A universal and structured way to derive dual optimization problem formulations

The dual problem of a convex optimization problem can be obtained in a relatively simple and structural way by using a well-known result in convex analysis, namely Fenchel’s duality theorem. This alternative way of forming a strong dual problem is the subject in this paper. We recall some standard results from convex analysis and then … Read more

Adjustable Robust Optimization via Fourier-Motzkin Elimination

We demonstrate how adjustable robust optimization (ARO) problems with fixed recourse can be casted as static robust optimization problems via Fourier-Motzkin elimination (FME). Through the lens of FME, we characterize the structures of the optimal decision rules for a broader class of ARO problems. A scheme based on a blending of classical FME and a … Read more

Robust optimization of dose-volume metrics for prostate HDR-brachytherapy incorporating target- and OAR volume delineation uncertainties

In radiation therapy planning, uncertainties in target volume definition yield a risk of underdosing the tumor. The classical way to prevent this in the context of external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) has been to expand the clinical target volume (CTV) with an isotropic margin to obtain the planning target volume (PTV). However, the EBRT-based PTV concept … Read more

The impact of the existence of multiple adjustable robust solutions

In this note we show that multiple solutions exist for the production-inventory example in the seminal paper on adjustable robust optimization in [2]. All these optimal robust solutions have the same worst-case objective value, but the mean objective values differ up to 21.9% and for individual realizations this difference can be up to 59.4%. We … Read more

Robust Dual Response Optimization

This article presents a robust optimization reformulation of the dual response problem developed in response surface methodology. The dual response approach fits separate models for the mean and the variance, and analyzes these two models in a mathematical optimization setting. We use metamodels estimated from experiments with both controllable and environmental inputs. These experiments may … Read more

When are static and adjustable robust optimization with constraint-wise uncertainty equivalent?

Adjustable Robust Optimization (ARO) yields, in general, better worst-case solutions than static Robust Optimization (RO). However, ARO is computationally more difficult than RO. In this paper, we derive conditions under which the worst-case objective values of ARO and RO problems are equal. We prove that if the uncertainty is constraint-wise and the adjustable variables lie … Read more

Centered Solutions for Uncertain Linear Equations

Our contribution is twofold. Firstly, for a system of uncertain linear equations where the uncertainties are column-wise and reside in general convex sets, we show that the intersection of the set of possible solutions and any orthant is convex. We derive a convex representation of this intersection. Secondly, to obtain centered solutions for systems of … Read more

Robust optimization with ambiguous stochastic constraints under mean and dispersion information

In this paper we consider ambiguous stochastic constraints under partial information consisting of means and dispersion measures of the underlying random parameters. Whereas the past literature used the variance as the dispersion measure, here we use the mean absolute deviation from the mean (MAD). This makes it possible to use the old result of Ben-Tal … Read more

Robust nonlinear optimization via the dual

Robust nonlinear optimization is not as well developed as the linear case, and limited in the constraints and uncertainty sets it can handle. In this work we extend the scope of robust optimization by showing how to solve a large class of robust nonlinear optimization problems. The fascinating and appealing property of our approach is … Read more

Computing the Maximum Volume Inscribed Ellipsoid of a Polytopic Projection

We introduce a novel scheme based on a blending of Fourier-Motzkin elimination (FME) and adjustable robust optimization techniques to compute the maximum volume inscribed ellipsoid (MVE) in a polytopic projection. It is well-known that deriving an explicit description of a projected polytope is NP-hard. Our approach does not require an explicit description of the projection, … Read more