Semi-infinite optimization: structure and stability of the feasible set

The problem of the minimization of a functionf: ℝn→ℝ under finitely many equality constraints and perhaps infinitely many inequality constraints gives rise to a structural analysis of the feasible setM[H, G]={x∈ℝn¦H(x)=0,G(x, y)≥0,y∈Y} with compactY⊂ℝr. An extension of the well-known Mangasarian-Fromovitz constraint qualification (EMFCQ) is introduced. The main result for compactM[H, G] is the equivalence of the topological stability of the feasible setM[H, G] and the validity of EMFCQ. As a byproduct, we obtain under EMFCQ that the feasible set admits local linearizations and also thatM[H, G] depends continuously on the pair (H, G). Moreover, EMFCQ is shown to be satisfied generically.