Production Theory for Constrained Linear Activity Models

The purpose of this paper is to generalize the framework of activity analysis discussed in Villar (2003) and obtain similar results concerning solvability. We generalize the model due to Villar (2003), without requiring any dimensional requirements on the activity matrices and by introducing a model of activity analysis in which each activity may (or may … Read more

Temporal Bin Packing with Half-Capacity Jobs

Motivated by applications in cloud computing, we study a temporal bin packing problem with jobs that occupy half of a bin’s capacity. An instance is given by a set of jobs, each with a start and end time during which it must be processed, i.e., assigned to a bin. A bin can accommodate two jobs … Read more

Stochastic nested primal-dual method for nonconvex constrained composition optimization

In this paper we study the nonconvex constrained composition optimization, in which the objective contains a composition of two expected-value functions whose accurate information is normally expensive to calculate. We propose a STochastic nEsted Primal-dual (STEP) method for such problems. In each iteration, with an auxiliary variable introduced to track inner layer function values we … Read more

Statistical performance of subgradient step-size update rules in Lagrangian relaxations of chance-constrained optimization models

Lagrangian relaxation schemes, coupled with a subgradient procedure, are frequently employed to solve chance-constrained optimization models. The subgradient procedure typically relies on a step-size update rule. Although there is extensive research on the properties of these step-size update rules, there is little consensus on which rules are most suited in practice. This is especially so … Read more

A Successive Linear Relaxation Method for MINLPs with Multivariate Lipschitz Continuous Nonlinearities

We present a novel method for mixed-integer optimization problems with multivariate and Lipschitz continuous nonlinearities. In particular, we do not assume that the nonlinear constraints are explicitly given but that we can only evaluate them and that we know their global Lipschitz constants. The algorithm is a successive linear relaxation method in which we alternate … Read more

A momentum-based linearized augmented Lagrangian method for nonconvex constrained stochastic optimization

Nonconvex constrained stochastic optimization has emerged in many important application areas. Subject to general functional constraints it minimizes the sum of an expectation function and a nonsmooth regularizer. Main challenges arise due to the stochasticity in the random integrand and the possibly nonconvex functional constraints. To address these issues we propose a momentum-based linearized augmented … Read more

Two-stage distributionally robust noncooperative games: Existence of Nash equilibrium and its application to Cournot-Nash competition

Two-stage distributionally robust stochastic noncooperative games with continuous decision variables are studied. In such games, each player solves a two-stage distributionally robust optimization problem depending on the decisions of the other players. Existing studies in this area have been limited with strict assumptions, such as linear decision rules, and supposed that each player solves a … Read more

Worst-Case Analysis of Heuristic Approaches for the Temporal Bin Packing Problem with Fire-Ups

We consider the temporal bin packing problem with fire-ups (TBPP-FU), a branch of operations research recently introduced in multi-objective cloud computing. In this scenario, any item is equipped with a resource demand and a lifespan meaning that it requires the bin capacity only during that time interval. We then aim at finding a schedule minimizing … Read more

Weighted Geometric Mean, Minimum Mediated Set, and Optimal Second-Order Cone Representation

We study optimal second-order cone representations for weighted geometric means, which turns out to be closely related to minimum mediated sets. Several lower bounds and upper bounds on the size of optimal second-order cone representations are proved. In the case of bivariate weighted geometric means (equivalently, one dimensional mediated sets), we are able to prove … Read more

Optimal configurations for modular systems at the example of crane bridges

The aim of this paper is to optimize modular systems which cover the construction of products that can be assembled on a modular basis. Increasing the number of different variants of individual components on the one hand decreases the cost of oversizing the assembled product, while on the other hand the cost for maintaining the … Read more