Machine Learning for K-adaptability in Two-stage Robust Optimization

Two-stage robust optimization problems constitute one of the hardest optimization problem classes.One of the solution approaches to this class of problems is K-adaptability. This approach simultaneously seeks the best partitioning of the uncertainty set of scenarios into K subsets, and optimizesdecisions corresponding to each of these subsets. In general case, it is solved using the … Read more

An Exact Method for Nonlinear Network Flow Interdiction Problems

We study network flow interdiction problems with nonlinear and nonconvex flow models. The resulting model is a max-min bilevel optimization problem in which the follower’s problem is nonlinear and nonconvex. In this game, the leader attacks a limited number of arcs with the goal to maximize the load shed and the follower aims at minimizing … Read more

Wasserstein Regularization for 0-1 Loss

Wasserstein distributionally robust optimization (DRO) finds robust solutions by hedging against data perturbation specified by distributions in a Wasserstein ball. The robustness is linked to the regularization effect, which has been studied for continuous losses in various settings. However, existing results cannot be simply applied to the 0-1 loss, which is frequently seen in uncertainty … Read more

Decision-making with Side Information: A Causal Transport Robust Approach

We consider stochastic optimization with side information where, prior to decision making, covariate data are available to inform better decisions. In particular, we propose to consider a distributionally robust formulation based on causal transport distance. Compared with divergence and Wasserstein metric, the causal transport distance is better at capturing the information structure revealed from the conditional distribution … Read more

Data-driven Multistage Distributionally Robust Optimization with Nested Distance

We study multistage distributionally robust linear optimization, where the uncertainty set is a ball of distributions defined through the nested distance (Pflug and Pichler 2012) centered at a scenario tree. This choice of uncertainty set, as opposed to alternatives like the Wasserstein distance between stochastic processes, takes account of information evolution, making it hedge against … Read more

A Projected-Search Interior Method for Nonlinear Optimization

This paper concerns the formulation and analysis of a new interior method for general nonlinearly constrained optimization that combines a shifted primal-dual interior method with a projected-search method for bound-constrained optimization. The method involves the computation of an approximate Newton direction for a primal-dual penalty-barrier function that incorporates shifts on both the primal and dual … Read more

Robust Two-Stage Optimization with Covariate Data

We consider a generalization of two-stage decision problems in which the second-stage decision may be a function of a predictive signal but cannot adapt fully to the realized uncertainty. We will show how such problems can be learned from sample data by considering a family of regularized sample average formulations. Furthermore, our regularized data-driven formulations … Read more