A new MM algorithm for root‐finding problems

The minorization–maximization (MM) algorithm is an optimization technique for iteratively calculating the maximizer of a concave target function rather than a root–finding tool. In this paper, we in the first time develop the MM algorithm as a new method for seeking the root of a univariate nonlinear equation . The key idea is to transfer the root–finding issue to iteratively calculate the maximizer of a concave target function by designing a new MM algorithm. According to the ascent property of the MM algorithm, we know that the proposed algorithm converges to the root and does not depend on any initial values, in contrast to Newton's method. Several statistical examples are provided to demonstrate the proposed algorithm.