Are we there yet? Manifold identification of gradient-related proximal methods

In machine learning, models that generalize better often generate outputs that lie on a low-dimensional manifold. Recently, several works have separately shown finite-time manifold identification by some proximal methods. In this work we provide a unified view by giving a simple condition under which any proximal method using a constant step size can achieve finite-iteration … Read more

Dynamic optimization for airline maintenance operations

The occurrence of unexpected aircraft maintenance tasks can produce expensive changes in an airline’s operation. When it comes to critical tasks, it might even cancel programmed flights. Despite of it, the challenge of scheduling aircraft maintenance operations under uncertainty has received limited attention in the scientific literature. We study a dynamic airline maintenance scheduling problem, … Read more

Γ-Robust Linear Complementarity Problems

Complementarity problems are often used to compute equilibria made up of specifically coordinated solutions of different optimization problems. Specific examples are game-theoretic settings like the bimatrix game or energy market models like for electricity or natural gas. While optimization under uncertainties is rather well-developed, the field of equilibrium models represented by complementarity problems under uncertainty … Read more

On First and Second Order Optimality Conditions for Abs-Normal NLP

Structured nonsmoothness is widely present in practical optimization. A particularly attractive class of nonsmooth problems, both from a theoretical and from an algorithmic perspective, are optimization problems in so-called abs-normal form as developed by Griewank and Walther. Here we generalize their theory for the unconstrained case to nonsmooth NLPs with equality and inequality constraints in … Read more

The robust bilevel continuous knapsack problem with uncertain coefficients in the follower’s objective

We consider a bilevel continuous knapsack problem where the leader controls the capacity of the knapsack and the follower chooses an optimal packing according to his own profits, which may differ from those of the leader. To this bilevel problem, we add uncertainty in a natural way, assuming that the leader does not have full … Read more

The Value of Limited Flexibility in Service Network Designs

Less-than-truckload carriers rely on the consolidation of freight from multiple shippers to achieve economies of scale. Collected freight is routed through a number of transfer terminals at each of which shipments are grouped together for the next leg of their journeys. We study the service network design problem confronted by these carriers. This problem includes … Read more

Generalized conditional subgradient and generalized mirror descent: duality, convergence, and symmetry

We provide new insight into a generalized conditional subgradient algorithm and a generalized mirror descent algorithm for the convex minimization problem \[\min_x \; \{f(Ax) + h(x)\}.\] As Bach showed in [SIAM J. Optim., 25 (2015), pp. 115–129], applying either of these two algorithms to this problem is equivalent to applying the other one to its … Read more

A switching cost aware rounding method for relaxations of mixed-integer optimal control problems

This article investigates a class of Mixed-Integer Optimal Control Problems (MIOCPs) with switching costs. We introduce the problem class of Minimal-Switching-Cost Optimal Control Problems (MSCP) with an objective function that consists of two summands, a continuous term depending on the state vector and an encoding of the discrete switching costs. State vectors of Mixed-Integer Optimal … Read more

Multiscale stochastic programming

Real-world multistage stochastic optimization problems are often characterized by the fact that the decision maker may take actions only at specific points in time, even if relevant data can be observed much more frequently. In such a case there are not only multiple decision stages present but also several observation periods between consecutive decisions where … Read more

Status Determination by Interior-Point Methods for Convex Optimization Problems in Domain-Driven Form

We study the geometry of convex optimization problems given in a Domain-Driven form and categorize possible statuses of these problems using duality theory. Our duality theory for the Domain-Driven form, which accepts both conic and non-conic constraints, lets us determine and certify statuses of a problem as rigorously as the best approaches for conic formulations … Read more