Hessian coercivity from the Polyak-Łojasiewicz condition #
Proves that the Hessian of a C² function is μ-coercive on normal directions to the minimizer set, given the μ-PL condition.
This file provides the bridge from global PolyakLojasiewicz to the core Hessian
bounds proved in MorseBott.HessianPL. The unique content here:
PL_to_local_MuPL: converts global PL on U to localMuPLat a minimizerhessianQuadForm_eq_hessian: bridgeshessianQuadFormto second Fréchet derivativehessian_normal_bound_from_PL: Hessian ≥ μ on normal directions (main export)PL_gradient_hessian_bound: gradient-form export
Normal Hessian bound from PL: For m ∈ argminSet f and ξ with Dπ(m)ξ = 0 (normal direction), the Hessian quadratic form satisfies hessianQuadForm f m ξ ≥ μ · ‖ξ‖².
The proof combines:
- PL → local MuPL at m
- hessianQuadForm = hessian (bridge via Riesz representation)
- ξ ∈ (hessKer f m)⊥ via self-adjointness of Dπ(m) + Morse-Bott condition
- Rayleigh quotient coercivity on (hessKer)⊥
The Morse-Bott condition (hMB) states ker(D²f(m)) ⊆ range(Dπ(m)), i.e., every direction of zero Hessian curvature is tangent to the minimizer set. Combined with self-adjointness of Dπ(m) (which holds for smooth nearest-point projections), this gives ker(Dπ(m)) ⊆ (hessKer f m)⊥, so normal directions lie in the orthogonal complement of the Hessian kernel where μ-coercivity holds.
Under PL on U at a minimizer m, μ⟨D(∇f)(m) v, v⟩ ≤ ‖D(∇f)(m) v‖² for all v. Gradient-form export of the core PL Hessian bound.