  This paper presents a detailed proof of the triality theorem for a class of
fourth-order polynomial optimization problems. The method is based on linear
algebra but it solves an open problem on the double-min duality left in 2003.
Results show that the triality theory holds strongly in a tri-duality form if
the primal problem and its canonical dual have the same dimension; otherwise,
both the canonical min-max duality and the double-max duality still hold
strongly, but the double-min duality holds weakly in a symmetrical form. Four
numerical examples are presented to illustrate that this theory can be used to
identify not only the global minimum, but also the largest local minimum and
local maximum.
