On The Mathematics of the Natural Physics of Optimization
A number of optimization algorithms have been inspired by the physics of Newtonian motion. Here, we ask the question: do algorithms themselves obey some ``natural laws of motion,'' and can they be derived by an application of these laws? We explore this question by positing the theory that optimization algorithms may be considered as some manifestation of hidden algorithm primitives that obey certain universal non-Newtonian dynamics. This natural physics of optimization is developed by equating the terminal transversality conditions of an optimal control problem to the generalized Karush/John-Kuhn-Tucker conditions of an optimization problem. Through this equivalence formulation, the data...
| Authors | I. M. Ross |
|---|---|
| Primary category | math.OC |
| Published | 19 April 2026 |
| Last updated at source | 19 April 2026 |
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