Subdifferential Properties of Quasiconvex and Pseudoconvex Functions : Unified Approach

In this paper, we are mainly concerned with the characterization of quasiconvex or pseudoconvex nondifferentiable functions and the relationship between those two concepts. In particular, we characterize the quasiconvexity and pseudoconvexity of a function by mixed properties combining properties of the function and properties of its subdifferential. We also prove that a lower semicontinuous and radially continuous function is pseudoconvex if it is quasiconvex and satisfies the following optimality condition: 0sdf(x) =f has a global minimum at x. The results are proved using the abstract subdifferential introduced in Ref. 1, a concept which allows one to recover almost all the subdifferentials used in nonsmooth analysis.