A second-order cone representable class of nonconvex quadratic programs

We consider the problem of minimizing a sparse nonconvex quadratic function over the unit hypercube. By developing an extension of the Reformulation Linearization Technique (RLT) to continuous quadratic sets, we propose a novel second-order cone (SOC) representable relaxation for this problem. By exploiting the sparsity of the quadratic function, we establish a sufficient condition under … Read more

Solving MINLPs to global optimality with FICO Xpress Global

We present the architecture and central parts of the FICO Xpress Global optimization solver. In particular, we focus on how we built a global solver for the general class of mixed-integer nonlinear optimization problems by combining and extending two existing components of the FICO Xpress Solver, namely the mixed-integer linear optimization solver and the successive … Read more

A relax-fix-and-exclude algorithm for an MINLP problem with multilinear interpolations

This paper introduces a novel algorithm for Mixed-Integer Nonlinear Programming (MINLP) problems with multilinear interpolations of look-up tables. These problems arise when objectives or constraints contain black-box functions only known at a finite set of evaluations on a predefined grid. We derive a piecewise-linear relaxation for the multilinear interpolants, which require an MINLP formulation. Supported … Read more

Alternating Methods for Large-Scale AC Optimal Power Flow with Unit Commitment

Security-constrained unit commitment with alternating current optimal power flow (SCUC-ACOPF) is a central problem in power grid operations that optimizes commitment and dispatch of generators under a physically accurate power transmission model while encouraging robustness against component failures.  SCUC-ACOPF requires solving large-scale problems that involve multiple time periods and networks with thousands of buses within … Read more

A Graphical Global Optimization Framework for Parameter Estimation of Statistical Models with Nonconvex Regularization Functions

Optimization problems with norm-bounding constraints appear in various applications, from portfolio optimization to machine learning, feature selection, and beyond. A widely used variant of these problems relaxes the norm-bounding constraint through Lagrangian relaxation and moves it to the objective function as a form of penalty or regularization term. A challenging class of these models uses … Read more

Quadratic Convex Reformulations for MultiObjective Binary Quadratic Programming

Multiobjective binary quadratic programming refers to optimization problems involving multiple quadratic – potentially non-convex – objective functions and a feasible set that includes binary constraints on the variables. In this paper, we extend the well-established Quadratic Convex Reformulation technique, originally developed for single-objective binary quadratic programs, to the multiobjective setting. We propose a branch-and-bound algorithm … Read more

Strong Formulations and Algorithms for Regularized A-Optimal Design

We study the Regularized A-Optimal Design (RAOD) problem, which selects a subset of \(k\) experiments to minimize the inverse of the Fisher information matrix, regularized with a scaled identity matrix. RAOD has broad applications in Bayesian experimental design, sensor placement, and cold-start recommendation. We prove its NP-hardness via a reduction from the independent set problem. … Read more

Rank-one convexification for convex quadratic optimization with step function penalties

We investigate convexification in convex quadratic optimization with step function penalties. Such problems can be cast as mixed-integer quadratic optimization problems, where binary variables are used to encode the non-convex step function. First, we derive the convex hull for the epigraph of a quadratic function defined by a rank-one matrix. Using this rank-one convexification, we … Read more

Pareto Leap: An Algorithm for Biobjective Mixed-Integer Programming

Many real-life optimization problems need to make decisions with discrete variables and multiple, conflicting objectives. Due to this need, the ability to solve such problems is an important and active area of research. We present a new algorithm, called Pareto Leap, for identifying the (weak) Pareto slices of biobjective mixed-integer programs (BOMIPs), even when Pareto … Read more

Integer Control Approximations for Graphon Dynamical Systems

Graphons generalize graphs and define a limit object of a converging graph sequence. The notion of graphons allows for a generic representation of coupled network dynamical systems. We are interested in approximating integer controls for graphon dynamical systems. To this end, we apply a decomposition approach comprised of a relaxation and a reconstruction step. We … Read more