ABSTRACT
Optimization of a function f(x 1, …, xn ) involves choosing the xi variables to make the function f as large or as small as possible. With constrained optimization, permissible choices for the xi are restricted or constrained. In what follows, such constraints are represented by a function, g, whereby the xi variables must satisfy a condition of the form g(x 1, …, xn ) = c. For example, in the standard utility maximization problem, the task is to maximize utility u(x 1, …, xn ) subject to a budget constraint p 1 x 1+…+pn xn = c, where pi is the price of good i and c is the income available.
