Provably Good Solutions for Wavelength Assignment in Optical Networks

In this paper, we study the minimum converter wavelength assignment problem in optical networks. To benchmark the quality of solutions obtained by heuristics, we derive an integer programming formulation by generalizing the formulation of Mehrotra and Trick (1996) for the vertex coloring problem. To handle the exponential number of variables, we propose a column generation … Read more

Formulations and Valid Inequalities for the Heterogeneous Vehicle Routing Problem

We consider the vehicle routing problem where one can choose among vehicles with different costs and capacities to serve the trips. We develop six different formulations: the first four based on Miller-Tucker-Zemlin constraints and the last two based on flows. We compare the linear programming bounds of these formulations. We derive valid inequalities and lift … Read more

SYNERGY ANALYSIS OF COLLABORATIVE SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT IN ENERGY SYSTEMS USING MULTI-PERIOD MILP

Energy, a fundamental entity of modern life, is usually produced using fossil fuels as the primary raw material. A consequence of burning fossil fuels is the emission of environmentally harmful substances. Energy production systems generate steam and electricity that are served to different process customers to satisfy their energy requirement. The improvement of economical and … Read more

A Mixed-Integer Programming Approach to Multi-Class Data Classification Problem

This paper presents a new data classification method based on mixed-integer programming. Traditional approaches that are based on partitioning the data sets into two groups perform poorly for multi-class data classification problems. The proposed approach is based on the use of hyper-boxes for defining boundaries of the classes that include all or some of the … Read more

A Piecewise Linearization Framework for Retail Shelf Space Management Models

Managing shelf space is critical for retailers to attract customers and to optimize profit. This paper develops a shelf space allocation optimization model that explicitly incorporates essential in-store costs and considers space- and cross-elasticities. The resultant model maximizes a signomial objective function over linear and bilinear constraints in mixed-integer variables. We propose a piecewise linearization … Read more

Reduction Tests for the Prize-Collecting Steiner Problem

The Prize-Collecting Steiner Problem (PCSP) is a generalization of the classical Steiner Problem in Graphs (SPG) where instead of terminal vertices that must be necessarily connected, one have profits associated to the vertices that must be balanced against the connection costs. This problem is gaining much attention in the last years due to its practical … Read more

Approximate fixed-rank closures of set covering problems

We show that for any fixed rank, the closure of a set covering problem (and related problems) can be approximated in polynomial time — we can epsilon-approximate any linear program over the closure in polynomial time. Citation CORC report TR-2003-01, Computational Optimization Research Center, Columbia University Article Download View Approximate fixed-rank closures of set covering … Read more

Dynamic Bundle Methods

Lagrangian relaxation is a popular technique to solve difficult optimization problems. However, the applicability of this technique depends on having a relatively low number of hard constraints to dualize. When there are many hard constraints, it may be preferable to relax them dynamically, according to some rule depending on which multipliers are active. From the … Read more

Optimizing Call Center Staffing using Simulation and Analytic Center Cutting Plane Methods

We present a simulation-based analytic center cutting plane method to solve a sample average approximation of a call center problem of minimizing staffing costs, while maintaining an acceptable level of service in multiple time periods. We establish convergence of the method when the service level functions are discrete pseudoconcave. An extensive numerical study of a … Read more

Security-constrained transmission planning: A mixed-integer disjunctive approach

We extend a static mixed intger diajunctive (MID) transmission expansion planning model so as to deal with circuit contingency criterion. The model simultaneously represents the network constraints for base case and each selected circuit contingency. The MID approach aloows a commercial optimization solver to achieve and prove solution aptimiality. The proposed approach is applied to … Read more