The problem of production management can often be cast in the form of a linear program with uncertain parameters and risk constraints. Typically, such problems are treated in the framework of multi-stage Stochastic Programming. Recently, a Robust Counterpart (RC) approach has been proposed, in which the decisions are optimized for the worst realizations of problem … Read more
We consider robust formulations of the mid-term optimal power management problem. For this type of problems, classical approaches minimize the expected generation cost over a horizon of one year, and model the uncertain future by means of scenario trees. In this setting, extreme scenarios -with low probability in the scenario tree- may fail to be … Read more
A methodology, based on the concept of Affinely Adjustable Robust Optimization, for optimizing daily operation of pumping stations is proposed, which takes into account the fact that a water distribution system in reality is unavoidably affected by uncertainties. For operation control, the main source of uncertainty is the uncertainty in the demand. Traditional methods for … Read more
We present different robust frameworks using probabilistic ambiguity descriptions of the input data in the least squares problems. The three probability ambiguity descriptions are given by: (1) confidence interval over the first two moments; (2) bounds on the probability measure with moments constraints; (3) confidence interval over the probability measure by using the Kantorovich probability … Read more
Affinely-Adjustable Robust Counterparts provide tractable alternatives to (two-stage) robust programs with arbitrary recourse. We apply them to robust network design with polyhedral demand uncertainty, introducing the affine routing principle. We compare the affine routing to the well-studied static and dynamic routing schemes for robust network design. All three schemes are embedded into the general framework … Read more
The Kantorovich function $(x^TAx)( x^T A^{-1} x)$, where $A$ is a positive definite matrix, is not convex in general. From a matrix or convex analysis point of view, it is interesting to address the question: When is this function convex? In this paper, we prove that the 2-dimensional Kantorovich function is convex if and only … Read more
The wide applicability of chance-constrained programming, together with advances in convex optimization and probability theory, has created a surge of interest in finding efficient methods for processing chance constraints in recent years. One of the successes is the development of so-called safe tractable approximations of chance-constrained programs, where a chance constraint is replaced by a … Read more
This paper introduces a new method for proving global stability of fluid flows through the construction of Lyapunov functionals. For finite dimensional approximations of fluid systems, we show how one can exploit recently developed optimization methods based on sum-of-squares decomposition to construct a polynomial Lyapunov function. We then show how these methods can be extended … Read more
In this paper we study relations between the minimax, risk averse and nested formulations of multistage stochastic programming problems. In particular, we discuss conditions for time consistency of such formulations of stochastic problems. We also describe a connection between law invariant coherent risk measures and the corresponding sets of probability measures in their dual representation. … Read more
In this paper we consider the adjustable robust approach to multistage optimization, for which we derive dynamic programming equations. We also discuss this from a point of view of risk averse stochastic programming. As an example we consider a robust formulation of the classical inventory model and show that, similar to the risk neutral case, … Read more