A viscosity solution approach to the Monge-Ampere formulation of the Optimal Transportation Problem

Abstract

In this work we present a numerical method for the Optimal Mass Transportation problem. Optimal Mass Transportation (OT) is an active research field in mathematics.It has recently led to significant theoretical results as well as applications in diverse areas. Numerical solution techniques for the OT problem remain underdeveloped. The solution is obtained by solving the second boundary value problem for the MA equation, a fully nonlinear elliptic partial differential equation (PDE). Instead of standard boundary conditions the problem has global state constraints. These are reformulated as a tractable local PDE. We give a proof of convergence of the numerical method, using the theory of viscosity solutions. Details of the implementation and a fast solution method are provided in the companion paper arXiv:1208.4870.