Examples of dual behaviour of Newton-type methods on optimization problems with degenerate constraints

We discuss possible scenarios of behaviour of the dual part of sequences generated by primal-dual Newton-type methods when applied to optimization problems with nonunique multipliers associated to a solution. Those scenarios are: (a) failure of convergence of the dual sequence; (b) convergence to a so-called critical multiplier (which, in particular, violates some second-order sufficient conditions for optimality), the latter appearing to be a typical scenario when critical multipliers exist; (c) convergence to a noncritical multiplier. The case of mathematical programs with complementarity constraints is also discussed. We illustrate those scenarios with examples, and discuss consequences for the speed of convergence. We also put together a collection of examples of optimization problems with constraints violating some standard constraint qualifications, intended for preliminary testing of existing algorithms on degenerate problems, or for developing special new algorithms designed to deal with constraints degeneracy.