A globalization scheme for the generalized Gauss-Newton method

Abstract

For solving an equality constrained nonlinear least squares problem, a globalization scheme for the generalized Gauss-Newton method via damping is proposed. The stepsize strategy is based on a special exact penalty function. Under natural conditions the global convergence of the algorithm is proved. Moreover, if the algorithm converges to a solution having a sufficiently small residual, the algorithm is shown to change automatically into the undamped generalized Gauss-Newton method with a fast linear rate of convergence. The behaviour of the method is demonstrated on hand of some examples taken from the literature.