We study a class of chance-constrained two-stage stochastic optimization problems where second-stage feasible recourse decisions incur additional cost. In addition, we propose a new model, where “recovery” decisions are made for the infeasible scenarios to obtain feasible solutions to a relaxed second-stage problem. We develop decomposition algorithms with specialized optimality and feasibility cuts to solve … Read more
With stochastic integer programming as the motivating application, we investigate techniques to use integrality constraints to obtain improved cuts within a Benders decomposition algorithm. We compare the effect of using cuts in two ways: (i) cut-and-project, where integrality constraints are used to derive cuts in the extended variable space, and Benders cuts are then used … Read more
We study chance-constrained problems in which the constraints involve the probability of a rare event. We discuss the relevance of such problems and show that the existing sampling-based algorithms cannot be applied directly in this case, since they require an impractical number of samples to yield reasonable solutions. Using a Sample Average Approximation (SAA) approach … Read more
Traditionally, two variants of the L-shaped method based on Benders’ decomposition principle are used to solve two-stage stochastic programming problems: the single-cut and the multi-cut version. The concept of an oracle with on-demand accuracy was originally proposed in the context of bundle methods for unconstrained convex optimzation to provide approximate function data and subgradients. In … Read more
We schedule appointments with random service durations on multiple servers with operating time limits. We minimize the costs of operating servers and serving appointments, subject to a joint chance constraint limiting the risk of server overtime. Using finite samples of the uncertainty, we formulate the problem as a mixed-integer linear program, and propose a two-stage … Read more
Our paper consists of two main parts. In the first one, we deal with the deterministic problem of minimizing a real valued function $f$ over the Pareto set associated with a deterministic convex bi-objective optimization problem (BOP), in the particular case where $f$ depends on the objectives of (BOP), i.e. we optimize over the Pareto … Read more
Abstract The question of how to incorporate curvature information in stochastic approximation methods is challenging. The direct application of classical quasi- Newton updating techniques for deterministic optimization leads to noisy curvature estimates that have harmful effects on the robustness of the iteration. In this paper, we propose a stochastic quasi-Newton method that is efficient, robust … Read more
Stochastic Programming (SP) has long been considered as a well-justified yet computationally challenging paradigm for practical applications. Computational studies in the literature often involve approximating a large number of scenarios by using a small number of scenarios to be processed via deterministic solvers, or running Sample Average Approximation on some genre of high performance machines … Read more
Conditional value at risk (CVaR) has been widely used as a risk measure in finance. When the confidence level of CVaR is set close to 1, the CVaR risk measure approximates the extreme (worst scenario) risk measure. In this paper, we present a quantitative analysis of the relationship between the two risk measures and its … Read more
We study the problem of integrated staffing and scheduling under demand uncertainty. The problem is formulated as a two-stage stochastic integer program with mixed-integer recourse. The here-and-now decision is to find initial staffing levels and schedules, well ahead in time. The wait-and-see decision is to adjust these schedules at a time epoch closer to the … Read more