EE 4386/5301 – Computational Methods in EE
Homework #12 – Due 4 May 2017
Problem #1: Golden-Section Search
Find the following extrema using the Golden-section method. Report both the position
xe and value f(xe) of the extremes.
a) Maximum of f  x   1  2 x  3x 2  2 x 3  0.15 x 4 ,  2  x  12
b) Minimum of f  x   1  2 x  x 2  2 x 3  0.15 x 4 , 0  x  14
Extra Credit: Visualize the method.
Problem #2: Steepest Ascent Method
Find the following extrema using the steepest ascent method. Report both the position
(xe,ye) and value f(xe,ye) of the extremes.
a) Maximum of f  x, y   3.5 x  2 y  x 2  x 4  2 xy  y 2 . Start at (0,0).
b) Minimum of f  x, y   8 x  x 2  12 y  4 y 2  2 xy . Start at (0,0).
Extra Credit: Visualize the method.
Page 1 of 1