English

What are Capra-Convex Sets?

Optimization and Control 2026-04-08 v2

Abstract

This paper focuses on a specific form of abstract convexity known as Capra-convexity, where a constant along primal rays (Capra) coupling replaces the scalar product used in standard convex analysis to define generalized Fenchel conjugacies. A key motivating result is that the {\ell}0 pseudonorm - which counts the number of nonzero components in a vector - is equal to its Capra-biconjugate. This implies that {\ell}0 is a Capra-convex function, highlighting potential applications in statistics and machine learning, particularly for enforcing sparsity in models. Building on prior work characterizing the Capra-subdifferential of {\ell}0 and the role of source norms in defining the Capra-coupling, the paper provides a characterization of Capra-convex sets.

Cite

@article{arxiv.2509.06392,
  title  = {What are Capra-Convex Sets?},
  author = {Jean-Philippe Chancelier and Michel de Lara and Adrien Le Franc and Seta Rakotomandimby},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2509.06392},
  year   = {2026}
}
R2 v1 2026-07-01T05:25:46.487Z