International Conference: Challenges and advances in modern variational analysis

Celebrating the 80 years of Professor Jean-Paul Penot

Motivation

Optimization has long been a key area of applied mathematics and is the central theme of the MOD team’s research at the XLIM laboratory. The main research axis of the MOD team concerns the methods and the theory of non-smooth optimization. This includes particularly innovative tools of variational analysis as well as algorithms for solving large-scale optimization problems. Many optimization problems also come from important industrial applications, such as energy systems and markets, gas networks, and structural engineering. With the improvement of computational power and the increase in data sets, there has recently been renewed interest in robust optimal control, stochastic optimization of partial differential equations, and data-based optimization. This conference will highlight the links between optimization in all its aspects and other branches of mathematics, as well as its applications in industry.

Due to the diversity and importance of these applications, our goal is to organize an international conference in Limoges, which will bring together French and international experts from various disciplines. The conference will also be an occasion to celebrate the 80th birthday of Professor Jean-Paul Penot, an emeritus professor at Sorbonne University. This interdisciplinary conference is aimed at anyone interested in recent advances and future challenges in variational analysis and its applications.

On the occasion of this conference, the MOD team would like to pay a tribute to Professor Jean-Paul Penot, who in the mid-1970s supported several young research assistants who were looking for a thesis supervisor. He supervised Michel Théra, Christian Malivert, and later Michel Volle. This scientific support has allowed these students to have a successful academic career as well as the creation of a nationally and internationally recognized optimization group at the university of Limoges.

During this conference, the speakers will address the fundamental and numerical aspects in the following mathematical fields:

• Non-smooth analysis,
• Convex analysis and optimization,
• Variational inequalities and complementarity problems,
• Non-regular dynamic systems,
• Applications in engineering sciences,
• Game theory,
• Image.

This conference is open to everyone, particularly to PhD students.

Date and Location

March 14-15, 2023 at the University of Limoges.

The conference will begin on Tuesday, March 14 morning, the world day dedicated by UNESCO to mathematics, and will conclude on Wednesday, March 15. The catering will include two buffet lunches (Tuesday and Wednesday), a gala dinner (Tuesday evening), as well as coffee breaks.

Registration

Registration is free but mandatory. The registration form is available here.

Venue: Laboratoire XLIM, Université de Limoges