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Minimize[f,x]
minimizes f symbolically with respect to x.
Minimize[f,{x,y,…}]
minimizes f symbolically with respect to x, y, ….
Minimize[{f,cons},{x,y,…}]
minimizes f symbolically subject to the constraints cons.
Minimize[…,x∈rdom]
constrains x to be in the region or domain rdom.
Details and OptionsMinimize a univariate function:
Minimize a multivariate function:
Minimize a function subject to constraints:
A minimization problem containing parameters:
Minimize a function over a geometric region:
Scope (36) Basic Uses (7)Minimize over the unconstrained reals:
Minimize subject to constraints :
Constraints may involve arbitrary logical combinations:
The infimum value may not be attained:
Use a vector variable and a vector inequality:
Univariate Problems (7)Unconstrained univariate polynomial minimization:
Constrained univariate polynomial minimization:
Analytic functions over bounded constraints:
Combination of trigonometric functions with commensurable periods:
Combination of periodic functions with incommensurable periods:
Unconstrained problems solvable using function property information:
Multivariate Problems (9)Multivariate linear constrained minimization:
Linear-fractional constrained minimization:
Unconstrained polynomial minimization:
Constrained polynomial optimization can always be solved:
The minimum value may not be attained:
The objective function may be unbounded:
There may be no points satisfying the constraints:
Quantified polynomial constraints:
Bounded transcendental minimization:
Minimize convex objective function such that is positive semidefinite and :
Plot the region and the minimizing point:
Parametric Problems (4)Parametric linear optimization:
The minimum value is a continuous function of parameters:
Parametric quadratic optimization:
The minimum value is a continuous function of parameters:
Unconstrained parametric polynomial minimization:
Constrained parametric polynomial minimization:
Optimization over Integers (3)Polynomial minimization over the integers:
Optimization over Regions (6)Find the minimum distance between two regions:
Find the minimum such that the triangle and ellipse still intersect:
Find the disk of minimum radius that contains the given three points:
Using Circumsphere gives the same result directly:
Use to specify that is a vector in :
Find the minimum distance between two regions:
Options (1) WorkingPrecision (1)Finding the exact solution takes a long time:
With WorkingPrecision->100, you get an exact minimum value, but it might be incorrect:
Applications (10) Basic Applications (3)Find the minimal perimeter among rectangles with a unit area:
Find the minimal perimeter among triangles with a unit area:
The minimal perimeter triangle is equilateral:
Find the distance to a parabola from a point on its axis:
Assuming a particular relationship between the and parameters:
Geometric Distances (6)The shortest distance of a point in a region ℛ to a given point p and a point q realizing the shortest distance is given by Minimize[EuclideanDistance[p,q],q∈ℛ]. Find the shortest distance and the nearest point to {1,1} in the unit Disk[]:
Find the shortest distance and the nearest point to {1,3/4} in the standard unit simplex Simplex[2]:
Find the shortest distance and the nearest point to {1,1,1} in the standard unit sphere Sphere[]:
Find the shortest distance and the nearest point to {-1/3,1/3,1/3} in the standard unit simplex Simplex[3]:
The nearest points p∈ and q∈ and their distance can be found through Minimize[EuclideanDistance[p,q],{p∈,q∈}]. Find the nearest points in Disk[{0,0}] and Rectangle[{3,3}] and the distance between them:
Find the nearest points in Line[{{0,0,0},{1,1,1}}] and Ball[{5,5,0},1] and the distance between them:
Geometric Centers (1)If ℛ⊆n is a region that is full dimensional, then the Chebyshev center is the center of the largest inscribed ball of ℛ. The center and the radius of the largest inscribed ball of ℛ can be found through Minimize[SignedRegionDistance[ℛ,p], p∈ℛ]. Find the Chebyshev center and the radius of the largest inscribed ball for Rectangle[]:
Find the Chebyshev center and the radius of the largest inscribed ball for Triangle[]:
Properties & Relations (6)Minimize gives an exact global minimum of the objective function:
NMinimize attempts to find a global minimum numerically, but may find a local minimum:
FindMinimum finds local minima depending on the starting point:
The minimum point satisfies the constraints, unless messages say otherwise:
The given point minimizes the distance from the point {2,}:
When the minimum is not attained, Minimize may give a point on the boundary:
Here the objective function tends to the minimum value when y tends to infinity:
Minimize can solve linear programming problems:
LinearProgramming can be used to solve the same problem given in matrix notation:
This computes the minimum value:
Use RegionDistance and RegionNearest to compute the distance and the nearest point:
Both can be computed using Minimize:
Use RegionBounds to compute the bounding box:
Use Maximize and Minimize to compute the same bounds:
Possible Issues (1)Minimize requires that all functions present in the input be real-valued:
Values for which the equation is satisfied but the square roots are not real are disallowed:
Wolfram Research (2003), Minimize, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Minimize.html (updated 2021). TextWolfram Research (2003), Minimize, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Minimize.html (updated 2021).
CMSWolfram Language. 2003. "Minimize." Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Wolfram Research. Last Modified 2021. https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Minimize.html.
APAWolfram Language. (2003). Minimize. Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Retrieved from https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Minimize.html
BibTeX@misc{reference.wolfram_2025_minimize, author="Wolfram Research", title="{Minimize}", year="2021", howpublished="\url{https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Minimize.html}", note=[Accessed: 11-July-2025 ]}
BibLaTeX@online{reference.wolfram_2025_minimize, organization={Wolfram Research}, title={Minimize}, year={2021}, url={https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Minimize.html}, note=[Accessed: 11-July-2025 ]}
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