Conic optimization is a subfield of convex optimization that studies problems consisting of minimizing a convex function over the intersection of an affine subspace and a convex cone. The class of conic optimization problems includes some of the most well known classes of convex optimization problems, namely linear and semidefinite programming. Definition Given a real vector space X, a convex, real-valued function defined on a convex cone , and an affine subspace defined by a set of affine constraints , a conic optimization problem is to find the point in for which the number is smallest. Examples of include the positive orthant , positive semidefinite matrices , and the second-order cone . Often is a linear function, in which case the conic optimization problem reduces to a linear program, a semidefinite program, and a second order cone program, respectively. Duality Certain special cases of conic optimization problems have notable closed-form expressions of their dual problems. Conic LP The dual of the conic linear program minimize subject to is maximize subject to where denotes the dual cone of . Whilst weak duality holds in conic linear programming, strong duality does not necessarily hold. Semidefinite Program The dual of a semidefinite program in inequality form minimize subject to is given by maximize subject to References External links MOSEK Software capable of solving conic optimization problems. Convex optimization