Virtuous smoothing for global optimization

In the context of global optimization and mixed-integer non-linear programming, generalizing a technique of D'Ambrosio, Fampa, Lee and Vigerske for handling the square-root function, we develop a virtuous smoothing method, using cubics, aimed at functions having some limited non-smoothness. Our results pertain to root functions ($w^p$ with $0<p<1$) and their increasing concave relatives. We provide (i) a sufficient condition (which applies to functions more general than root functions) for our smoothing to be increasing and concave, (ii) a proof that when $p=1/q$ for integers $q\geq 2$, our smoothing lower bounds the root function, (iii) substantial progress (i.e., a proof for integers $2\leq q\leq 10,000$) on the conjecture that our smoothing is a sharper bound on the root function than the natural and simpler "shifted root function", and (iv) for all root functions, a quantification of the superiority (in an average sense) of our smoothing versus the shifted root function near 0.