Prioritized optimization by Nash games : towards an adaptive multi-objective strategy

Abstract

This work is part of the development of a two-phase multi-objective differentiable optimization method. The first phase is classical: it corresponds to the optimization of a set of primary cost functions, subject to nonlinear equality constraints, and it yields at least one known Pareto-optimal solution xA*. This study focuses on the second phase, which is introduced to permit to reduce another set of cost functions, considered as secondary, by the determination of a continuum of Nash equilibria, {x̅ε} (ε≥ 0), in a way such that: firstly, x̅0=xA* (compatibility), and secondly, for ε sufficiently small, the Pareto-optimality condition of the primary cost functions remains O(ε2), whereas the secondary cost functions are linearly decreasing functions of ε. The theoretical results are recalled and the method is applied numerically to a Super-Sonic Business Jet (SSBJ) sizing problem to optimize the flight performance.