Adaptive Nelder-Mead Minimization

An implementation of the Nelder-Mead algorithm for derivative-free optimization / function minimization.

anms(fn, x0, ...,
     tol = 1e-10, maxfeval = NULL)

Arguments

fn: nonlinear function to be minimized.
x0: starting vector.
tol: relative tolerance, to be used as stopping rule.
maxfeval: maximum number of function calls.
...: additional arguments to be passed to the function.

Details

Also called a `simplex' method for finding the local minimum of a function of several variables. The method is a pattern search that compares function values at the vertices of the simplex. The process generates a sequence of simplices with ever reducing sizes.

anms can be used up to 20 or 30 dimensions (then `tol' and `maxfeval' need to be increased). It applies adaptive parameters for simplicial search, depending on the problem dimension – see Fuchang and Lixing (2012).

With upper and/or lower bounds, anms will apply a transformation of bounded to unbounded regions before utilizing Nelder-Mead. Of course, if the optimum is near to the boundary, results will not be as accurate as when the minimum is in the interior.

Value

List with following components:

xmin: minimum solution found.
fmin: value of f at minimum.
nfeval: number of function calls performed.

References

Nelder, J., and R. Mead (1965). A simplex method for function minimization. Computer Journal, Volume 7, pp. 308-313.

O'Neill, R. (1971). Algorithm AS 47: Function Minimization Using a Simplex Procedure. Applied Statistics, Volume 20(3), pp. 338-345.

J. C. Lagarias et al. (1998). Convergence properties of the Nelder-Mead simplex method in low dimensions. SIAM Journal for Optimization, Vol. 9, No. 1, pp 112-147.

Fuchang Gao and Lixing Han (2012). Implementing the Nelder-Mead simplex algorithm with adaptive parameters. Computational Optimization and Applications, Vol. 51, No. 1, pp. 259-277.

Note

Copyright (c) 2012 by F. Gao and L. Han, implemented in Matlab with a permissive license. Implemented in R by Hans W. Borchers. For another elaborate implementation of Nelder-Mead see the package `dfoptim'.