Infeasibility Certificates from Superadditive Functions for Mixed-Integer Programs

We present a constructive procedure for certifying the infeasibility of a mixed-integer program (MIP) using recursion on a sequence of sets that describe the sets of barely feasible right-hand sides. Each of these sets corresponds to a monotonic superadditive function, and the pointwise limit of this sequence is a functional certificate for MIP infeasibility. Our … Read more

Clique Probing For Mixed-Integer-Programs

Probing is an important presolving technique in mixed-integer programming solvers. It selects binary variables, tentatively fixes them to 0 and 1, and performs propagation to deduce additional variable fixings, bound tightenings, substitutions, and implications. In this work, we propose clique probing instead of probing on individual variables, we select cliques, a set of binary variables … Read more

A Geometric Perspective on Polynomially Solvable Convex Maximization

Convex maximization arises in many applications but is generally NP-hard, even for low-rank objectives. This paper introduces a set of broadly applicable conditions that certify when such problems are polynomially solvable. Our main condition is a new property of the feasible set, which we term co-monotonicity. We show that this property holds for two important … Read more

Optimizing Two-Tier Robotized Sorting Systems for Urban Parcel Delivery

This paper addresses an operational planning challenge in two-tier robotized sorting systems (T-RSS), an emerging alternative to traditional conveyor-based sorting in e-commerce delivery stations. Designed to be compact and space-efficient, T-RSS use an upper tier to sort parcels from loading stations to drop-off points, which connect to roll containers on a lower tier where parcels … Read more

Optimization over Trained Neural Networks: Going Large with Gradient-Based Algorithms

When optimizing a nonlinear objective, one can employ a neural network as a surrogate for the nonlinear function. However, the resulting optimization model can be time-consuming to solve globally with exact methods. As a result, local search that exploits the neural-network structure has been employed to find good solutions within a reasonable time limit. For … Read more

Machine Learning–Enhanced Column Generation for Large-Scale Capacity Planning Problems

Capacity Planning problems are a class of optimization problems used in diverse industries to improve resource allocation and make investment decisions. Solving real-world instances of these problems typically requires significant computational effort. To tackle this, we propose machine-learning-aided column generation methods for solving large-scale capacity planning problems. Our goal is to accelerate column generation by … Read more

AI for Enhancing Operations Research of Agriculture and Energy

This paper surveys optimization problems arising in agriculture, energy systems, and water-energy coordination from an operations research perspective. These problems are commonly formulated as integer nonlinear programs, mixed-integer nonlinear programs, or combinatorial set optimization models, characterized by nonlinear physical constraints, discrete decisions, and intertemporal coupling. Such structures pose significant computational challenges in large-scale and repeated-solution … Read more

Exact and approximate formulations for the close-enough TSP

This work addresses the Close-Enough Traveling Salesman Problem (CETSP), a variant of the classic traveling salesman problem in which we seek to visit neighborhoods of points in the plane (defined as disks) rather than specific points. We present two exact formulations for this problem based on second-order cone programming (SOCP), along with approximated mixed-integer linear … Read more

Weight reduction inequalities revisited

In this paper, we have proposed a strengthening of well known weight reduction inequalities, when the maximum weighted item in the pack is not unique. We provide some sufficient conditions under which these inequalities are facet-defining. Furthermore we provide some conditions under which the strengthened inequality strictly dominates the weight reduction inequality. We also introduce … Read more