A modified homogeneous algorithm for function minimization

Abstract Recently, an algorithm for function minimization was presented, based upon an homogeneous, rather than upon a quadratic, model. Numerical experiments with this algorithm indicated that it rapidly minimizes the standard test functions available in the literature. Although it was proved that the algorithm produces function values which continually descend, no proof of convergence was supplied. In this paper, the homogeneous algorithm is modified primarily by replacing the cubic interpolation routine by Armijo's step size rule. Although not quite as fast as the original version on the standard test functions, this modified form has the advantage that a proof of convergence follows from a general theorem of Polak.