A descent-safeguarded PRP-type conjugate gradient with global convergence and CUTEst benchmarks

Authors

  • Ahmad Alhawarat
    Department of Mathematics, Faculty of Arts and Science, Amman Arab University, Amman 11953, Jordan
  • Sultanah Masmali
    Department of Mathematics, College of Science, Jazan University, Jazan, Saudi Arabia
  • Shahrina Ismail
    Financial Mathematics Program, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia, Bandar Baru Nilai, 71800 Nilai, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia
  • Hamid El Hor
    Sidel-Simulations, D-63303 Dreieich, Germany

Keywords:

Conjugate gradient method, global convergence, CUTEst benchmarks, unconstrained optimization

Abstract

Conjugate gradient (CG) methods are widely used for solving large-scale unconstrained optimization problems. Well-known methods, such as the Polak-Ribière-Polyak and Hestenes-Stiefel methods, may not satisfy the global convergence property. To improve this behavior, this paper constructs a new three-term CG method based on the PRP framework. The proposed method is shown to satisfy sufficient descent and global convergence properties. To study its behavior, we compare its performance with those of CG-Descent 6.8, the non-negative Dai-Liao method, and the HS+TA method by applying them to more than 180 optimization problems selected from the CUTEst library. The numerical results show that the new method performs better than the three competing methods and other recently published CG methods in terms of the number of iterations, the number of function and gradient evaluations, and the CPU time required to solve the test problems. To illustrate accuracy, we report the function and gradient values at the obtained solutions for all test problems.

Dimensions

[1] M. R. Hestenes & E. Stiefel, “Methods of conjugate gradients for solving linear systems”, Journal of Research of the National Bureau of Standards 49 (1952) 409. https://doi.org/10.6028/jres.049.044.

[2] E. Polak & G. Ribière, “Note sur la convergence de méthodes de directions conjuguées”, Revue Française d’Informatique et de Recherche Opérationnelle. Série Rouge 3 (1969) 35. https://doi.org/10.1051/m2an/196903r100351.

[3] R. Fletcher & C. M. Reeves, “Function minimization by conjugate gradients”, The Computer Journal 7 (1964) 149. https://doi.org/10.1093/comjnl/7.2.149.

[4] P. Wolfe, “Convergence conditions for ascent methods”, SIAM Review 11 (1969) 226. https://doi.org/10.1137/1011036.

[5] P. Wolfe, “Convergence conditions for ascent methods. II: Some corrections”, SIAM Review 13 (1971) 185. https://doi.org/10.1137/1013035.

[6] G. Zoutendijk, “Nonlinear programming, computational methods”, in Integer and Nonlinear Programming, J. Abadie (Ed.), North-Holland, Amsterdam, Netherlands, 1970, p. 37. Available online: https://cir.nii.ac.jp/crid/1571980075701600256.

[7] J. C. Gilbert & J. Nocedal, “Global convergence properties of conjugate gradient methods for optimization”, SIAM Journal on Optimization 2 (1992) 21. https://doi.org/10.1137/0802003.

[8] Y.-H. Dai, “New conjugacy conditions and related nonlinear conjugate gradient methods”, Applied Mathematics and Optimization 43 (2001) 87. https://doi.org/10.1007/s002450010019.

[9] G. Li, C. Tang & Z. Wei, “New conjugacy condition and related new conjugate gradient methods for unconstrained optimization”, Journal of Computational and Applied Mathematics 202 (2007) 523. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cam.2006.03.005.

[10] W. W. Hager & H. Zhang, “The limited memory conjugate gradient method”, SIAM Journal on Optimization 23 (2013) 2150. https://doi.org/10.1137/120898097.

[11] L. Zhang, “An improved Wei–Yao–Liu nonlinear conjugate gradient method for optimization computation”, Applied Mathematics and Computation 215 (2009) 2269. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amc.2009.08.016.

[12] A. Alhawarat, M. Mamat, M. Rivaie & Z. Salleh, “An efficient hybrid conjugate gradient method with the strong Wolfe–Powell line search”, Mathematical Problems in Engineering 2015 (2015) 103517. https://doi.org/10.1155/2015/103517.

[13] A. Alhawarat, Z. Salleh, M. Mamat & M. Rivaie, “An efficient modified Polak–Ribière–Polyak conjugate gradient method with global convergence properties”, Optimization Methods and Software 32 (2017) 1299. https://doi.org/10.1080/10556788.2016.1266354.

[14] A. Alhawarat, “Modified parameter of Dai–Liao conjugacy condition of the conjugate gradient method”, arXiv (2023). https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2304.06694.

[15] Z. Salleh, A. Almarashi & A. Alhawarat, “Two efficient modifications of AZPRP conjugate gradient method with sufficient descent property”, Journal of Inequalities and Applications 2022 (2022) 1. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13660-021-02746-0.

[16] A. Alhawarat, H. Alolaiyan, I. A. Masmali, Z. Salleh & S. Ismail, “A descent four-term of Liu and Storey conjugate gradient method for large scale unconstrained optimization problems”, European Journal of Pure and Applied Mathematics 14 (2021) 1429. https://doi.org/10.29020/nybg.ejpam.v14i4.4128.

[17] A. Alhawarat, G. Alhamzi, I. Masmali & Z. Salleh, “A descent fourterm conjugate gradient method with global convergence properties for large-scale unconstrained optimisation problems”, Mathematical Problems in Engineering 2021 (2021) 6219062. https://doi.org/10.1155/2021/6219062.

[18] A. Alhawarat, Z. Salleh, H. Alolaiyan, H. El Hor & S. Ismail, “A threeterm conjugate gradient descent method with some applications”, Journal of Inequalities and Applications 2024 (2024) 73. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13660-024-03142-0.

[19] I. A. Masmali, Z. Salleh & A. Alhawarat, “A descent three-term conjugate gradient method with global convergence properties for large-scale unconstrained optimization problems”, AIMS Mathematics 6 (2021) 10742. https://doi.org/10.3934/math.2021624.

[20] P. S. Stanimirovic, B. D. Ivanov, D. Stanujki´ c, L. A. Kazakovtsev, V. N.´ Krutikov & D. Karabaševic, “Fuzzy adaptive parameter in the Dai–Liao´ optimization method based on neutrosophy”, Symmetry 15 (2023) 1217. https://doi.org/10.3390/sym15061217.

[21] N. Salihu, P. Kumam, A. M. Awwal, M. R. Odekunle & T. Seangwattana, “An efficient matrix-free optimization algorithm combining a revised PRP and FR–CG type method with application to robotics”, Journal of Computational and Applied Mathematics 483 (2026) 117378. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cam.2026.117378.

[22] A. Alhawarat, S. Masmali, I. Masmali, M. Al-Baali & S. Ismail, “A modified conjugate gradient method with Taylor approximation: Applications in electric circuits and image restoration”, European Journal of Pure and Applied Mathematics 18 (2025) 5639. https://doi.org/10.29020/nybg.ejpam.v18i1.5639.

[23] M. Al-Baali, “Descent property and global convergence of the Fletcher– Reeves method with inexact line search”, IMA Journal of Numerical Analysis 5 (1985) 121. https://doi.org/10.1093/imanum/5.1.121.

[24] I. Bongartz, A. R. Conn, N. Gould & Ph. L. Toint, “CUTE: Constrained and unconstrained testing environment”, ACM Transactions on Mathematical Software 21 (1995) 123. https://doi.org/10.1145/200979.201043.

[25] E. D. Dolan & J. J. Moré, “Benchmarking optimization software with performance profiles”, Mathematical Programming 91 (2002) 201. https://doi.org/10.1007/s101070100263.

fig 1

Published

2026-05-25

How to Cite

A descent-safeguarded PRP-type conjugate gradient with global convergence and CUTEst benchmarks. (2026). Journal of the Nigerian Society of Physical Sciences, 8(2), 3118. https://doi.org/10.46481/jnsps.2026.3118

Issue

Section

Mathematics & Statistics

How to Cite

A descent-safeguarded PRP-type conjugate gradient with global convergence and CUTEst benchmarks. (2026). Journal of the Nigerian Society of Physical Sciences, 8(2), 3118. https://doi.org/10.46481/jnsps.2026.3118

Similar Articles

41-50 of 224

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.