An exact algorithm for the probabilistic TSP via a new tractable convex representation of recourse

We consider the probabilistic traveling salesman problem (PTSP) in which customer presences are Bernoulli random variables, and the objective is to determine an a priori tour minimizing the expected traveling cost of the a posteriori tour obtained by skipping absent customers after customer presence is revealed. The existing literature has established that, given an a … Read more

Twist Without Tangle: Flutter Suppression of Thin-Walled Wing-Engine Systems via Curvilinear Fiber Path Tailoring and Cross-Section Optimization

Flutter is traditionally delayed by modifying either a structure’s geometry or its stiffness distribution. Here, we show that allowing both to evolve simultaneously can unlock a fundamentally different route to aeroelastic stability. We concurrently optimize the cross-sectional geometry and fiber paths of a composite thin-walled wing–engine system to maximize flutter onset. The wing structure is … Read more

A Proximal Approach for Nonsmooth Composite-Constrained Optimization

We propose a proximal-type algorithm for nonsmooth and nonconvex optimization problems with composite constraints. The constraint is defined by the composition of a locally upper-\(C^2\) outer function with a locally Lipschitz continuous inner mapping. The method is based on an improvement function that balances objective decrease and constraint satisfaction, and on a surrogate model obtained … Read more

Scenario Tradeoffs in Uncertain Multiobjective Optimization

Realistic decision problems are inherently multiobjective and uncertain. To manage both of these complexities, robust multiobjective optimization strives to aid the decision maker in finding a decision which is Pareto efficient and is hedged against the worst-case scenario. In this paper, we present a robustness approach which is grounded in the decision maker’s preferences by … Read more

Non-monotone direct-search methods for deterministic and stochastic derivative-free optimization

In derivative-free optimization (DFO), one minimizes functions for which the gradient is unavailable or expensive to compute. In many applications, objective function values and gradients are noisy due to simulations or system randomness. A class of standard direct-search methods for DFO accept a trial point when it decreases the objective function by an amount proportional … Read more

Robust Out-of-Distribution Stochastic Optimization with Heterogeneous Inclusive and Exclusive Distribution Clusters

Decision scenarios far from rare in practice often place data-driven decision-making in an awkward position, where the decision maker may have access to neither the target distribution itself nor any empirical samples drawn from it, especially when decisions must be made in novel or highly uncertain environments. In response, robust out-of-distribution stochastic optimization (RooDSO) has … Read more

Nonlinear optimization over trees with binary coupling decisions

Mixed integer nonlinear programs with binary coupling decisions naturally model selective coordination tasks where a fixed penalty is incurred whenever adjacent continuous variables differ. A prominent example is the classical Potts model, which is widely used in statistical inference. However, exact solvability remains theoretically challenging since the problem is NP hard on general graphs, and … Read more

Stable and Unstable Singularities in Navier-Stokes ?

This document provides an extended and rigorous framework dedicated to the geometric analysis of the 3D incompressible Navier-Stokes equations \cite{ESS2003}. We comprehensively develop geometric proofs related to decay estimates, blow-up profiles, and the foundational partial regularity theory of Caffarelli, Kohn, and Nirenberg (CKN). We examine in detail the Hausdorff dimension of potential singular sets, local … Read more

Rooting Out Self-Intersection: An Algebraic Shape-Optimization Barrier

Self-intersection is a fundamental feasibility constraint in shape optimization: a self-crossing boundary leaves its interior, normal field, and finite-element mesh ill-defined, yet most existing barriers rely on heuristic geometric-proximity measures rather than certifying self-intersection directly. We propose a self-intersection barrier grounded in algebraic detection. We derived two bivariate polynomials from a curve’s Fourier coefficients whose … Read more

Nonconvex stochastic zeroth-order optimization with decision-dependent distributions: from momentum tracking to coupled sampling

In this paper, we study nonconvex stochastic optimization with {decision-dependent distributions}, where the decision variable influences the underlying sampling distribution and only stochastic function-value feedback is available. We address two challenges {induced by decision-dependent distributions}: transport error in momentum-based gradient tracking and variance inflation in zeroth-order estimation. We first develop a Polyak-momentum zeroth-order method that … Read more