The author gives a dual characterization of solid cones in locally convex spaces. From this the author obtains some criteria for judging convex cones to be solid in various kinds of locally convex spaces. Using a general expression of the interior of a solid cone, the author obtains a number of necessary and sufficient conditions for convex cones to be solid in the framework of Banach spaces. In particular, the author gives a dual relationship between solid cones and generalized sharp cones. The related known results are improved and extended.
Under the assumption that the ordering cone has a nonempty interior and is separable (or the feasible set has a nonempty interior and is separable), we give scalarization theorems on Benson proper effciency. Applying the results to vector optimization problems with nearly cone-subconvexlike set-valued maps, we obtain scalarization theorems and Lagrange multiplier theorems for Benson proper effcient solutions.