At the heart of the topology of global optimization lies Morse Theory: The study of the behaviour of lower level sets of functions as the level varies. Roughly speaking, the topology of lower level sets only may change when passing a level which corresponds to a stationary point (or Karush-Kuhn- Tucker point). We study elements of Morse Theory, both in the unconstrained and constrained case. Special attention is paid to the degree of differentiabil- ity of the functions under consideration. The reader will become motivated to discuss the possible shapes and forms of functions that may...

At the heart of the topology of global optimization lies Morse Theory: The study of the behaviour of lower level sets of functions as the level varies. Roughly speaking, the topology of lower level sets only may change when passing a level which corresponds to a stationary point (or Karush-Kuhn- Tucker point). We study elements of Morse Theory, both in the unconstrained and constrained case. Special attention is paid to the degree of differentiabil- ity of the functions under consideration. The reader will become motivated to discuss the possible shapes and forms of functions that may...