In the context of optimal control, we consider the inverse problem of Lagrangian identification given system dynamics and optimal trajectories. Many of its theoretical and practical aspects are still open. Potential applications are very broad as a reliable solution to the problem would provide a powerful modeling tool in many areas of experimental science. We … Read more
The current bottleneck of globally solving mixed-integer (nonconvex) quadratically constrained problem (MIQCP) is still to construct strong but computationally cheap convex relaxations, especially when dense quadratic functions are present. We pro- pose a cutting surface procedure based on multiple diagonal perturbations to derive strong convex quadratic relaxations for nonconvex quadratic problem with separable constraints. Our … Read more
We show that the worst case moment bound on the expected optimal value of a mixed integer linear program with a random objective c is closely related to the complexity of characterizing the convex hull of the points CH{(1 x) (1 x)’: x \in X} where X is the feasible region. In fact, we can … Read more
We consider the problem of partitioning the node set of a graph into $k$ sets of given sizes in order to \emph{minimize the cut} obtained using (removing) the $k$-th set. If the resulting cut has value $0$, then we have obtained a vertex separator. This problem is closely related to the graph partitioning problem. In … Read more
We present the moment cone (MC) relaxation and a hierarchy of sparse Lagrangian-SDP relaxations of polynomial optimization problems (POPs) using the unified framework established in Part I. The MC relaxation is derived for a POP of minimizing a polynomial subject to a nonconvex cone constraint and polynomial equality constraints. It is an extension of the … Read more
Utilizing dual descriptions of the normal cone of convex optimization problems in conic form, we characterize the vertices of semidefinite representations arising from Lovász theta body, generalizations of the elliptope, and related convex sets. Our results generalize vertex characterizations due to Laurent and Poljak from the 1990’s. Our approach also leads us to nice characterizations … Read more
Many important NP-hard combinatorial problems can be efficiently approximated using semidefinite programming relaxations. We propose a new hierarchy of semidefinite relaxations for classes of such problems that based on graphs and for which the projection of the problem onto a subgraph shares the same structure as the original problem. This includes the well-studied max-cut and … Read more
In this article, we present a geometric theoretical analysis of semidefinite feasibility problems (SDFPs). We introduce the concept of hyper feasible partitions and sub-hyper feasible directions, and show how they can be used to decompose SDFPs into smaller ones, in a way that preserves most feasibility properties of the original problem. With this technique, we … Read more
Packing problems in discrete geometry can be modeled as finding independent sets in infinite graphs where one is interested in independent sets which are as large as possible. For finite graphs one popular way to compute upper bounds for the maximal size of an independent set is to use Lasserre’s semidefinite programming hierarchy. We generalize … Read more
The trust-region subproblem minimizes a general quadratic function over an ellipsoid and can be solved in polynomial time using a semidefinite-programming (SDP) relaxation. Intersecting the feasible set with a second ellipsoid results in the two-trust-region subproblem (TTRS). Even though TTRS can also be solved in polynomial-time, existing algorithms do not use SDP. In this paper, … Read more