6533b85afe1ef96bd12b8af8

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Numerically stable computation of step-sizes for descent methods. The nonconvex case

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description

The computation of step-sizes which guarantee convergence in unconstrained minimization by descent methods is considered. The use of a “control” or “range” function is highly attractive for this purpose because of its simplicity. Since the Armijo-Goldstein test may fail prematurely due to numerical instability near the minimizer, we consider a range function based on gradient values alone as has been done forg convex in [8]. Numerical algorithms are given for the computation of step-sizes whose behaviour under roundoff is shown to be benign in the sense of F. L. Bauer [5].