is a conjunction over the two algorithms, and the limit (x^,y^)(\hat x,\hat y)(x^,y^​) is chosen after the run.

The condition is strict, στ∥L∥2<1\sigma\tau\|L\|^2<1στ∥L∥2<1, and relaxation is open, ρn∈ ]0,2[\rho_n\in\,]0,2[ρn​∈]0,2[. A goal quantifying over no run, assuming the limit exists, or fixing (x^,y^)(\hat x,\hat y)(x^,y^​) before the initial point would be a different and weaker statement. Proofs of the milestones, of Theorem 5.2 via the product-space identities (49)–(52), and general results on monotone operators are welcome.

Selected references

  • L. Condat, A primal–dual splitting method for convex optimization involving Lipschitzian, proximable and linear composite terms, J. Optim. Theory Appl. 158(2):460–479, 2013. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10957-012-0245-9 (author's version: https://hal.science/hal-00609728)
  • A. Chambolle, T. Pock, A first-order primal-dual algorithm for convex problems with applications to imaging, J. Math. Imaging Vis. 40:120–145, 2011. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10851-010-0251-1
  • B. He, X. Yuan, Convergence analysis of primal-dual algorithms for a saddle-point problem: from contraction perspective, SIAM J. Imaging Sci. 5(1):119–149, 2012. https://doi.org/10.1137/100814494
  • B. C. Vũ, A splitting algorithm for dual monotone inclusions involving cocoercive operators, Adv. Comput. Math. 38:667–681, 2013. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10444-011-9254-8
  • H. H. Bauschke, P. L. Combettes, Convex Analysis and Monotone Operator Theory in Hilbert Spaces, Springer, 2011. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-9467-7
  • P. L. Combettes, Solving monotone inclusions via compositions of nonexpansive averaged operators, Optimization 53:475–504, 2004. https://doi.org/10.1080/02331930412331327157
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AnalysisMathematical PhysicsPartial Differential Equations·Captain: mikedeng1

Mathematical Methods in Quantum Mechanics XII: Self-Adjointness and Essential Spectrum of One-Particle Schrödinger OperatorsTextbook

Motivation

The Hamiltonian of a single nonrelativistic particle in Rn\mathbb R^nRn moving in a potential VVV is the Schrödinger operator H=−Δ+VH = -\Delta + VH=−Δ+V acting in L2(Rn)L^2(\mathbb R^n)L2(Rn). Before anything can be said about the dynamics or the energy levels of such a particle, one must know that HHH is a genuine observable: a self-adjoint operator on a specified domain. For potentials that decay at infinity one also wants the coarse structure of the spectrum, namely that it is bounded below and that everything below the continuum threshold 000 consists of isolated eigenvalues of finite multiplicity. The hydrogen atom, with the Coulomb potential −γ/∣x∣-\gamma/|x|−γ/∣x∣ in three dimensions, is the central example.

The self-adjointness results go back to T. Kato's 1951 paper on the Hamiltonians of atoms; the identification of the essential spectrum through relatively compact perturbations is due to H. Weyl's theorem and its later extensions. This mission follows Chapter 10 of G. Teschl, Mathematical Methods in Quantum Mechanics (AMS GSM 99, 2009), Sections 10.1, 10.2, 10.4 and 10.5.

Setting

L2(Rn)L^2(\mathbb R^n)L2(Rn) is the complex Hilbert space of square integrable functions with respect to Lebesgue measure. The free Schrödinger operator is H0=−ΔH_0 = -\DeltaH0​=−Δ with domain the Sobolev space H2(Rn)={f∈L2∣∣p∣2f^(p)∈L2}H^2(\mathbb R^n) = \{ f \in L^2 \mid |p|^2 \hat f(p) \in L^2 \}H2(Rn)={f∈L2∣∣p∣2f^​(p)∈L2}; equivalently, H0H_0H0​ is the inverse Fourier transform of the maximally defined multiplication by p2p^2p2. Units are ℏ=1\hbar = 1ℏ=1 and mass m=1/2m = 1/2m=1/2.

A real function VVV acts by the multiplication operator (Vf)(x)=V(x)f(x)(Vf)(x) = V(x) f(x)(Vf)(x)=V(x)f(x) on its maximal domain {f∈L2∣Vf∈L2}\{f \in L^2 \mid Vf \in L^2\}{f∈L2∣Vf∈L2}. The sum H0+VH_0 + VH0​+V is defined on D(H0)∩D(V)\mathfrak D(H_0) \cap \mathfrak D(V)D(H0​)∩D(V). L∞∞(Rn)L^\infty_\infty(\mathbb R^n)L∞∞​(Rn) denotes the bounded Borel functions vanishing at infinity, and Cc∞(Rn)C_c^\infty(\mathbb R^n)Cc∞​(Rn) the smooth compactly supported functions.

For a linear operator AAA, the resolvent RA(z)=(A−z)−1R_A(z) = (A - z)^{-1}RA​(z)=(A−z)−1 exists when A−zA - zA−z maps D(A)\mathfrak D(A)D(A) bijectively onto L2L^2L2 with bounded inverse; the resolvent set ρ(A)\rho(A)ρ(A) collects such zzz and σ(A)=C∖ρ(A)\sigma(A) = \mathbb C \setminus \rho(A)σ(A)=C∖ρ(A). The point spectrum σp(A)\sigma_p(A)σp​(A) is the set of eigenvalues; the discrete spectrum σd(A)\sigma_d(A)σd​(A) consists of the eigenvalues that are isolated in σ(A)\sigma(A)σ(A) and have finite-dimensional eigenspace; the essential spectrum is σess(A)=σ(A)∖σd(A)\sigma_{ess}(A) = \sigma(A) \setminus \sigma_d(A)σess​(A)=σ(A)∖σd​(A). An operator KKK is relatively compact with respect to AAA if D(A)⊆D(K)\mathfrak D(A) \subseteq \mathfrak D(K)D(A)⊆D(K) and KRA(z)K R_A(z)KRA​(z) is compact for one z∈ρ(A)z \in \rho(A)z∈ρ(A). AAA is bounded from below if ⟨ψ,Aψ⟩≥γ∥ψ∥2\langle \psi, A\psi\rangle \ge \gamma\|\psi\|^2⟨ψ,Aψ⟩≥γ∥ψ∥2 on D(A)\mathfrak D(A)D(A) for some real γ\gammaγ, and a subspace is a core of a closed operator if the closure of the restriction to it is the operator itself.

The hydrogen Hamiltonian is H(1)=−Δ−γ/∣x∣H^{(1)} = -\Delta - \gamma/|x|H(1)=−Δ−γ/∣x∣ on L2(R3)L^2(\mathbb R^3)L2(R3). A function in L2(Rn)L^2(\mathbb R^n)L2(Rn) is positive if it is ≥0\ge 0≥0 a.e. and not a.e. zero, and strictly positive if it is >0> 0>0 a.e.; a bounded operator is positivity improving if it maps positive functions to strictly positive ones.

Formalization targets

Goal: self-adjointness and essential spectrum (Theorem 10.2)

Let n≥1n \ge 1n≥1 and VVV real with V∈L∞∞(Rn)V \in L^\infty_\infty(\mathbb R^n)V∈L∞∞​(Rn) if n>3n > 3n>3 and V∈L∞∞(Rn)+L2(Rn)V \in L^\infty_\infty(\mathbb R^n) + L^2(\mathbb R^n)V∈L∞∞​(Rn)+L2(Rn) if n≤3n \le 3n≤3. Then VVV is relatively compact with respect to H0H_0H0​, and H=H0+VH = H_0 + VH=H0​+V has domain H2(Rn)H^2(\mathbb R^n)H2(Rn), is self-adjoint and bounded from below, satisfies

σess(H)=[0,∞),\sigma_{ess}(H) = [0,\infty),σess​(H)=[0,∞),

and has Cc∞(Rn)C_c^\infty(\mathbb R^n)Cc∞​(Rn) as a core.

Milestones

  • Sobolev bound (Lemma 10.1). For n≤3n \le 3n≤3, every ψ∈H2(Rn)\psi \in H^2(\mathbb R^n)ψ∈H2(Rn) is continuous and vanishes at infinity, and for every a>0a > 0a>0 there is b>0b > 0b>0 with ∥ψ∥∞≤a∥H0ψ∥+b∥ψ∥\|\psi\|_\infty \le a\|H_0\psi\| + b\|\psi\|∥ψ∥∞​≤a∥H0​ψ∥+b∥ψ∥ on H2(Rn)H^2(\mathbb R^n)H2(Rn).
  • Virial theorem (Theorem 10.3). If VVV is homogeneous of degree −1-1−1 under dilations, every normalized eigenfunction of H0+VH_0 + VH0​+V with eigenvalue λ\lambdaλ satisfies λ=−⟨ψ,H0ψ⟩=12⟨ψ,Vψ⟩\lambda = -\langle\psi, H_0\psi\rangle = \frac12\langle\psi, V\psi\rangleλ=−⟨ψ,H0​ψ⟩=21​⟨ψ,Vψ⟩; in particular λ<0\lambda < 0λ<0.
  • Hydrogen spectrum (Corollary 10.4). For γ>0\gamma > 0γ>0, σp(H(1))=σd(H(1))\sigma_p(H^{(1)}) = \sigma_d(H^{(1)})σp​(H(1))=σd​(H(1)) is a strictly increasing sequence of negative numbers converging to 000.
  • Hydrogen eigenvalues (Theorem 10.9, eigenvalue part). For γ>0\gamma > 0γ>0 the eigenvalues of H(1)H^{(1)}H(1) are En=−(γ/(2(n+1)))2E_n = -(\gamma/(2(n+1)))^2En​=−(γ/(2(n+1)))2, n∈N0n \in \mathbb N_0n∈N0​.
  • Perron–Frobenius for positivity improving operators (Theorem 10.11). If AAA is bounded, self-adjoint, real and positivity improving and ∥A∥\|A\|∥A∥ is an eigenvalue, it is simple with a strictly positive eigenfunction.
  • Nondegenerate ground state (Theorem 10.12). If H0+VH_0 + VH0​+V is self-adjoint, bounded below, has Cc∞C_c^\inftyCc∞​ as a core, and E0=min⁡σ(H)E_0 = \min\sigma(H)E0​=minσ(H) is an eigenvalue, then E0E_0E0​ is simple with a strictly positive eigenfunction.

Significance

The result. Theorem 10.2 is the existence theorem for one-particle quantum mechanics with decaying potentials. It makes H0+VH_0 + VH0​+V an observable on the natural domain H2H^2H2, guarantees a lowest energy, and places the continuum exactly at [0,∞)[0,\infty)[0,∞), so that all spectral information below zero is carried by bound states. Its three-dimensional case covers the Coulomb potential, and the same scheme (relative boundedness, Kato–Rellich, relative compactness, Weyl) is the template for the NNN-body HVZ theorem. The virial theorem, the qualitative and the explicit hydrogen spectrum, and the nondegeneracy of ground states are the standard first applications.

Formalizing it. None of these statements is formalized. Mathlib has the L2L^2L2 Fourier transform, tempered distributions and Sobolev spaces on the distribution side, and LinearPMap with adjoints and closures, but no free Schrödinger operator as an unbounded operator on L2L^2L2, no resolvent set or essential spectrum for unbounded operators, and no self-adjointness theorem for −Δ+V-\Delta + V−Δ+V. The mission asks for proofs of Teschl's statements and, with them, a reusable definition of H0H_0H0​ on H2(Rn)H^2(\mathbb R^n)H2(Rn) and of maximally defined multiplication operators.

Difficulty

The goal combines several chapters of the book. A proof needs self-adjointness of H0H_0H0​ on H2H^2H2 via the Fourier transform, the Sobolev bound of Lemma 10.1 to get D(H0)⊆D(V)\mathfrak D(H_0) \subseteq \mathfrak D(V)D(H0​)⊆D(V) with relative bound zero, the Kato–Rellich theorem, compactness of operators of the form g(x)f(p)g(x)f(p)g(x)f(p) (Lemma 7.11) to obtain relative compactness, Weyl's theorem on the invariance of the essential spectrum, σ(H0)=[0,∞)\sigma(H_0) = [0,\infty)σ(H0​)=[0,∞) with no eigenvalues, and the fact that Cc∞C_c^\inftyCc∞​ is a core for H0H_0H0​. None of these intermediate results is in Mathlib for unbounded operators.

The milestones add their own difficulties: the virial theorem requires the dilation group and a derivative argument on domains; Corollary 10.4 requires a variational argument producing infinitely many negative eigenvalues; Theorem 10.9 requires separation of variables in spherical coordinates and the Laguerre polynomials; and Theorem 10.12 uses the Trotter product formula and strong resolvent convergence to transfer positivity from e−tH0e^{-tH_0}e−tH0​ to e−tHe^{-tH}e−tH.

Formalization scope

Rn\mathbb R^nRn is EuclideanSpace ℝ (Fin n) with Lebesgue measure and L2(Rn)L^2(\mathbb R^n)L2(Rn) is Mathlib's Lp ℂ 2 volume, a separable complex Hilbert space. Unbounded operators are Mathlib LinearPMaps, sums of unbounded operators are LinearPMap sums on the intersection of domains, self-adjointness is Mathlib's IsSelfAdjoint, and "core" is LinearPMap.HasCore. The resolvent is the bounded two-sided inverse of A−zA - zA−z; ρ(A)\rho(A)ρ(A), σ(A)\sigma(A)σ(A), σp\sigma_pσp​, σd\sigma_dσd​ and σess\sigma_{ess}σess​ are defined from it, and Mathlib's Banach-algebra spectrum is not used. Compactness is IsCompactOperator.

The Fourier transform is Mathlib's unitary L2L^2L2 transform with kernel e−2πi⟨x,ξ⟩e^{-2\pi i\langle x,\xi\rangle}e−2πi⟨x,ξ⟩, not Teschl's (2π)−n/2e−ipx(2\pi)^{-n/2}e^{-ipx}(2π)−n/2e−ipx. H0H_0H0​ is defined as F−1(2π∣ξ∣)2F\mathcal F^{-1}(2\pi|\xi|)^2\mathcal FF−1(2π∣ξ∣)2F and H2H^2H2 as {f∣(2π∣ξ∣)2Ff∈L2}\{f \mid (2\pi|\xi|)^2 \mathcal F f \in L^2\}{f∣(2π∣ξ∣)2Ff∈L2}; both coincide with the book's objects, independently of the normalization. No projection-valued measure or functional calculus is taken as data. C∞(Rn)C_\infty(\mathbb R^n)C∞​(Rn) is Mathlib's space of continuous functions vanishing at infinity, and positivity of complex values is taken in ComplexOrder.

The virial hypothesis U(−s)VU(s)=e−sVU(-s)VU(s) = e^{-s}VU(−s)VU(s)=e−sV is stated as V(esx)=e−sV(x)V(e^s x) = e^{-s}V(x)V(esx)=e−sV(x) for almost every xxx, for every sss, which is what the operator identity means for a multiplication operator. Corollary 10.4's index set {Ej−1}j∈N0\{E_{j-1}\}_{j\in\mathbb N_0}{Ej−1​}j∈N0​​ is read as the sequence E0,E1,…E_0, E_1, \dotsE0​,E1​,…. Only the eigenvalue formula of Theorem 10.9 is included, not its explicit eigenbasis.

A trivializing formalization is ruled out: the only hypotheses of the goal are the function-space conditions on VVV and n≥1n \ge 1n≥1. Neither D(H0)⊆D(V)\mathfrak D(H_0) \subseteq \mathfrak D(V)D(H0​)⊆D(V), a relative bound below one, nor closedness of H0+VH_0 + VH0​+V is assumed; the equality of the domain with H2(Rn)H^2(\mathbb R^n)H2(Rn) and the relative compactness of VVV are conclusions. The essential spectrum requires all three of "eigenvalue", "isolated" and "finite multiplicity" in its complement, so [0,∞)[0,\infty)[0,∞) is a genuine identification.

Selected references

  • G. Teschl, Mathematical Methods in Quantum Mechanics, With Applications to Schrödinger Operators, Graduate Studies in Mathematics 99, AMS, 2009, Chapter 10. https://doi.org/10.1090/gsm/099
  • T. Kato, Fundamental properties of Hamiltonian operators of Schrödinger type, Transactions of the AMS 70 (1951), 195–211. https://doi.org/10.1090/S0002-9947-1951-0041010-X
  • M. Reed and B. Simon, Methods of Modern Mathematical Physics II: Fourier Analysis, Self-Adjointness (Section X.2) and IV: Analysis of Operators (Sections XIII.4, XIII.12), Academic Press, 1975, 1978.
  • H. L. Cycon, R. G. Froese, W. Kirsch and B. Simon, Schrödinger Operators, Springer, 1987.
20 thms2 active usersReviewed
AnalysisMathematical Physics·Captain: mikedeng1

Mathematical Methods in Quantum Mechanics VIII: Relatively Compact Perturbations and Weyl's TheoremTextbook

Motivation

In quantum mechanics the spectrum of a Hamiltonian splits into two parts that behave very differently under perturbation. Isolated eigenvalues of finite multiplicity (bound states) move, split or disappear when the operator is changed even slightly; the rest of the spectrum, which carries scattering states and accumulation points of eigenvalues, is far more rigid. Weyl's theorem makes this rigidity precise: if two self-adjoint operators have resolvents that differ by a compact operator, their essential spectra coincide. It is the standard first step in locating the spectrum of a Schrödinger operator −Δ+V-\Delta + V−Δ+V: one shows that VVV is a relatively compact perturbation of −Δ-\Delta−Δ, concludes σess(−Δ+V)=σess(−Δ)=[0,∞)\sigma_{ess}(-\Delta + V) = \sigma_{ess}(-\Delta) = [0,\infty)σess​(−Δ+V)=σess​(−Δ)=[0,∞), and is left with the discrete eigenvalues below zero.

The result goes back to H. Weyl's 1909 work on compact perturbations of bounded self-adjoint operators; the resolvent formulation for unbounded operators is the one used in modern texts such as Reed–Simon (Vol. IV, Sec. XIII.4) and Teschl's Mathematical Methods in Quantum Mechanics (AMS GSM 99, 2009), Section 6.4, which this mission follows.

Setting

Let H\mathfrak HH be a complex Hilbert space and AAA a linear operator with domain D(A)⊆H\mathfrak D(A) \subseteq \mathfrak HD(A)⊆H. For z∈Cz \in \mathbb Cz∈C, the resolvent RA(z)=(A−z)−1R_A(z) = (A - z)^{-1}RA​(z)=(A−z)−1 exists when A−zA - zA−z maps D(A)\mathfrak D(A)D(A) bijectively onto H\mathfrak HH with a bounded inverse. The resolvent set ρ(A)\rho(A)ρ(A) is the set of such zzz, and the spectrum is σ(A)=C∖ρ(A)\sigma(A) = \mathbb C \setminus \rho(A)σ(A)=C∖ρ(A).

The discrete spectrum σd(A)\sigma_d(A)σd​(A) is the set of eigenvalues zzz of AAA that are isolated points of σ(A)\sigma(A)σ(A) and whose eigenspace Ker⁡(A−z)\operatorname{Ker}(A - z)Ker(A−z) is finite dimensional. The essential spectrum is σess(A)=σ(A)∖σd(A)\sigma_{ess}(A) = \sigma(A) \setminus \sigma_d(A)σess​(A)=σ(A)∖σd​(A).

A sequence ψn∈D(A)\psi_n \in \mathfrak D(A)ψn​∈D(A) with ∥ψn∥=1\|\psi_n\| = 1∥ψn​∥=1, ⟨φ,ψn⟩→0\langle \varphi, \psi_n \rangle \to 0⟨φ,ψn​⟩→0 for every φ\varphiφ (weak convergence to zero) and ∥(A−z)ψn∥→0\|(A - z)\psi_n\| \to 0∥(A−z)ψn​∥→0 is a singular Weyl sequence for AAA at zzz.

An operator is compact if it maps bounded sets to relatively compact sets; C(H)\mathfrak C(\mathfrak H)C(H) denotes the compact operators. An operator KKK is relatively compact with respect to AAA if D(A)⊆D(K)\mathfrak D(A) \subseteq \mathfrak D(K)D(A)⊆D(K) and KRA(z)∈C(H)K R_A(z) \in \mathfrak C(\mathfrak H)KRA​(z)∈C(H) for one z∈ρ(A)z \in \rho(A)z∈ρ(A). BBB is AAA bounded if D(A)⊆D(B)\mathfrak D(A) \subseteq \mathfrak D(B)D(A)⊆D(B) and ∥Bψ∥≤a∥Aψ∥+b∥ψ∥\|B\psi\| \le a\|A\psi\| + b\|\psi\|∥Bψ∥≤a∥Aψ∥+b∥ψ∥ on D(A)\mathfrak D(A)D(A); the infimum of admissible aaa is the AAA-bound. A symmetric operator AAA has defect indices d±(A)=dim⁡Ran⁡(A±i)⊥d_\pm(A) = \dim \operatorname{Ran}(A \pm i)^\perpd±​(A)=dimRan(A±i)⊥.

Formalization targets

Goal: Weyl's theorem (Theorem 6.19)

For self-adjoint AAA and BBB,

∃ z∈ρ(A)∩ρ(B): RA(z)−RB(z)∈C(H)⟹σess(A)=σess(B).\exists\, z \in \rho(A) \cap \rho(B):\ R_A(z) - R_B(z) \in \mathfrak C(\mathfrak H) \quad\Longrightarrow\quad \sigma_{ess}(A) = \sigma_{ess}(B).∃z∈ρ(A)∩ρ(B): RA​(z)−RB​(z)∈C(H)⟹σess​(A)=σess​(B).

Milestones

  • Weyl criterion (Lemma 6.17). For self-adjoint AAA: z∈σess(A)z \in \sigma_{ess}(A)z∈σess​(A) if and only if a singular Weyl sequence at zzz exists; if so, it can be chosen orthonormal.
  • Compact perturbations (Lemma 6.18). For self-adjoint AAA and compact self-adjoint KKK, σess(A+K)=σess(A)\sigma_{ess}(A + K) = \sigma_{ess}(A)σess​(A+K)=σess​(A), and
σess(A)=⋂K∈C(H), K∗=Kσ(A+K).\sigma_{ess}(A) = \bigcap_{K \in \mathfrak C(\mathfrak H),\, K^* = K} \sigma(A + K).σess​(A)=K∈C(H),K∗=K⋂​σ(A+K).
  • Independence of zzz (Lemma 6.21, first part). If RA(z)−RB(z)R_A(z) - R_B(z)RA​(z)−RB​(z) is compact for one z∈ρ(A)∩ρ(B)z \in \rho(A) \cap \rho(B)z∈ρ(A)∩ρ(B), it is compact for all such zzz.
  • Self-adjoint extensions (Theorem 6.20). If AAA is symmetric with d+(A)=d−(A)<∞d_+(A) = d_-(A) < \inftyd+​(A)=d−​(A)<∞, all self-adjoint extensions of AAA have the same essential spectrum.
  • Relative compactness is infinitesimal (Lemma 6.22). For self-adjoint AAA, a relatively compact KKK has AAA-bound 000.
  • Stability of relative compactness (Lemma 6.23). If AAA is self-adjoint, BBB symmetric with AAA-bound less than one, and KKK relatively compact with respect to AAA, then KKK is relatively compact with respect to A+BA + BA+B.

Significance

The result. Weyl's theorem reduces the determination of the essential spectrum of a perturbed operator to that of a simpler reference operator. Combined with Lemma 6.22 and the Kato–Rellich theorem, it yields σess(A+K)=σess(A)\sigma_{ess}(A + K) = \sigma_{ess}(A)σess​(A+K)=σess​(A) for every relatively compact symmetric KKK; Lemma 6.23 extends this to perturbations of the form B+KB + KB+K. These are the inputs to the HVZ theorem for NNN-body systems, to the spectral analysis of one-particle Schrödinger operators with decaying potentials, and, via Theorem 6.20, to the observation that boundary conditions at a limit-circle endpoint do not affect the essential spectrum of a Sturm–Liouville operator. The Weyl criterion is independently useful: it is how points are shown to lie in σess\sigma_{ess}σess​ in concrete examples.

Formalizing it. The results are classical and proved in every text on the subject. None of them is formalized: Mathlib has compact operators and the adjoint of a densely defined LinearPMap, but no resolvent set or spectrum for unbounded operators, no discrete or essential spectrum and no relative compactness. This mission asks for formal proofs of Teschl's statements and, with them, a reusable layer of definitions (resolvent of a LinearPMap, σd\sigma_dσd​, σess\sigma_{ess}σess​, singular Weyl sequences, relative compactness) on which later chapters (free Schrödinger operator, HVZ theorem) can build.

Difficulty

The obvious route to all of these statements goes through the spectral theorem: Teschl's proof of the Weyl criterion uses spectral projections PA((λ−ε,λ+ε))P_A((\lambda - \varepsilon, \lambda + \varepsilon))PA​((λ−ε,λ+ε)) and spectral measures μψn\mu_{\psi_n}μψn​​, and his characterization (6.27)–(6.28) of σess\sigma_{ess}σess​ by ranks of spectral projections presupposes the functional calculus. Mathlib has no spectral theorem for unbounded self-adjoint operators, so this route requires either building it or finding arguments that avoid it. The definition of σess\sigma_{ess}σess​ used here is deliberately the PVM-free one of p. 145, which makes the statements expressible now but moves the difficulty into the proofs: showing that a point of σ(A)∖σd(A)\sigma(A) \setminus \sigma_d(A)σ(A)∖σd​(A) carries a singular Weyl sequence requires controlling approximate eigenvectors near a non-isolated spectral point or an eigenvalue of infinite multiplicity without projections.

A second difficulty is domain bookkeeping. A+KA + KA+K, A+BA + BA+B, KRA(z)K R_A(z)KRA​(z) and RA+B(z)R_{A+B}(z)RA+B​(z) all involve unbounded operators with different domains, and identities such as the second resolvent formula KRA+B(z)=KRA(z)(I−BRA+B(z))K R_{A+B}(z) = K R_A(z)(\mathbb I - B R_{A+B}(z))KRA+B​(z)=KRA​(z)(I−BRA+B​(z)) must be established on the correct domains. Theorem 6.20 requires relating the resolvents of two self-adjoint extensions through the finite-dimensional defect spaces.

Formalization scope

The Hilbert space is {H : Type*} [NormedAddCommGroup H] [InnerProductSpace ℂ H] [CompleteSpace H]; separability is not assumed, since no statement of the section needs it. Unbounded operators are Mathlib LinearPMaps H →ₗ.[ℂ] H, self-adjointness is Mathlib's IsSelfAdjoint (which implies a dense domain), and symmetric operators are densely defined by definition, as in the book. The resolvent is the bounded two-sided inverse of A−zA - zA−z of p. 73 (IsResolventAt), and ρ(A)\rho(A)ρ(A), σ(A)\sigma(A)σ(A) are defined from it; Mathlib's Banach-algebra spectrum is not used. "For one z∈ρ(A)∩ρ(B)z \in \rho(A) \cap \rho(B)z∈ρ(A)∩ρ(B)" is an existential over zzz and the two resolvents. Compactness is Mathlib's IsCompactOperator, which on a Hilbert space agrees with the book's norm closure of finite rank operators. A+KA + KA+K for bounded KKK is K +ᵥ A (domain D(A)\mathfrak D(A)D(A)); A+BA + BA+B for unbounded BBB is the LinearPMap sum with domain D(A)∩D(B)\mathfrak D(A) \cap \mathfrak D(B)D(A)∩D(B). The AAA-bound is valued in [0,∞][0,\infty][0,∞] and is ∞\infty∞ for an operator that is not AAA bounded. The defect indices are "equal and finite" when both defect spaces are finite dimensional with equal finrank.

No projection-valued measure or functional calculus is taken as data, and none is needed: every statement is phrased without f(A)f(A)f(A). For this reason the second half of Lemma 6.21, f(A)−f(B)∈C(H)f(A) - f(B) \in \mathfrak C(\mathfrak H)f(A)−f(B)∈C(H) for f∈C∞(R)f \in C_\infty(\mathbb R)f∈C∞​(R), and the form-compactness results Lemma 6.26 and Corollary 6.27 of Section 6.5 are not part of the mission.

A trivializing formalization is ruled out: the discrete spectrum requires all three of "eigenvalue", "isolated in σ(A)\sigma(A)σ(A)" and "finite-dimensional eigenspace", so σess\sigma_{ess}σess​ is neither empty nor all of σ(A)\sigma(A)σ(A) by definition, and the resolvent hypothesis of Weyl's theorem is an existential over genuine resolvents, never a junk value outside ρ(A)\rho(A)ρ(A).

A complete development needs the resolvent identities for LinearPMaps, the relation between self-adjointness and real spectrum, weak convergence of bounded sequences, and the fact that compact operators map weakly null sequences to norm-null ones. The definitions of resolvent, σess\sigma_{ess}σess​, relative compactness and AAA-bound are shared with other chapters of this series and are intended for reuse. Contributions of general lemmas on LinearPMap resolvents are welcome.

Selected references

  • G. Teschl, Mathematical Methods in Quantum Mechanics, With Applications to Schrödinger Operators, Graduate Studies in Mathematics 99, AMS, 2009, Section 6.4. https://doi.org/10.1090/gsm/099
  • H. Weyl, Über beschränkte quadratische Formen, deren Differenz vollstetig ist, Rendiconti del Circolo Matematico di Palermo 27 (1909), 373–392. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03019655
  • M. Reed and B. Simon, Methods of Modern Mathematical Physics IV: Analysis of Operators, Academic Press, 1978, Section XIII.4.
  • T. Kato, Perturbation Theory for Linear Operators, 2nd ed., Springer, 1980, Section IV.5. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-66282-9
14 thms2 active usersReviewed
AnalysisPartial Differential Equations·Captain: mikedeng1

Notes on Partial Differential Equations X: Galerkin Existence of Weak Solutions of Parabolic PDEsTextbook

Motivation

Linear second-order parabolic equations such as ut+Lu=fu_t + Lu = fut​+Lu=f model diffusion with advection, growth or decay, and external sources. The heat equation is the prototype. For coefficients that are only bounded and measurable, classical solutions need not exist, and the natural well-posedness theory is the L2L^2L2 energy theory of weak solutions. In that theory the solution is a curve t↦u(t)t \mapsto u(t)t↦u(t) in a Sobolev space, and the equation holds in the dual space. This framework, developed by J.-L. Lions and others in the 1950s–60s (Lions–Magenes 1972), underlies the numerical analysis of parabolic problems through finite elements and spectral Galerkin methods. It also underlies the existence theory for nonlinear evolution equations such as the Navier–Stokes equations (Temam 1977).

This mission formalizes Chapter 6 of J. K. Hunter's Notes on Partial Differential Equations (UC Davis, revised 6/18/2014): the existence, uniqueness and energy estimate for weak solutions of the parabolic initial–boundary value problem, proved by the Galerkin method. It also formalizes the vector-valued calculus on Hilbert triples that the proof rests on, and the Ehrling and Aubin–Lions compactness results of §6.6.

Setting

Let Ω⊂Rn\Omega \subset \mathbb{R}^nΩ⊂Rn be a bounded open set and T>0T > 0T>0. H01(Ω)H^1_0(\Omega)H01​(Ω) is the closure of Cc∞(Ω)C_c^\infty(\Omega)Cc∞​(Ω) in the norm ∥u∥H012=∫Ω(u2+∣Du∣2) dx\|u\|_{H^1_0}^2 = \int_\Omega (u^2 + |Du|^2)\,dx∥u∥H01​2​=∫Ω​(u2+∣Du∣2)dx. H−1(Ω)H^{-1}(\Omega)H−1(Ω) is its dual, with pairing ⟨f,v⟩\langle f, v\rangle⟨f,v⟩. Every u∈L2(Ω)u \in L^2(\Omega)u∈L2(Ω) acts on H01(Ω)H^1_0(\Omega)H01​(Ω) by v↦∫Ωuv dxv \mapsto \int_\Omega uv\,dxv↦∫Ω​uvdx.

The operator is Lu=−∑i,j∂i(aij∂ju)+∑jbj∂ju+cuLu = -\sum_{i,j}\partial_i(a^{ij}\partial_j u) + \sum_j b^j\partial_j u + cuLu=−∑i,j​∂i​(aij∂j​u)+∑j​bj∂j​u+cu. Its coefficients satisfy Assumption 6.1: aij,bj,c∈L∞(Ω×(0,T))a^{ij}, b^j, c \in L^\infty(\Omega\times(0,T))aij,bj,c∈L∞(Ω×(0,T)), aij=ajia^{ij} = a^{ji}aij=aji, and uniform ellipticity ∑aijξiξj≥θ∣ξ∣2\sum a^{ij}\xi_i\xi_j \ge \theta|\xi|^2∑aijξi​ξj​≥θ∣ξ∣2 for some θ>0\theta > 0θ>0. The associated form is

a(u,v;t)=∑i,j∫Ωaij∂iu ∂jv dx+∑j∫Ωbj∂ju v dx+∫Ωc uv dx.a(u, v; t) = \sum_{i,j}\int_\Omega a^{ij}\partial_i u\,\partial_j v\,dx + \sum_j\int_\Omega b^j\partial_j u\,v\,dx + \int_\Omega c\,uv\,dx.a(u,v;t)=i,j∑​∫Ω​aij∂i​u∂j​vdx+j∑​∫Ω​bj∂j​uvdx+∫Ω​cuvdx.

A function u:[0,T]→H01(Ω)u : [0,T] \to H^1_0(\Omega)u:[0,T]→H01​(Ω) has weak time derivative ut=wu_t = wut​=w if ∫0Tϕ′(t)u(t) dt=−∫0Tϕ(t)w(t) dt\int_0^T \phi'(t)u(t)\,dt = -\int_0^T\phi(t)w(t)\,dt∫0T​ϕ′(t)u(t)dt=−∫0T​ϕ(t)w(t)dt for all ϕ∈Cc∞(0,T)\phi \in C_c^\infty(0,T)ϕ∈Cc∞​(0,T), with Bochner integrals in H−1(Ω)H^{-1}(\Omega)H−1(Ω). Given f∈L2(0,T;H−1(Ω))f \in L^2(0,T;H^{-1}(\Omega))f∈L2(0,T;H−1(Ω)) and g∈L2(Ω)g \in L^2(\Omega)g∈L2(Ω), uuu is a weak solution of

ut+Lu=f in Ω×(0,T),u=0 on ∂Ω,u(0)=gu_t + Lu = f \ \text{in } \Omega\times(0,T), \qquad u = 0 \ \text{on } \partial\Omega, \qquad u(0) = gut​+Lu=f in Ω×(0,T),u=0 on ∂Ω,u(0)=g

when three conditions hold. First, u∈L2(0,T;H01)u \in L^2(0,T;H^1_0)u∈L2(0,T;H01​) and ut∈L2(0,T;H−1)u_t \in L^2(0,T;H^{-1})ut​∈L2(0,T;H−1). Second, ⟨ut(t),v⟩+a(u(t),v;t)=⟨f(t),v⟩\langle u_t(t), v\rangle + a(u(t), v; t) = \langle f(t), v\rangle⟨ut​(t),v⟩+a(u(t),v;t)=⟨f(t),v⟩ for every v∈H01(Ω)v \in H^1_0(\Omega)v∈H01​(Ω) and a.e. ttt. Third, u(0)=gu(0) = gu(0)=g, where the value at 000 is that of the continuous representative in C([0,T];L2(Ω))C([0,T];L^2(\Omega))C([0,T];L2(Ω)).

The Galerkin approximations use an L2L^2L2-orthonormal basis {wk}\{w_k\}{wk​} of Dirichlet eigenfunctions and the spaces EN=⟨w1,…,wN⟩E_N = \langle w_1, \dots, w_N\rangleEN​=⟨w1​,…,wN​⟩. The approximation uN:[0,T]→ENu_N : [0,T] \to E_NuN​:[0,T]→EN​ solves the projected equation (uNt,v)L2+a(uN,v;t)=⟨f,v⟩(u_{Nt}, v)_{L^2} + a(u_N, v; t) = \langle f, v\rangle(uNt​,v)L2​+a(uN​,v;t)=⟨f,v⟩ for v∈ENv \in E_Nv∈EN​, with uN(0)=PNgu_N(0) = P_N guN​(0)=PN​g.

A Hilbert triple V↪H↪V′\mathcal{V} \hookrightarrow \mathcal{H} \hookrightarrow \mathcal{V}'V↪H↪V′ consists of two separable Hilbert spaces V\mathcal{V}V, H\mathcal{H}H and the dual V′\mathcal{V}'V′, with dense continuous injective embeddings and ⟨f,v⟩=(f,v)H\langle f, v\rangle = (f, v)_{\mathcal{H}}⟨f,v⟩=(f,v)H​ for f∈Hf \in \mathcal{H}f∈H. The model is H01↪L2↪H−1H^1_0 \hookrightarrow L^2 \hookrightarrow H^{-1}H01​↪L2↪H−1.

Formalization targets

Goal: Theorem 6.3

For every f∈L2(0,T;H−1(Ω))f \in L^2(0,T;H^{-1}(\Omega))f∈L2(0,T;H−1(Ω)) and g∈L2(Ω)g \in L^2(\Omega)g∈L2(Ω) there is a unique weak solution u∈C([0,T];L2)∩L2(0,T;H01)u \in C([0,T];L^2) \cap L^2(0,T;H^1_0)u∈C([0,T];L2)∩L2(0,T;H01​) with ut∈L2(0,T;H−1)u_t \in L^2(0,T;H^{-1})ut​∈L2(0,T;H−1). There is also a constant C=C(Ω,T,L)C = C(\Omega, T, L)C=C(Ω,T,L) such that

∥u∥L∞(0,T;L2)+∥u∥L2(0,T;H01)+∥ut∥L2(0,T;H−1)≤C(∥f∥L2(0,T;H−1)+∥g∥L2).\|u\|_{L^\infty(0,T;L^2)} + \|u\|_{L^2(0,T;H^1_0)} + \|u_t\|_{L^2(0,T;H^{-1})} \le C\big(\|f\|_{L^2(0,T;H^{-1})} + \|g\|_{L^2}\big).∥u∥L∞(0,T;L2)​+∥u∥L2(0,T;H01​)​+∥ut​∥L2(0,T;H−1)​≤C(∥f∥L2(0,T;H−1)​+∥g∥L2​).

Milestones

  • Theorem 6.41. If u∈L2(0,T;V)u \in L^2(0,T;\mathcal{V})u∈L2(0,T;V) and ut∈L2(0,T;V′)u_t \in L^2(0,T;\mathcal{V}')ut​∈L2(0,T;V′), then u∈C([0,T];H)u \in C([0,T];\mathcal{H})u∈C([0,T];H). Moreover ddt(u,v)H=⟨ut,v⟩\frac{d}{dt}(u,v)_{\mathcal{H}} = \langle u_t, v\rangledtd​(u,v)H​=⟨ut​,v⟩, ddt∥u∥H2=2⟨ut,u⟩\frac{d}{dt}\|u\|^2_{\mathcal{H}} = 2\langle u_t, u\rangledtd​∥u∥H2​=2⟨ut​,u⟩, and ∥u∥L∞(H)≤C(∥u∥L2(V)+∥ut∥L2(V′))\|u\|_{L^\infty(\mathcal{H})} \le C(\|u\|_{L^2(\mathcal{V})} + \|u_t\|_{L^2(\mathcal{V}')})∥u∥L∞(H)​≤C(∥u∥L2(V)​+∥ut​∥L2(V′)​).
  • Theorem 6.42. ∫0T⟨ut,v⟩ dt=(u(T),v(T))H−(u(0),v(0))H−∫0T⟨u,vt⟩ dt\int_0^T\langle u_t, v\rangle\,dt = (u(T),v(T))_{\mathcal{H}} - (u(0),v(0))_{\mathcal{H}} - \int_0^T\langle u, v_t\rangle\,dt∫0T​⟨ut​,v⟩dt=(u(T),v(T))H​−(u(0),v(0))H​−∫0T​⟨u,vt​⟩dt.
  • Proposition 6.5. Each Galerkin problem has a unique solution uNu_NuN​.
  • Proposition 6.6. The energy estimate above holds for uNu_NuN​ with CCC independent of NNN.
  • Proposition 6.7. A subsequence of uNu_NuN​ converges weakly to a weak solution satisfying the estimate.
  • Lemma 6.10 (Ehrling) and Theorem 6.9 (Aubin–Lions). These are further results of the chapter, stated for Banach spaces X↪Y↪ZX \hookrightarrow Y \hookrightarrow ZX↪Y↪Z with XXX compactly embedded in YYY.

Significance

Theorem 6.3 is the basic well-posedness theorem for linear parabolic equations with rough coefficients. It gives existence and uniqueness, and continuous dependence on the data through the linear estimate. The same argument gives the Galerkin convergence that justifies spectral and finite-element semi-discretizations. The Hilbert-triple calculus of Theorems 6.41–6.42 is the standard setting for linear and nonlinear evolution equations. The Aubin–Lions lemma is the compactness tool for nonlinear problems, such as the semilinear heat equation of §6.6 and the Navier–Stokes equations of §6.7.

All of these results are classical and proved in the notes, except that Theorem 6.41's proof leans on vector-valued mollification. As far as a search of the platform shows, none of them is formalized there. Mathlib has the Bochner integral, LpL^pLp spaces of Banach-valued functions and Gronwall's inequality. It does not have weak derivatives of vector-valued functions, Hilbert triples, or evolution-equation existence theorems. The work here is therefore to formalize known proofs, and in doing so to build reusable infrastructure for time-dependent PDEs.

Difficulty

The main obstacle is that the natural objects are equivalence classes of vector-valued functions, not functions. The initial condition u(0)=gu(0) = gu(0)=g is meaningless for an element of L2(0,T;H01)L^2(0,T;H^1_0)L2(0,T;H01​) until Theorem 6.41 provides a continuous representative. Its proof needs extension across the endpoints and mollification of V\mathcal{V}V-valued functions. Passing to the limit in the Galerkin scheme needs weak compactness in L2(0,T;H01)L^2(0,T;H^1_0)L2(0,T;H01​) and L2(0,T;H−1)L^2(0,T;H^{-1})L2(0,T;H−1), identified with a dual Bochner space. Proposition 6.5 is a linear ODE system whose coefficients are only L∞L^\inftyL∞ in time, so the Picard–Lindelöf theorem for continuous right-hand sides does not apply directly. The H−1H^{-1}H−1 bound on uNtu_{Nt}uNt​ needs the projection PNP_NPN​ to be bounded on H01H^1_0H01​ as well as on L2L^2L2, which is why the basis is taken to be eigenfunctions. Uniqueness needs the energy identity (6.46) and a Gronwall argument in weak form.

Formalization scope

  • Rn\mathbb{R}^nRn is EuclideanSpace ℝ (Fin n), with 0-based coordinates. H10 n Ω is the closure of the jets (ϕ,∇ϕ)(\phi, \nabla\phi)(ϕ,∇ϕ), ϕ∈Cc∞(Ω)\phi \in C_c^\infty(\Omega)ϕ∈Cc∞​(Ω), in L2(Ω;R×Rn)L^2(\Omega;\mathbb{R}\times\mathbb{R}^n)L2(Ω;R×Rn), so its norm is the full H1H^1H1 norm. Hm1 n Ω is StrongDual ℝ (H10 n Ω). l2Embed is the embedding H01↪L2↪H−1H^1_0 \hookrightarrow L^2 \hookrightarrow H^{-1}H01​↪L2↪H−1.
  • Lp(0,T;X)L^p(0,T;X)Lp(0,T;X) is MemLp for Lebesgue measure on (0,T)(0,T)(0,T), and norms are eLpNorm with values in [0,∞][0,\infty][0,∞]. Constants are finite nonnegative reals. Every constant is quantified before the data it must not depend on: before fff, ggg in Theorem 6.3, and before the basis, fff, ggg, NNN in Propositions 6.6–6.7.
  • The weak time derivative is (6.14) in its standard form ∫ϕ′u=−∫ϕw\int\phi' u = -\int\phi w∫ϕ′u=−∫ϕw. The page prints ϕ\phiϕ and ϕ′\phi'ϕ′ interchanged, which is a typo.
  • Weak solutions take g∈L2(Ω)g \in L^2(\Omega)g∈L2(Ω) as in Assumption 6.1(3). The printed Theorem 6.3 says g∈H01(Ω)g \in H^1_0(\Omega)g∈H01​(Ω), a special case. u(0)=gu(0) = gu(0)=g is read through a continuous representative u~∈C([0,T];L2)\tilde u \in C([0,T];L^2)u~∈C([0,T];L2), and uniqueness means equality for a.e. ttt.
  • Coefficient conditions and ellipticity hold almost everywhere on Ω×(0,T)\Omega\times(0,T)Ω×(0,T). The Galerkin basis is a hypothesis: an orthonormal basis of L2(Ω)L^2(\Omega)L2(Ω) of weak Dirichlet eigenfunctions.
  • Proposition 6.7 states weak convergence of uNku_{N_k}uNk​​ in L2(0,T;H01)L^2(0,T;H^1_0)L2(0,T;H01​) and of uNktu_{N_k t}uNk​t​ in L2(0,T;H−1)L^2(0,T;H^{-1})L2(0,T;H−1), in the explicit integral form of p. 186. This is at least as strong as the printed claim.
  • Hilbert triples are structures with two continuous injective dense-range embeddings, separability, and the compatibility identity. Reflexivity in Theorem 6.9 is surjectivity of the canonical map into the bidual.
  • Ruling out trivializations. Every Bochner integral in a definition has an integrable integrand under the stated L2L^2L2 hypotheses, so no weak-derivative or weak-solution condition holds through the integral's junk value 000. The initial condition is imposed on a continuous representative, so it is not vacuous on a null set.
  • Reusable infrastructure welcome: vector-valued mollification and extension, the Hilbert-triple calculus, and dual identification of L2(0,T;X)′L^2(0,T;X)'L2(0,T;X)′.

Selected references

  • J. K. Hunter, Notes on Partial Differential Equations, UC Davis lecture notes, revised 6/18/2014, Chapter 6. https://www.math.ucdavis.edu/~hunter/pdes/pde_notes.pdf
  • L. C. Evans, Partial Differential Equations, 2nd ed., Graduate Studies in Mathematics 19, AMS, 2010, §7.1. https://doi.org/10.1090/gsm/019
  • J.-L. Lions and E. Magenes, Non-Homogeneous Boundary Value Problems and Applications I, Springer, 1972. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-65161-8
  • R. Temam, Navier–Stokes Equations: Theory and Numerical Analysis, North-Holland, 1977; AMS Chelsea reprint 2001. https://doi.org/10.1090/chel/343
  • J. Simon, Compact sets in the space Lp(0,T;B)L^p(0,T;B)Lp(0,T;B), Ann. Mat. Pura Appl. 146 (1987), 65–96. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01762360
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Operations ResearchProbability·Captain: mikedeng1

Conditional and Dynamic Convex Risk Measures I: Robust Representation of Conditional Convex Risk MeasuresResearch Paper

Motivation

A convex risk measure assigns to a bounded financial position XXX (a random net payoff) a number ρ(X)\rho(X)ρ(X), interpreted as the capital that must be added to XXX to make it acceptable. The axiomatic theory began with coherent risk measures (Artzner, Delbaen, Eber and Heath, 1999) and was extended to convex ones by Föllmer and Schied (2002) and Frittelli and Rosazza Gianin (2002). Its central structural result is a robust representation: a convex risk measure that is continuous from above equals a worst case of expected losses over a family of probabilistic models, each penalized by how implausible it is.

Regulators and risk managers do not assess positions once and for all; they reassess them as information arrives. Detlefsen and Scandolo (2005) extend the representation to conditional risk measures, whose value ρ(X)\rho(X)ρ(X) is itself a random variable measurable with respect to the information available to the agent. This is the building block of dynamic (time-consistent) risk measurement, studied in later work on dynamic risk measures and backward stochastic differential equations.

Timeline. Artzner et al. (1999): coherent risk measures on finite Ω\OmegaΩ. Delbaen (2002): coherent risk measures on general probability spaces, Fatou property. Föllmer–Schied (2002) and Frittelli–Rosazza Gianin (2002): convex risk measures and their robust representation; Föllmer–Schied, Stochastic Finance, Theorem 4.26 (2002 edition) for L∞L^\inftyL∞ with continuity from above. Detlefsen–Scandolo (2005): the conditional version, Theorem 3.2 of the paper formalized here.

Setting

Fix a probability space (Ω,F,P)(\Omega,\mathcal F,P)(Ω,F,P) and a sub-σ\sigmaσ-algebra G⊆F\mathcal G\subseteq\mathcal FG⊆F describing the available information. L∞L^\inftyL∞ is the space of essentially bounded random variables and LG∞L^\infty_{\mathcal G}LG∞​ its G\mathcal GG-measurable part; every (in)equality between random variables holds PPP-almost surely.

A map ρ:L∞→LG∞\rho:L^\infty\to L^\infty_{\mathcal G}ρ:L∞→LG∞​ is a conditional convex risk measure if ρ(0)=0\rho(0)=0ρ(0)=0 and, for X,Y∈L∞X,Y\in L^\inftyX,Y∈L∞:

  • (conditional translation invariance) ρ(X+Z)=ρ(X)−Z\rho(X+Z)=\rho(X)-Zρ(X+Z)=ρ(X)−Z for every Z∈LG∞Z\in L^\infty_{\mathcal G}Z∈LG∞​;
  • (monotonicity) X≤YX\le YX≤Y implies ρ(X)≥ρ(Y)\rho(X)\ge\rho(Y)ρ(X)≥ρ(Y);
  • (conditional convexity) ρ(ΛX+(1−Λ)Y)≤Λρ(X)+(1−Λ)ρ(Y)\rho(\Lambda X+(1-\Lambda)Y)\le\Lambda\rho(X)+(1-\Lambda)\rho(Y)ρ(ΛX+(1−Λ)Y)≤Λρ(X)+(1−Λ)ρ(Y) for every Λ∈LG∞\Lambda\in L^\infty_{\mathcal G}Λ∈LG∞​ with 0≤Λ≤10\le\Lambda\le10≤Λ≤1.

The admissible models are

PG={Q probability on (Ω,F):Q≪P, Q(A)=P(A) for all A∈G}.\mathcal P_{\mathcal G}=\{Q \text{ probability on }(\Omega,\mathcal F): Q\ll P,\ Q(A)=P(A)\text{ for all }A\in\mathcal G\}.PG​={Q probability on (Ω,F):Q≪P, Q(A)=P(A) for all A∈G}.

For a family X\mathcal XX of [−∞,+∞][-\infty,+\infty][−∞,+∞]-valued random variables, the essential supremum ess.sup⁡X\operatorname{ess.sup}\mathcal Xess.supX is the PPP-a.s. smallest random variable that dominates every member PPP-a.s.; it replaces the pointwise supremum, which is not meaningful for uncountable families of equivalence classes.

A map ρ\rhoρ is representable if there is a penalty α:PG→LG0([0,+∞])\alpha:\mathcal P_{\mathcal G}\to L^0_{\mathcal G}([0,+\infty])α:PG​→LG0​([0,+∞]) with

ρ(X)=ess.sup⁡Q∈PG{−EQ(X∣G)−α(Q)},X∈L∞.\rho(X)=\operatorname*{ess.sup}_{Q\in\mathcal P_{\mathcal G}}\{-E_Q(X\mid\mathcal G)-\alpha(Q)\},\qquad X\in L^\infty .ρ(X)=Q∈PG​ess.sup​{−EQ​(X∣G)−α(Q)},X∈L∞.

The minimal penalty is α∗(Q)=ess.sup⁡X∈L∞{−EQ(X∣G)−ρ(X)}\alpha^*(Q)=\operatorname{ess.sup}_{X\in L^\infty}\{-E_Q(X\mid\mathcal G)-\rho(X)\}α∗(Q)=ess.supX∈L∞​{−EQ​(X∣G)−ρ(X)}. ρ\rhoρ is continuous from above if Xn↘XX_n\searrow XXn​↘X PPP-a.s. implies ρ(Xn)↗ρ(X)\rho(X_n)\nearrow\rho(X)ρ(Xn​)↗ρ(X) PPP-a.s.

Formalization targets

Goal: Theorem 3.2

For a conditional convex risk measure ρ\rhoρ, the following are equivalent:

(a) ρ continuous from above  ⟺  (b) ρ representable  ⟺  (c) ρ(X)=ess.sup⁡Q∈PG{−EQ(X∣G)−α∗(Q)}.\text{(a) } \rho \text{ continuous from above}\iff\text{(b) } \rho\text{ representable}\iff\text{(c) } \rho(X)=\operatorname*{ess.sup}_{Q\in\mathcal P_{\mathcal G}}\{-E_Q(X\mid\mathcal G)-\alpha^*(Q)\}.(a) ρ continuous from above⟺(b) ρ representable⟺(c) ρ(X)=Q∈PG​ess.sup​{−EQ​(X∣G)−α∗(Q)}.

Milestones

  • Theorem A.1: existence and a.s. uniqueness of the essential supremum; an increasing sequence converging to it for upward directed families.
  • Lemma A.2: EP(ess.sup⁡X)=sup⁡X∈XEPXE_P(\operatorname{ess.sup}\mathcal X)=\sup_{X\in\mathcal X}E_PXEP​(ess.supX)=supX∈X​EP​X for upward directed X\mathcal XX.
  • The easy inequality ρ(X)≥ess.sup⁡Q{−EQ(X∣G)−α∗(Q)}\rho(X)\ge\operatorname{ess.sup}_{Q}\{-E_Q(X\mid\mathcal G)-\alpha^*(Q)\}ρ(X)≥ess.supQ​{−EQ​(X∣G)−α∗(Q)}.
  • The unconditional representation (Föllmer–Schied, Theorem 4.26) of a convex risk measure ρ0:L∞→R\rho_0:L^\infty\to\mathbb Rρ0​:L∞→R continuous from above: ρ0(X)=sup⁡Q≪P{−EQX−α0∗(Q)}\rho_0(X)=\sup_{Q\ll P}\{-E_QX-\alpha^*_0(Q)\}ρ0​(X)=supQ≪P​{−EQ​X−α0∗​(Q)}.
  • For ρ0=EP[ρ(⋅)]\rho_0=E_P[\rho(\cdot)]ρ0​=EP​[ρ(⋅)]: α0∗(Q)<∞\alpha^*_0(Q)<\inftyα0∗​(Q)<∞ forces Q∈PGQ\in\mathcal P_{\mathcal G}Q∈PG​.
  • The family BQ={−EQ(X∣G)−ρ(X):X∈L∞}B_Q=\{-E_Q(X\mid\mathcal G)-\rho(X):X\in L^\infty\}BQ​={−EQ​(X∣G)−ρ(X):X∈L∞} is upward directed.
  • EP[α∗(Q)]=α0∗(Q)E_P[\alpha^*(Q)]=\alpha^*_0(Q)EP​[α∗(Q)]=α0∗​(Q) for Q∈PGQ\in\mathcal P_{\mathcal G}Q∈PG​.
  • Representable implies continuous from above.
  • Remark 3.3: α∗≤α\alpha^*\le\alphaα∗≤α for every penalty α\alphaα, and α∗(Q)=ess.sup⁡X∈Aρ{−EQ(X∣G)}\alpha^*(Q)=\operatorname{ess.sup}_{X\in\mathcal A_\rho}\{-E_Q(X\mid\mathcal G)\}α∗(Q)=ess.supX∈Aρ​​{−EQ​(X∣G)}.

Significance

The result. Theorem 3.2 shows that a conditional convex risk measure is determined by a random penalty on the models consistent with the available information, exactly when it satisfies a sequential continuity condition. The representation is the input for the paper's later sections: the conditional entropic risk measure, whose minimal penalty is the conditional relative entropy, and the consistency of dynamic risk measures via Lemma 3.4, which is expressed through the minimal penalty. The restriction to PG\mathcal P_{\mathcal G}PG​ has an interpretation: the more information, the fewer models can enter the worst case.

Formalizing it. The theorem has been proved in the literature since 2005; to our knowledge neither it nor its unconditional counterpart has a machine-checked proof. The mission produces an essential supremum of arbitrary families of extended random variables with its existence theorem, the exchange of expectation and essential supremum for directed families, and the unconditional Föllmer–Schied representation on L∞L^\inftyL∞. The last of these is the standard representation theorem of the theory of convex risk measures and is useful well beyond this paper.

Difficulty

The obvious route, applying the unconditional representation pathwise or ω\omegaω by ω\omegaω, fails: ρ(X)(ω)\rho(X)(\omega)ρ(X)(ω) is not a risk measure of anything, and conditional expectations are only defined up to null sets that depend on QQQ, of which there are uncountably many. The essential supremum is what turns an uncountable supremum of classes into a well-defined class, and passing expectations through it requires directedness. The unconditional step itself (continuity from above implies the dual representation) rests on a Krein–Šmulian / weak* closedness argument on L∞L^\inftyL∞, which is not available off the shelf.

Formalization scope

  • Payoffs are real functions Ω→R\Omega\to\mathbb RΩ→R with MemLp X ⊤ P; ρ\rhoρ is a map (Ω→R)→(Ω→R)(\Omega\to\mathbb R)\to(\Omega\to\mathbb R)(Ω→R)→(Ω→R) constrained only on L∞L^\inftyL∞. Because it acts on functions, ρ\rhoρ is required to respect PPP-a.s. equality, and ρ(X)\rho(X)ρ(X) is required to be G\mathcal GG-strongly measurable and essentially bounded; the paper's ρ\rhoρ acts on classes, so this adds nothing in substance. G\mathcal GG is a MeasurableSpace m with m ≤ mΩ.
  • Translation invariance and convexity quantify over G\mathcal GG-measurable ZZZ and Λ\LambdaΛ (not constants). PG\mathcal P_{\mathcal G}PG​ is the subtype of probability measures Q≪PQ\ll PQ≪P with Q(A)=P(A)Q(A)=P(A)Q(A)=P(A) for all A∈GA\in\mathcal GA∈G — equality on G\mathcal GG, not mutual absolute continuity.
  • EQ(X∣G)E_Q(X\mid\mathcal G)EQ​(X∣G) is Mathlib's Q[X | m]; it is G\mathcal GG-measurable, hence determined PPP-a.s. for Q∈PGQ\in\mathcal P_{\mathcal G}Q∈PG​.
  • Extended values live in EReal; penalties are ENNReal-valued and coerced, so only (real) −(+∞)=−∞-(+\infty)=-\infty−(+∞)=−∞ occurs, never +∞−(+∞)+\infty-(+\infty)+∞−(+∞).
  • The essential supremum is a predicate IsEssSup P F Z (a.e. upper bound of every member, a.e. below every a.e.-measurable a.e. upper bound). The minimal penalty is a predicate IsMinimalPenalty on a candidate; statement (c) of the goal asserts that a G\mathcal GG-measurable [0,+∞][0,+\infty][0,+∞]-valued essential supremum of BQB_QBQ​ is a penalty for ρ\rhoρ.
  • Continuity from above: Xn,X∈L∞X_n,X\in L^\inftyXn​,X∈L∞, (Xn)(X_n)(Xn​) a.s. non-increasing and a.s. convergent to XXX implies (ρ(Xn))(\rho(X_n))(ρ(Xn​)) a.s. non-decreasing and a.s. convergent to ρ(X)\rho(X)ρ(X). It is not norm or weak* continuity.
  • Lemma A.2's "provided the expectations exist" is pinned as: each member has an expectation in [−∞,+∞][-\infty,+\infty][−∞,+∞] and some member has integrable negative part (without the latter the lemma is false). Theorem A.1's directed part assumes a nonempty family. The acceptance set of Remark 3.3 is {X∈L∞:ρ(X)≤0}\{X\in L^\infty:\rho(X)\le0\}{X∈L∞:ρ(X)≤0} (the paper's LG∞L^\infty_{\mathcal G}LG∞​ on p. 4 is a misprint).
  • Ruled out: an essential supremum defined as a pointwise ⨆ over the family, or via Mathlib's essSup of a single function, and an index set equal to all Q≪PQ\ll PQ≪P or to the QQQ equivalent to PPP; each of these changes statement (b) or makes it vacuous.
  • Needed infrastructure: essential suprema of families, extended expectations with monotone convergence, conditional expectation under a change of measure agreeing on G\mathcal GG, and the L∞L^\inftyL∞–L1L^1L1 duality behind Föllmer–Schied 4.26. The essential-supremum layer and the unconditional representation are reusable in any mission on risk measures or robust optimization; contributions to either are welcome.

Selected references

  • K. Detlefsen, G. Scandolo, Conditional and Dynamic Convex Risk Measures, SFB 649 Discussion Paper 2005-006, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 2005 (the version formalized here; journal version: Finance and Stochastics 9(4), 539–561, 2005, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00780-005-0159-6)
  • H. Föllmer, A. Schied, Stochastic Finance — An Introduction in Discrete Time, de Gruyter Studies in Mathematics 27, 2002. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110198065
  • H. Föllmer, A. Schied, Convex measures of risk and trading constraints, Finance and Stochastics 6(4), 429–447, 2002. https://doi.org/10.1007/s007800200072
  • M. Frittelli, E. Rosazza Gianin, Putting order in risk measures, Journal of Banking and Finance 26, 1473–1486, 2002. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0378-4266(02)00270-4
  • P. Artzner, F. Delbaen, J.-M. Eber, D. Heath, Coherent measures of risk, Mathematical Finance 9(3), 203–228, 1999. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9965.00068
  • F. Delbaen, Coherent risk measures on general probability spaces, in Advances in Finance and Stochastics, Springer, 2002. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-04790-3_1
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Pure Mathematics·Captain: ShouqiaoWang

Zhang–Si–Si: Corrected Resonant Almost-Periodic Poincaré–Treshchev PersistenceResearch Paper

Motivation

The classical persistence problem asks which invariant tori of an integrable Hamiltonian survive a small perturbation. A resonance makes some internal angular frequencies vanish, and an almost-periodic perturbation introduces infinitely many additional forcing frequencies. Zhang, Si, and Si state a Poincaré–Treshchev persistence theorem for this combined regime: most lower-dimensional resonant tori associated with nondegenerate relative equilibria persist as infinite-dimensional invariant tori in Theorem 2.7. The formal mission targets that headline result in corrected form. It retains the paper’s nonresonance, spatial-shell, and averaged-critical-point hypotheses, while making explicit the full frequency twist and reduced-frequency parameter chart used later in the paper but absent from the printed theorem statement.

Setting

Let n,m>0n,m>0n,m>0 and d=n+md=n+md=n+m. The internal variables are x∈Tdx\in\mathbb T^dx∈Td and y∈G⊂Rdy\in G\subset\mathbb R^dy∈G⊂Rd, where GGG is bounded and closed. The external forcing angles and their conjugate actions are θ∈TZ\theta\in\mathbb T^{\mathbb Z}θ∈TZ and J∈ℓ1(Z;R)J\in\ell^1(\mathbb Z;\mathbb R)J∈ℓ1(Z;R). The suspended Hamiltonian is

Hϵ(θ,J,x,y)=∑j∈ZωjJj+N(y)+ϵP(θ,x,y,ϵ).\mathcal H_\epsilon(\theta,J,x,y)= \sum_{j\in\mathbb Z}\omega_jJ_j+N(y)+\epsilon P(\theta,x,y,\epsilon).Hϵ​(θ,J,x,y)=j∈Z∑​ωj​Jj​+N(y)+ϵP(θ,x,y,ϵ).

Here NNN is real analytic near GGG. A primitive rank-mmm resonance lattice is represented by an integer matrix K0=(K1,K2)K_0=(K_1,K_2)K0​=(K1​,K2​) with det⁡K0=1\det K_0=1detK0​=1, where the last mmm columns generate the lattice. The adapted angles are (ψ,ϕ)=K0Tx(\psi,\phi)=K_0^{\mathsf T}x(ψ,ϕ)=K0T​x, with ψ∈Tn\psi\in\mathbb T^nψ∈Tn and ϕ∈Tm\phi\in\mathbb T^mϕ∈Tm. Writing ∇N\nabla N∇N for the actual derivative of NNN, define

O(g,G)={y∈G:K2T∇N(y)=0},Ω(y)=K1T∇N(y).O(g,G)=\{y\in G:K_2^{\mathsf T}\nabla N(y)=0\}, \qquad \Omega(y)=K_1^{\mathsf T}\nabla N(y).O(g,G)={y∈G:K2T​∇N(y)=0},Ω(y)=K1T​∇N(y).

The averaged potential h0(ϕ,y)h_0(\phi,y)h0​(ϕ,y) is the zero external and zero ψ\psiψ Fourier coefficient of PPP at ϵ=0\epsilon=0ϵ=0. A pair (ϕ,y)(\phi,y)(ϕ,y) is associated and nondegenerate when

∇ϕh0(ϕ,y)=0,det⁡Dϕ2h0(ϕ,y)≠0.\nabla_\phi h_0(\phi,y)=0, \qquad \det D_\phi^2h_0(\phi,y)\ne0.∇ϕ​h0​(ϕ,y)=0,detDϕ2​h0​(ϕ,y)=0.

Let O0O_0O0​ be the subset of O(g,G)O(g,G)O(g,G) admitting such a ϕ\phiϕ, let Ω0=Ω(O0)\Omega_0=\Omega(O_0)Ω0​=Ω(O0​), and trim in reduced-frequency coordinates:

Ωξ={η∈Ω0:dist⁡(η,∂Ω0)≥ξ},Oξ=O0∩Ω−1(Ωξ).\Omega_\xi=\{\eta\in\Omega_0:\operatorname{dist}(\eta,\partial\Omega_0)\ge\xi\}, \qquad O_\xi=O_0\cap\Omega^{-1}(\Omega_\xi).Ωξ​={η∈Ω0​:dist(η,∂Ω0​)≥ξ},Oξ​=O0​∩Ω−1(Ωξ​).

The perturbation has the paper’s spatial-shell Fourier expansion over finite shells AAA in a spatial structure S\mathcal SS. With [A]=1+∑j∈Alog⁡ϱ(1+∣j∣)[A]=1+\sum_{j\in A}\log^{\varrho}(1+|j|)[A]=1+∑j∈A​logϱ(1+∣j∣) for ϱ>2\varrho>2ϱ>2, each shell has a uniform analytic Fourier bound BAB_ABA​, and ∑ABAes[A]<∞\sum_AB_Ae^{s[A]}<\infty∑A​BA​es[A]<∞ for some s>0s>0s>0. Every nonzero admissible finite external mode kkk satisfies

∣⟨k,ω⟩∣≥γΔ([[k]])Δ(∣k∣1),|\langle k,\omega\rangle|\ge \frac{\gamma}{\Delta([[k]])\Delta(|k|_1)},∣⟨k,ω⟩∣≥Δ([[k]])Δ(∣k∣1​)γ​,

where γ>0\gamma>0γ>0, [[k]][[k]][[k]] is the minimum shell weight containing its support, and Δ\DeltaΔ is a nondecreasing approximation function with Δ(0)=1\Delta(0)=1Δ(0)=1, log⁡Δ(t)/t↓0\log\Delta(t)/t\downarrow0logΔ(t)/t↓0, and ∫0∞log⁡Δ(t)t−2 dt<∞\int_0^\infty\log\Delta(t)t^{-2}\,dt<\infty∫0∞​logΔ(t)t−2dt<∞.

Target

Assume that O0O_0O0​ is nonempty. On every sufficiently small trim OξO_\xiOξ​, require compactness and positive nnn-dimensional measure in the Ω\OmegaΩ chart, injectivity of D(∇N)(y)D(\nabla N)(y)D(∇N)(y), an analytic lower-Lipschitz diffeomorphism Ω:Oξ→Ωξ\Omega:O_\xi\to\Omega_\xiΩ:Oξ​→Ωξ​, and nondegeneracy of every averaged critical point retained by the conclusion. Then, for every 0<ξ≤ξ∗0<\xi\le\xi_*0<ξ≤ξ∗​, there are 0<ϵ0≤10<\epsilon_0\le10<ϵ0​≤1, a rate c(ϵ)→0c(\epsilon)\to0c(ϵ)→0 as ϵ↓0\epsilon\downarrow0ϵ↓0, and closed measurable nonempty sets Λϵ⊂Oξ\Lambda_\epsilon\subset O_\xiΛϵ​⊂Oξ​ for 0<ϵ≤ϵ00<\epsilon\le\epsilon_00<ϵ≤ϵ0​ such that

vol⁡n(Ω(Oξ∖Λϵ))⟶0(ϵ↓0).\operatorname{vol}_n\bigl(\Omega(O_\xi\setminus\Lambda_\epsilon)\bigr) \longrightarrow0\qquad(\epsilon\downarrow0).voln​(Ω(Oξ​∖Λϵ​))⟶0(ϵ↓0).

For every y∈Λϵy\in\Lambda_\epsilony∈Λϵ​ and every associated nondegenerate ϕ\phiϕ, construct a topological embedding

ιϵ,y,ϕ:TZ×Tn⟶(TZ×ℓ1)×(Td×Rd)\iota_{\epsilon,y,\phi}:\mathbb T^{\mathbb Z}\times\mathbb T^n \longrightarrow (\mathbb T^{\mathbb Z}\times\ell^1)\times (\mathbb T^d\times\mathbb R^d)ιϵ,y,ϕ​:TZ×Tn⟶(TZ×ℓ1)×(Td×Rd)

that is analytic almost periodic with the same shell structure, is the image of the standard resonant torus under a local canonical transformation, is c(ϵ)c(\epsilon)c(ϵ)-close to that torus, and is invariant under Hϵ\mathcal H_\epsilonHϵ​ with rotation vector (ω,Ω(y))(\omega,\Omega(y))(ω,Ω(y)).

Significance

The result combines three features that are usually separated: a positive-rank internal resonance, an infinite external frequency vector, and persistence for an asymptotically full-measure parameter set. It identifies the surviving object in the full suspended phase, including the external actions, rather than only in the finite internal fibre. The paper contains a proof of its printed theorem; the mission’s open work is a Lean proof of the corrected target. The correction exposes the parameter twist and chart assumptions on which the reduction and measure assertion depend, so a completed formalization would distinguish the theorem’s stated content from hypotheses needed to make that content mathematically controlled.

Difficulty

Finite-dimensional Diophantine notation does not control infinitely many external modes: admissibility, support weights, and the decay of Δ\DeltaΔ must interact without leaving an empty mode class. Resonance also removes mmm internal frequencies and replaces the original parameter set by a lower-dimensional surface. Its ambient Euclidean boundary is therefore unsuitable for a positive trim, and ordinary ambient volume is unsuitable for the majority statement. Finally, persistence must be expressed simultaneously as an invariant solution of the actual Hamilton equations, an analytic almost-periodic embedding, and a canonical equivalence in the suspended phase; any one of these conditions alone admits objects that do not express the theorem.

Formalization scope

The Lean representation uses finitely supported integer external modes, a covering spatial structure, the literal shell-indexed norm, complex-neighborhood coefficient analyticity, and a separate absolute-summability guard for every infinite Fourier sum. Unit modes are provably admissible. The averaged potential, its gradient and Hessian, the internal frequency ∇N\nabla N∇N, the resonant set, and the reduced-frequency map are transparent definitions. Nonemptiness of O0O_0O0​, positive volume of every allowed Ωξ\Omega_\xiΩξ​, and nonempty Λϵ\Lambda_\epsilonΛϵ​ rule out empty-set and zero-measure trivializations.

The formal target strengthens the printed assumptions only where the source’s reduction requires missing control: D(∇N)D(\nabla N)D(∇N) is injective on the retained trim, and Ω\OmegaΩ is an analytic diffeomorphism there with a uniform lower Lipschitz bound. The boundary distance and excluded volume are both taken in the nnn-dimensional reduced-frequency chart. The word “Cantor” is represented by closedness, measurability, nonemptiness, and asymptotically full measure; perfectness and total disconnectedness are not additional targets.

The torus lives in a genuine ℓ1\ell^1ℓ1 external-action space. Its action component has one weighted-ℓ1\ell^1ℓ1-valued shell expansion, and the Hamiltonian pairing and external action velocity carry convergence guards. A local conjugacy is a homeomorphism between open neighborhoods, fixes θ\thetaθ, is differentiable along all ℓ1\ell^1ℓ1 action directions and finitely supported external-angle directions, and preserves ∑jdθj∧dJj+∑idxi∧dyi\sum_jd\theta_j\wedge dJ_j+\sum_i dx_i\wedge dy_i∑j​dθj​∧dJj​+∑i​dxi​∧dyi​ on those cylinder directions. Reusable contributions include spatial-shell Fourier classes, approximation functions, reduced-manifold measure interfaces, weighted infinite canonical forms, and coordinatewise Hamiltonian invariance.

Selected references

  • Yuan Zhang, Wen Si, and Jianguo Si, Poincaré–Treshchev Mechanism in Integrable Hamiltonian Systems Under Almost-Periodic Perturbations, Discrete and Continuous Dynamical Systems 52 (2026), 32–69. DOI: 10.3934/dcds.2026043. Main result: Theorem 2.7, journal p. 39 (PDF p. 8); spatial and nonresonance definitions: Definitions 2.2–2.4 and equations (5)–(7), journal pp. 35–38 (PDF pp. 4–7); reduction exposing the additional twist and parameter-change requirements: Lemma 3.2, journal pp. 41–43 (PDF pp. 10–12).
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Algorithmic Game TheoryConvex OptimizationEconomics·Captain: mikedeng1

Infinite-Dimensional Fisher Markets and Tractable Fair Division 1: The Eisenberg–Gale Programs Attain Their Optima, One at a Pure Allocation, and Optimal Pairs Are Exactly the Market EquilibriaResearch Paper

Why continuum Fisher markets matter

A Fisher market divides a supply of goods among buyers with fixed budgets. In a finite market, each good is a separate coordinate. Fair division can instead involve a continuum of items, such as locations along an interval or points in a region, where a buyer's valuation varies measurably from point to point. Finite dimensional existence and duality arguments do not automatically apply: the allocation is now a function, and the feasible set need not be compact in its natural function space. Gao and Kroer formulate a market and two Eisenberg–Gale programs for this setting, then prove that their optima exist and characterize equilibrium Gao and Kroer, §3.

The result also connects market equilibrium to fair division. A pure allocation assigns measurable regions of the item space to buyers, allowing overlap only on null sets. Existence of a pure optimizer means that a market outcome can be represented by such a division, rather than by fractional shares at each item. The same paper derives Pareto optimality, budget weighted envy freeness, and proportionality for equilibrium allocations Gao and Kroer, Theorems 1 and 3.

Market, allocations, and programs

The item space Θ\ThetaΘ is a compact subset of Rd\mathbb R^dRd with restricted Lebesgue measure μ\muμ. There are nnn buyers. Buyer iii has a budget Bi>0B_i>0Bi​>0 and a nonnegative integrable valuation density viv_ivi​ with ∫Θvi dμ>0\int_\Theta v_i\,d\mu>0∫Θ​vi​dμ>0. The utility of a bounded nonnegative bundle xix_ixi​ is ⟨vi,xi⟩=∫Θvixi dμ\langle v_i,x_i\rangle=\int_\Theta v_i x_i\,d\mu⟨vi​,xi​⟩=∫Θ​vi​xi​dμ. An allocation x=(xi)x=(x_i)x=(xi​) is feasible when ∑ixi≤1\sum_i x_i\le1∑i​xi​≤1 almost everywhere. It is pure when each xix_ixi​ equals the indicator of a measurable set Θi⊆Θ\Theta_i\subseteq\ThetaΘi​⊆Θ, up to almost everywhere equality, and these sets are pairwise disjoint up to null sets. Leftover items are allowed.

A nonnegative integrable price density ppp defines a buyer's affordable bundles by ⟨p,xi⟩≤Bi\langle p,x_i\rangle\le B_i⟨p,xi​⟩≤Bi​. A market equilibrium (x,p)(x,p)(x,p) is a feasible allocation and price at which every buyer maximizes utility among affordable bundles and ⟨p,1−∑ixi⟩=0\langle p,1-\sum_i x_i\rangle=0⟨p,1−∑i​xi​⟩=0. Thus unallocated supply may remain only where it has zero price. The paper's primal Eisenberg–Gale program, PEG\mathcal P_{EG}PEG​, maximizes weighted log utility over feasible allocations. Its dual program, DEG\mathcal D_{EG}DEG​, minimizes total price minus weighted log multipliers subject to p≥βivip\ge\beta_i v_ip≥βi​vi​ almost everywhere Gao and Kroer, pp. 6–8.

Formalization targets

The goal is the three part Theorem 1. In the notation above, it asserts attainment of the primal objective at a pure allocation, attainment of the dual objective with a unique multiplier vector β∗\beta^*β∗ and price p∗=max⁡iβi∗vip^*=\max_i\beta_i^*v_ip∗=maxi​βi∗​vi​ almost everywhere, and the equivalence

(x,p) is a market equilibrium⟺x optimizes PEG and (p,β∗) optimizes DEG.(x,p)\text{ is a market equilibrium} \quad\Longleftrightarrow\quad x\text{ optimizes }\mathcal P_{EG}\ \text{and}\ (p,\beta^*)\text{ optimizes }\mathcal D_{EG}.(x,p) is a market equilibrium⟺x optimizes PEG​ and (p,β∗) optimizes DEG​.

The milestone list follows the results the paper uses to reach that goal. Lemma A.1 gives a convex, compact range for utility matrices and, under atomlessness, identifies mixed and partition based ranges. Lemma 1 specializes this to the market's feasible utility set UUU, proving that UUU is compact and convex and equals the pure utility set U′U'U′. Lemma 2 establishes attainment and uniqueness in the finite dimensional reduction of the dual problem. Lemma 3 gives weak duality with the paper's constant C=∑iBi−∑iBilog⁡BiC=\sum_i B_i-\sum_i B_i\log B_iC=∑i​Bi​−∑i​Bi​logBi​ and its three optimality conditions. Theorem 2 expands the equivalence between optimality and equilibrium, including budget exhaustion and the utility formula ⟨vi,xi⟩=Bi/βi\langle v_i,x_i\rangle=B_i/\beta_i⟨vi​,xi​⟩=Bi​/βi​. These are the paper's numbered results on pp. 8–10 and a1 Gao and Kroer, §3 and Appendix A.1.

The proposal also states Theorem 3, Lemma 4, and Corollaries 1–3 as companion results. They record the resulting fairness properties, normalized equilibrium bounds, winning sets, a construction of dual prices from a pure optimum, and a test for a pure equilibrium Gao and Kroer, pp. 10–11.

What the result provides

Theorem 1 shows that the two programs give actual allocations and prices in the continuum market, not merely limiting objective values. The pure optimizer provides measurable regions for buyers. The dual multipliers give a unique utility price for each buyer, while the price density is determined almost everywhere. Theorem 2 makes these program outputs economically interpretable: each buyer exhausts its budget at equilibrium. Theorem 3 then supplies efficiency and fairness guarantees for those allocations Gao and Kroer, Theorems 1–3.

These results are proved in the cited paper. This mission asks for machine checked Lean proofs of those mathematical statements. Its definitions of allocations, demand, equilibrium, the two programs, and feasible utilities could also support formalization of the paper's later geometric and quasilinear results. The draft declarations compile as open statements; compilation does not establish the theorems.

Why the proof is difficult

The feasible allocations are bounded in an infinite dimensional function space, but that does not make the set compact in the topology used for the optimization problem. The paper instead needs compactness of the finite dimensional set of achievable utility vectors. The range result in Lemma A.1 is therefore central, and its atomless conclusion must be strong enough to replace fractional allocations by measurable partitions Gao and Kroer, Lemma 1 and Appendix A.1.

Standard constraint qualification arguments also do not supply the required duality theorem here: the positive cone in L1(Θ)L^1(\Theta)L1(Θ) has empty interior. The proposal consequently asks for the paper's specific weak duality inequality, attainment, and optimality characterization rather than assuming a general finite dimensional duality theorem applies Gao and Kroer, Remark 1.

Formalization scope

Lean uses real valued measurable functions on the ambient Euclidean space with measure μ=volume∣Θ\mu=\mathrm{volume}|_\Thetaμ=volume∣Θ​. It identifies prices and allocations up to μ\muμ almost everywhere equality, as the paper identifies L1L^1L1 and L∞L^\inftyL∞ equivalence classes. Bundles must belong to L∞(μ)L^\infty(\mu)L∞(μ) and prices and valuations must be integrable; these conditions prevent a nonintegrable product from receiving Lean's default integral value of zero. The number of buyers may be zero, consistent with the finite index formulation, while the standing positivity hypotheses apply to every buyer present.

The real logarithm in Lean returns zero at zero. The optimization predicates instead require positive utility or positive dual multipliers and compare only with other positive points, matching the paper's log⁡0=−∞\log 0=-\inftylog0=−∞ objective convention. The maximization over buyers is the finite supremum sup⁡iβivi\sup_i\beta_i v_isupi​βi​vi​. Price and allocation uniqueness is stated almost everywhere; multiplier uniqueness is exact. Lemma A.1 uses the paper's divisible measure condition for atomlessness and fixes its unnamed almost everywhere partition convention by requiring ∑jxj=1\sum_jx_j=1∑j​xj​=1 everywhere. Corollary 3 explicitly requires each denominator vi(Θi)v_i(\Theta_i)vi​(Θi​) to be positive. Lemma 4 alone assumes the normalizations vi(Θ)=1v_i(\Theta)=1vi​(Θ)=1 and ∑iBi=1\sum_iB_i=1∑i​Bi​=1, which the paper recalls before its statement.

The goal remains the full three part theorem. It does not assume the range theorem, duality equality, or optimality conditions it is meant to establish. Contributions to the measure range theorem, utility set compactness, the dual reduction, and the equilibrium characterization are all within scope.

Selected references

  • Yuan Gao and Christian Kroer, Infinite-Dimensional Fisher Markets and Tractable Fair Division, Operations Research, 2023; formalization follows arXiv:2010.03025v5, 2021, §§2–3 and Appendix A.1.
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Algorithmic Game TheoryMechanism DesignOperations Research+1·Captain: mikedeng1

Contextual Standard Auctions with Budgets: Revenue Equivalence and Efficiency Guarantees 1: A Value Pacing-Based Symmetric First Price Equilibrium ExistsResearch Paper

Motivation

Most online advertising is sold by auction, one impression at a time, to advertisers who manage a budget over many auctions rather than a value for a single one. Since 2019 the major ad exchanges have moved from second price to first price auctions, in which the winner pays its own bid. A budget-constrained advertiser in a first price auction must therefore shade its bids twice: once because of the budget, and once because of the payment rule. Whether these two effects admit a coherent equilibrium, and of what form, is the question behind Balseiro, Kroer and Kumar, Contextual Standard Auctions with Budgets: Revenue Equivalence and Efficiency Guarantees (Management Science, 2023, doi:10.1287/mnsc.2023.4719).

Earlier work on pacing equilibria treated second price auctions, where truthful bidding is dominant without budgets (Balseiro, Besbes and Weintraub 2015; Conitzer et al. 2022). In first price auctions with a single deterministic item, an equilibrium may fail to exist (the paper's Online Appendix A). The paper restores existence by letting items carry a random context and values depend on it linearly. This mission formalizes its first main result, Theorem 1: an equilibrium of a simple, interpretable form exists.

Setting

An item has a context α∈A⊂R+d\alpha\in A\subset\mathbb R^d_{+}α∈A⊂R+d​, a feature vector drawn from a law FFF with a density. There are nnn buyers. Each buyer has a type θ=(w,B)\theta=(w,B)θ=(w,B), a weight vector www and a budget BBB, drawn independently from a law GGG with a density on

Θ=(0,U)d×(Bmin⁡,U).\Theta=(0,U)^d\times(B_{\min},U).Θ=(0,U)d×(Bmin​,U).

Buyer (w,B)(w,B)(w,B) values item α\alphaα at wTαw^T\alphawTα, and ω:=sup⁡(w,B)∈Θ,α∈AwTα\omega:=\sup_{(w,B)\in\Theta,\alpha\in A}w^T\alphaω:=sup(w,B)∈Θ,α∈A​wTα. The seller reveals α\alphaα, then runs a first price auction with a public reserve price r(α)r(\alpha)r(α): a bid b(α)b(\alpha)b(α) wins if b(α)≥max⁡(r(α),{β(θi,α)}i)b(\alpha)\ge\max(r(\alpha),\{\beta(\theta_i,\alpha)\}_i)b(α)≥max(r(α),{β(θi​,α)}i​), where β\betaβ is the strategy of the n−1n-1n−1 competitors, and the winner pays its bid. A budget only needs to hold in expectation over α\alphaα and the competitors' types.

A strategy β∗:Θ×A→R≥0\beta^*:\Theta\times A\to\mathbb R_{\ge0}β∗:Θ×A→R≥0​ is a symmetric first price equilibrium (SFPE, Definition 1) if for GGG-almost every type (w,B)(w,B)(w,B) the bid function β∗(w,B,⋅)\beta^*(w,B,\cdot)β∗(w,B,⋅) solves

max⁡b:A→R≥0 E[(wTα−b(α))1{b(α)≥max⁡(r(α),{β∗(θi,α)}i)}]  s.t.  E[b(α)1{⋯ }]≤B.\max_{b:A\to\mathbb R_{\ge0}}\ \mathbb E\big[(w^T\alpha-b(\alpha))\mathbb 1\{b(\alpha)\ge\max(r(\alpha),\{\beta^*(\theta_i,\alpha)\}_i)\}\big]\ \ \text{s.t.}\ \ \mathbb E\big[b(\alpha)\mathbb 1\{\cdots\}\big]\le B .b:A→R≥0​max​ E[(wTα−b(α))1{b(α)≥max(r(α),{β∗(θi​,α)}i​)}]  s.t.  E[b(α)1{⋯}]≤B.

A pacing function μ:Θ→R≥0\mu:\Theta\to\mathbb R_{\ge0}μ:Θ→R≥0​ scales values down to paced values wTα/(1+μ(w,B))w^T\alpha/(1+\mu(w,B))wTα/(1+μ(w,B)). Let HαμH^\mu_\alphaHαμ​ be the distribution function of the highest of n−1n-1n−1 i.i.d. paced values, and for x≥r(α)x\ge r(\alpha)x≥r(α) let

σαμ(x)=x−∫r(α)xHαμ(s)Hαμ(x) ds,\sigma^\mu_\alpha(x)=x-\int_{r(\alpha)}^x\frac{H^\mu_\alpha(s)}{H^\mu_\alpha(x)}\,ds,σαμ​(x)=x−∫r(α)x​Hαμ​(x)Hαμ​(s)​ds,

with σαμ(x)=0\sigma^\mu_\alpha(x)=0σαμ​(x)=0 if Hαμ(x)=0H^\mu_\alpha(x)=0Hαμ​(x)=0 and σαμ(x)=x\sigma^\mu_\alpha(x)=xσαμ​(x)=x if x<r(α)x<r(\alpha)x<r(α). The value pacing–based strategy (Definition 2) is

βμ(w,B,α)=σαμ(wTα1+μ(w,B)).\beta^\mu(w,B,\alpha)=\sigma^\mu_\alpha\Big(\frac{w^T\alpha}{1+\mu(w,B)}\Big).βμ(w,B,α)=σαμ​(1+μ(w,B)wTα​).

For a buyer facing competitors who use βμ\beta^\muβμ, the dual function is qμ(w,B,t)=sup⁡bE[(wTα−(1+t)b(α))1{⋯ }]+tBq^\mu(w,B,t)=\sup_b\mathbb E[(w^T\alpha-(1+t)b(\alpha))\mathbb 1\{\cdots\}]+tBqμ(w,B,t)=supb​E[(wTα−(1+t)b(α))1{⋯}]+tB for t≥0t\ge0t≥0.

Formalization targets

Goal: Theorem 1 (p. 7)

∃ μ:Θ→R≥0such thatβμ is an SFPE.\exists\,\mu:\Theta\to\mathbb R_{\ge0}\quad\text{such that}\quad \beta^\mu\ \text{is an SFPE}.∃μ:Θ→R≥0​such thatβμ is an SFPE.

Milestones

  • Lemma 1 (p. 8): for every type and every t≥0t\ge0t≥0, σαμ(wTα/(1+t))\sigma^\mu_\alpha(w^T\alpha/(1+t))σαμ​(wTα/(1+t)) maximizes the Lagrangian E[(wTα/(1+t)−b(α))1{⋯ }]\mathbb E[(w^T\alpha/(1+t)-b(\alpha))\mathbb 1\{\cdots\}]E[(wTα/(1+t)−b(α))1{⋯}].
  • Proposition 1 (p. 8): on a set Θ′\Theta'Θ′ of full GGG-measure, for every μ\muμ, a minimizer t∗t^*t∗ of qμ(w,B,⋅)q^\mu(w,B,\cdot)qμ(w,B,⋅) over t≥0t\ge0t≥0 makes σαμ(wTα/(1+t∗))\sigma^\mu_\alpha(w^T\alpha/(1+t^*))σαμ​(wTα/(1+t∗)) optimal for the budget-constrained problem Qμ(w,B)Q^\mu(w,B)Qμ(w,B).
  • Lemma 2 (p. 10): the smallest minimizer ℓμ(w,B)\ell^\mu(w,B)ℓμ(w,B) of qμ(w,B,⋅)q^\mu(w,B,\cdot)qμ(w,B,⋅) over [0,ω/Bmin⁡][0,\omega/B_{\min}][0,ω/Bmin​] is nondecreasing in each wiw_iwi​ and nonincreasing in BBB.
  • Lemma 3 (p. 10): ℓμ∈L1(Θ)\ell^\mu\in L_1(\Theta)ℓμ∈L1​(Θ) and its total variation is at most V0=(d+1)max⁡(Ud,Ud+1) ω/Bmin⁡V_0=(d+1)\max(U^d,U^{d+1})\,\omega/B_{\min}V0​=(d+1)max(Ud,Ud+1)ω/Bmin​. The paper prints (d+1)Ud+1ω/Bmin⁡(d+1)U^{d+1}\omega/B_{\min}(d+1)Ud+1ω/Bmin​, which agrees when U≥1U\ge1U≥1. For U<1U<1U<1 the printed bound fails by a rescaling argument, and the mission corrects the exponent to ddd there.
  • Lemma 4 (p. 10): X0={μ∈L1(Θ):0≤μ≤ω/Bmin⁡, V(μ,Θ)≤V0}\mathcal X_0=\{\mu\in L_1(\Theta):0\le\mu\le\omega/B_{\min},\ V(\mu,\Theta)\le V_0\}X0​={μ∈L1​(Θ):0≤μ≤ω/Bmin​, V(μ,Θ)≤V0​} is nonempty, compact and convex in L1(Θ)L_1(\Theta)L1​(Θ); f(μ,μ^)=EG[qμ(w,B,μ^(w,B))]f(\mu,\hat\mu)=\mathbb E_G[q^\mu(w,B,\hat\mu(w,B))]f(μ,μ^​)=EG​[qμ(w,B,μ^​(w,B))] is continuous; C0∗(μ)=arg⁡min⁡μ^∈X0f(μ,μ^)C^*_0(\mu)=\arg\min_{\hat\mu\in\mathcal X_0}f(\mu,\hat\mu)C0∗​(μ)=argminμ^​∈X0​​f(μ,μ^​) is upper hemicontinuous with nonempty, convex, compact values.
  • Lemma 5 (p. 10): a fixed point μ∈C0∗(μ)\mu\in C^*_0(\mu)μ∈C0∗​(μ) satisfies μ(w,B)∈arg⁡min⁡t∈[0,ω/Bmin⁡]qμ(w,B,t)\mu(w,B)\in\arg\min_{t\in[0,\omega/B_{\min}]}q^\mu(w,B,t)μ(w,B)∈argmint∈[0,ω/Bmin​]​qμ(w,B,t) almost surely.
  • Proposition 2 (p. 9): some μ\muμ satisfies μ(w,B)∈arg⁡min⁡t≥0qμ(w,B,t)\mu(w,B)\in\arg\min_{t\ge0}q^\mu(w,B,t)μ(w,B)∈argmint≥0​qμ(w,B,t) almost surely.

The paper states that Proposition 2 combined with Proposition 1 implies Theorem 1.

Significance

Theorem 1 says that budget-constrained buyers in contextual first price auctions have an equilibrium that is described by one scalar per type: shade the value by the factor 1/(1+μ(w,B))1/(1+\mu(w,B))1/(1+μ(w,B)), then bid as an unconstrained buyer would in an i.i.d. first price auction against paced competitors. This is the object on which the rest of the paper is built: revenue equivalence across standard auctions (Theorem 2) and a liquid-welfare price of anarchy of at least 1/21/21/2 (Theorem 3) are both statements about pacing-based equilibria. Practically, it supports the use of pacing for budget management in first price auctions, with pacing multipliers computed as for second price auctions.

The result is proved in the paper; every proof is in its online appendix, which is not part of the source this mission cites. Nothing in the paper is formalized. A formalization would check a strong-duality argument for a non-convex problem and an infinite-dimensional fixed-point argument whose topology the authors chose with care, and it would produce reusable pieces: multivariate total variation, compactness of bounded-variation sets in L1L_1L1​, and the first price equilibrium bid against an arbitrary (possibly atomic) value distribution with a reserve price.

Difficulty

The buyer's problem Qμ(w,B)Q^\mu(w,B)Qμ(w,B) is not convex in the bid function, so standard convex duality does not give strong duality; Proposition 1 needs a direct argument combining Lagrangian optimality (Lemma 1), differentiability of qμq^\muqμ in ttt, and complementary slackness. Lemma 1 itself cannot quote the textbook first price equilibrium, because the paced value distribution λαμ\lambda^\mu_\alphaλαμ​ may have atoms and the reserve price creates discontinuities.

The fixed point lives in an infinite-dimensional space of pacing functions. The obvious topologies fail: the set X\mathcal XX of bounded pacing functions is not compact in any LpL_pLp​, and in the weak-* topology of L∞L_\inftyL∞​ upper hemicontinuity of the best-response correspondence is hard to obtain; restricting to Lipschitz functions loses the property that best responses stay in the set. The paper restricts to functions of bounded total variation, which requires the monotonicity of Lemma 2 and the variation bound of Lemma 3.

Formalization scope

Contexts are Fin d → ℝ, types are pairs (w, B) : (Fin d → ℝ) × ℝ, and wTαw^T\alphawTα is the explicit sum ∑iwiαi\sum_i w_i\alpha_i∑i​wi​αi​. A single Model structure holds d,n,U,Bmin⁡,A,F,G,rd,n,U,B_{\min},A,F,G,rd,n,U,Bmin​,A,F,G,r, and Model.Standing collects the assumptions of §2.2 together with four that the paper uses without stating them: n≥2n\ge2n≥2, Bmin⁡<UB_{\min}<UBmin​<U, AAA nonempty and bounded (so ω<∞\omega<\inftyω<∞), and measurability of AAA and rrr. Pacing functions are measurable functions on Rd×R\mathbb R^d\times\mathbb RRd×R that are nonnegative on Θ\ThetaΘ; values off Θ\ThetaΘ are irrelevant since G(Θc)=0G(\Theta^c)=0G(Θc)=0.

The conventions fixed in Lean:

  • Ties win: the indicator is b(α)≥max⁡(⋯ )b(\alpha)\ge\max(\cdots)b(α)≥max(⋯), as in the paper's tie-breaking rule.
  • An admissible bid function is measurable, nonnegative on AAA, and has an integrable payment integrand. The problem of Definition 1, QμQ^\muQμ, qμq^\muqμ and the Lagrangian of Lemma 1 all range over this class.
  • An SFPE is jointly measurable in (θ,α)(\theta,\alpha)(θ,α), so Theorem 1 must produce a measurable strategy.
  • qμq^\muqμ is the supremum over bids of p. 7, not the closed form of p. 8. σαμ\sigma^\mu_\alphaσαμ​ has an explicit branch for Hαμ(x)=0H^\mu_\alpha(x)=0Hαμ​(x)=0.
  • Argmins are stated as membership plus IsMinOn, over t≥0t\ge0t≥0 in Propositions 1–2 and over [0,ω/Bmin⁡][0,\omega/B_{\min}][0,ω/Bmin​] in Lemma 5 and ℓμ\ell^\muℓμ, as printed.
  • V(u,Ω)V(u,\Omega)V(u,Ω) takes values in EReal, with Euclidean ∥ϕ(x)∥≤1\|\phi(x)\|\le1∥ϕ(x)∥≤1 and test fields supported in Ω\OmegaΩ; L1(Θ)L_1(\Theta)L1​(Θ) is with respect to Lebesgue measure. Lemma 4 is stated on the image of X0\mathcal X_0X0​ in Lp ℝ 1 (volume.restrict Θ), in its norm topology.

A formalization in which qμq^\muqμ is defined by its closed form, in which non-integrable payments count as zero, or in which the strategy need not be measurable would make the milestones easier without proving the paper's theorem; these readings are excluded by the definitions above.

A complete development needs: first price equilibrium bids for general atomic distributions with reserves; measurability of parametric integrals; a duality argument for one-dimensional Lagrangian relaxations; multivariate bounded variation and its compact embedding in L1L_1L1​ of a box; and the Kakutani–Fan–Glicksberg theorem in a locally convex space. The bounded-variation and fixed-point parts are reusable beyond this mission. Proofs of any milestone, and alternative arguments, are welcome.

Selected references

  • S. R. Balseiro, C. Kroer, R. Kumar, Contextual Standard Auctions with Budgets: Revenue Equivalence and Efficiency Guarantees, Management Science, Articles in Advance, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2023.4719
  • S. R. Balseiro, O. Besbes, G. Y. Weintraub, Repeated Auctions with Budgets in Ad Exchanges: Approximations and Design, Management Science 61(4), 2015. https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2014.2022
  • V. Conitzer, C. Kroer, E. Sodomka, N. E. Stier-Moses, Multiplicative Pacing Equilibria in Auction Markets, Operations Research 70(2), 2022. https://doi.org/10.1287/opre.2021.2167
  • V. Krishna, Auction Theory, 2nd ed., Academic Press, 2009.
  • L. C. Evans, R. F. Gariepy, Measure Theory and Fine Properties of Functions, revised ed., CRC Press, 2015.
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