Article ID: | iaor19971119 |
Country: | Netherlands |
Volume: | 69 |
Issue: | 3 |
Start Page Number: | 429 |
End Page Number: | 441 |
Publication Date: | Sep 1995 |
Journal: | Mathematical Programming (Series A) |
Authors: | Bellare Mihir |
Keywords: | programming: quadratic, computational analysis |
The authors consider the problems of finding the maximum of a multivariate polynomial inside a convex polytope. They show that there is no polynomial time approximation algorithm for this problem, even one with a very poor guarantee, unless P=NP. The authors show that even when the polynomial is quadratic (i.e. quadratic programming) there is no polynomial time approximation unless NP is contained in quasi-polynomial time. The present results rely on recent advances in the theory of interactive proof systems. They exemplify an interesting interplay of discrete and continuous mathematics-using a combinatorial argument to get a hardness result for a continuous optimization problem.