A scalable bounding method for multi-stage stochastic integer programs

Many dynamic decision problems involving uncertainty can be appropriately modeled as multi-stage stochastic programs. However, most practical instances are so large and/or complex that it is impossible to solve them on a single computer, especially due to memory limitations. Extending the work of Sandikci et al. (2013) on two-stage stochastic mixed-integer-programs (SMIPs), this paper develops … Read more

On parallelizing dual decomposition in stochastic integer programming

For stochastic mixed-integer programs, we revisit the dual decomposition algorithm of Car\o{}e and Schultz from a computational perspective with the aim of its parallelization. We address an important bottleneck of parallel execution by identifying a formulation that permits the parallel solution of the \textit{master} program by using structure-exploiting interior-point solvers. Our results demonstrate the potential … Read more

A Hierarchy of Bounds for Stochastic Mixed-Integer Programs

Strong relaxations are critical for solving deterministic mixed-integer programs. As solving stochastic mixed-integer programs (SMIPs) is even harder, it is likely that strong relaxations will also prove essential for SMIPs. We consider general two-stage SMIPs with recourse, where integer variables are allowed in both stages of the problem and randomness is allowed in the objective … Read more