Mixed Complementarity Problem (MCP) is a problem formulation in
mathematical programming
Mathematical optimization (alternatively spelled ''optimisation'') or mathematical programming is the selection of a best element, with regard to some criterion, from some set of available alternatives. It is generally divided into two subfi ...
. Many well-known problem types are special cases of, or may be reduced to MCP. It is a generalization of
nonlinear complementarity problem
In applied mathematics
Applied mathematics is the application of mathematical methods by different fields such as physics, engineering, medicine, biology, finance, business, computer science, and industry. Thus, applied mathematics is a combi ...
(NCP).
Definition
The mixed complementarity problem is defined by a mapping
, lower values
and upper values
.
The solution of the MCP is a vector
such that for each index
one of the following alternatives holds:
*
;
*
;
*
.
Another definition for MCP is: it is a
variational inequality In mathematics, a variational inequality is an inequality involving a functional, which has to be solved for all possible values of a given variable, belonging usually to a convex set. The mathematical theory of variational inequalities was init ...
on the
parallelepiped
In geometry, a parallelepiped is a three-dimensional figure formed by six parallelograms (the term '' rhomboid'' is also sometimes used with this meaning). By analogy, it relates to a parallelogram just as a cube relates to a square. In Euclid ...