A Semidefinite Approach to the $ Cover Problem

We apply theta body relaxations to the $K_i$ cover problem and use this to show polynomial time solvability for certain classes of graphs. In particular, we give an effective relaxation where all $K_i$-$p$-hole facets are valid, addressing an open question of Conforti et al \cite{conforti}. For the triangle free problem, we show for $K_n$ that … Read more

Complexity of Ten Decision Problems in Continuous Time Dynamical Systems

We show that for continuous time dynamical systems described by polynomial differential equations of modest degree (typically equal to three), the following decision problems which arise in numerous areas of systems and control theory cannot have a polynomial time (or even pseudo-polynomial time) algorithm unless P=NP: local attractivity of an equilibrium point, stability of an … Read more

Quadratic combinatorial optimization using separable underestimators

Binary programs with a quadratic objective function are NP-hard in general, even if the linear optimization problem over the same feasible set is tractable. In this paper, we address such problems by computing quadratic global underestimators of the objective function that are separable but not necessarily convex. Exploiting the binary constraint on the variables, a … Read more

Hybrid LP/SDP Bounding Procedure

The principal idea of this paper is to exploit Semidefinite Programming (SDP) relaxation within the framework provided by Mixed Integer Nonlinear Programming (MINLP) solvers when tackling Binary Quadratic Problems (BQP). SDP relaxation is well-known to provide strong bounds for BQP in practice. However, the method is not typically implemented in many state-of-the-art MINLP solvers based … Read more

Solving large scale polynomial convex problems on \ell_1/nuclear norm balls by randomized first-order algorithms

One of the most attractive recent approaches to processing well-structured large-scale convex optimization problems is based on smooth convex-concave saddle point reformulation of the problem of interest and solving the resulting problem by a fast First Order saddle point method utilizing smoothness of the saddle point cost function. In this paper, we demonstrate that when … Read more

Simplified Copositive and Lagrangian Relaxations for Linearly Constrained Quadratic Optimization Problems in Continuous and Binary Variables

For a quadratic optimization problem (QOP) with linear equality constraints in continuous nonnegative variables and binary variables, we propose three relaxations in simplified forms with a parameter $\lambda$: Lagrangian, completely positive, and copositive relaxations. These relaxations are obtained by reducing the QOP to an equivalent QOP with a single quadratic equality constraint in nonnegative variables, … Read more

Lowest-rank Solutions of Continuous and Discrete Lyapunov Equations over Symmetric Cone

The low-rank solutions of continuous and discrete Lyapunov equations are of great importance but generally difficult to achieve in control system analysis and design. Fortunately, Mesbahi and Papavassilopoulos [On the rank minimization problems over a positive semidefinite linear matrix inequality, IEEE Trans. Auto. Control, Vol. 42, No. 2 (1997), 239-243] showed that with the semidefinite … Read more

The Spectral Bundle Method with Second-Order Information

The spectral bundle method was introduced by Helmberg and Rendl to solve a class of eigenvalue optimization problems that is equivalent to the class of semidefinite programs with the constant trace property. We investigate the feasibility and effectiveness of including full or partial second-order information in the spectral bundle method, building on work of Overton … Read more

Improving an interior-point approach for large block-angular problems by hybrid preconditioners

The computational time required by interior-point methods is often dominated by the solution of linear systems of equations. An efficient specialized interior-point algorithm for primal block-angular problems has been used to solve these systems by combining Cholesky factorizations for the block constraints and a conjugate gradient based on a power series preconditioner for the linking … Read more

Compressed Sensing Off the Grid

We consider the problem of estimating the frequency components of a mixture of s complex sinusoids from a random subset of n regularly spaced samples. Unlike previous work in compressed sensing, the frequencies are not assumed to lie on a grid, but can assume any values in the normalized frequency domain [0, 1]. We propose … Read more