The Multi-Stop Station Location Problem: Exact Approaches

The multi-stop station location problem (MSLP) aims to place stations such that a set of trips is feasible with respect to length bounds while minimizing cost. Each trip consists of a sequence of stops that must be visited in a given order, and a length bound that controls the maximum length that is possible without … Read more

The SCIP Optimization Suite 8.0

The SCIP Optimization Suite provides a collection of software packages for mathematical optimization centered around the constraint integer programming framework SCIP. This paper discusses enhancements and extensions contained in version 8.0 of the SCIP Optimization Suite. Major updates in SCIP include improvements in symmetry handling and decomposition algorithms, new cutting planes, a new plugin type … Read more

An Image-based Approach to Detecting Structural Similarity Among Mixed Integer Programs

Operations researchers have long drawn insight from the structure of constraint coefficient matrices (CCMs) for mixed integer programs (MIPs). We propose a new question: Can pictorial representations of CCM structure be used to identify similar MIP models and instances? In this paper, CCM structure is visualized using digital images, and computer vision techniques are employed … Read more

MIPLIB 2017: Data-Driven Compilation of the 6th Mixed-Integer Programming Library

We report on the selection process leading to the sixth version of the Mixed Integer Programming Library. Selected from an initial pool of 5,721 instances, the new MIPLIB 2017 collection consists of 1,065 instances. A subset of 240 instances was specially selected for benchmarking solver performance. For the first time, these sets were compiled using … Read more

Avoiding redundant columns by adding classical Benders cuts to column generation subproblems

When solving the linear programming (LP) relaxation of a mixed-integer program (MIP) with column generation, columns might be generated that are not needed to express any integer optimal solution of the MIP. Such columns are called strongly redundant and the dual bound obtained by solving the LP relaxation is potentially stronger if these columns are … Read more

The SCIP Optimization Suite 6.0

The SCIP Optimization Suite provides a collection of software packages for mathematical optimization centered around the constraint integer programming framework SCIP. This paper discusses enhancements and extensions contained in version 6.0 of the SCIP Optimization Suite. Besides performance improvements of the MIP and MINLP core achieved by new primal heuristics and a new selection criterion … Read more

A Computational Investigation on the Strength of Dantzig-Wolfe Reformulations

In Dantzig-Wolfe reformulation of an integer program one convexifies a subset of the constraints, leading to potentially stronger dual bounds from the respective linear programming relaxation. As the subset can be chosen arbitrarily, this includes the trivial cases of convexifying no and all constraints, resulting in a weakest and strongest reformulation, respectively. Our computational study … Read more

A Branch-and-Price Algorithm for Capacitated Hypergraph Vertex Separation

We exactly solve the NP-hard combinatorial optimization problem of finding a minimum cardinality vertex separator with k (or arbitrarily many) capacitated shores in a hypergraph. We present an exponential size integer programming formulation which we solve by branch-and-price. The pricing problem, an interesting optimization problem on its own, has a decomposable structure that we exploit … Read more

The SCIP Optimization Suite 4.0

The SCIP Optimization Suite is a powerful collection of optimization software that consists of the branch-cut-and-price framework and mixed-integer programming solver SCIP, the linear programming solver SoPlex, the modeling language Zimpl, the parallelization framework UG, and the generic branch-cut-and-price solver GCG. Additionally, it features the extensions SCIP-Jack for solving Steiner tree problems, PolySCIP for solving … Read more

DESSLib – Benchmark Instances for Optimization of Decentralized Energy Supply Systems

DESSLib (http://www.math2.rwth-aachen.de/DESSLib) provides benchmark instances obtained by real world data for synthesis problems of decentralized energy supply systems (DESS). In this paper, the considered optimization problem is described in detail. For a description of the functions and parameters used to describe the system and equipment, see the documentation found on DESSLib website http://www.math2.rwth-aachen.de/DESSLib. Article Download … Read more