Continuous Equality Knapsack with Probit-Style Objectives

We study continuous, equality knapsack problems with uniform separable, non-convex objective functions that are continuous, strictly increasing, antisymmetric about a point, and have concave and convex regions. For example, this model captures a simple allocation problem with the goal of optimizing an expected value where the objective is a sum of cumulative distribution functions of … Read more

A Unified Framework for Symmetry Handling

Handling symmetries in optimization problems is essential for devising efficient solution methods. In this article, we present a general framework that captures many of the already existing symmetry handling methods. While these methods are mostly discussed independently from each other, our framework allows to apply different methods simultaneously and thus outperforming their individual effect. Moreover, … Read more

Comparing league formats from a business oriented view: the case of Argentina’s National Basketball League

During the last decades, the use of advanced optimization algorithms to generate sports timetables has caught the attention of both academics and practitioners. From a managerial standpoint, the competition’s structure and the design of the league’s schedule represent key strategic decisions with a direct impact in terms of revenue and other important indicators. Argentina’s National … Read more

Enhancements of Discretization Approaches for Non-Convex Mixed-Integer Quadratically Constraint Quadratic Programming: Part I

We study mixed-integer programming (MIP) relaxation techniques for the solution of non-convex mixed-integer quadratically constrained quadratic programs (MIQCQPs). We present MIP relaxation methods for non-convex continuous variable products. In Part I, we consider MIP relaxations based on separable reformulation. The main focus is the introduction of the enhanced separable MIP relaxation for non-convex quadratic products … Read more

Integer Programming Models for Round Robin Tournaments

Round robin tournaments are omnipresent in sport competitions and beyond. We propose two new integer programming formulations for scheduling a round robin tournament, one of which we call the matching formulation. We analytically compare their linear relaxations with the linear relaxation of a well-known traditional formulation. We find that the matching formulation is stronger than … Read more

Continuity of the conic hull

In a real Hilbert space V, the conic hull of G is the set cone(G) consisting of all nonnegative linear combinations of elements of G. Many optimization problems are sensitive to the changes in cone(G) that result from changes in G itself. Motivated by one such problem, we derive necessary and sufficient conditions for the … Read more

The Largest Unsolved QAP Instance Tai256c Can Be Converted into A 256-dimensional Simple BQOP with A Single Cardinality Constraint

Tai256c is the largest unsolved quadratic assignment problem (QAP) instance in QAPLIB; a 1.48\% gap remains between the best known feasible objective value and lower bound of the unknown optimal value. This paper shows that the instance can be converted into a 256 dimensional binary quadratic optimization problem (BQOP) with a single cardinality constraint which … Read more

Improving reliability with optimal allocation of maintenance resources: an application to power distribution networks

Power distribution networks should strive for reliable delivery of energy. In this paper, we support this endeavor by addressing the Maintenance Resources Allocation Problem (MRAP). This problem consists of scheduling preventive maintenance plans on the equipment of distribution networks for a planning horizon, seeking the best trade-offs between system reliability and maintenance budgets. We propose … Read more

On the Exactness of Dantzig-Wolfe Relaxation for Rank Constrained Optimization Problems

In the rank-constrained optimization problem (RCOP), it minimizes a linear objective function over a prespecified closed rank-constrained domain set and $m$ generic two-sided linear matrix inequalities. Motivated by the Dantzig-Wolfe (DW) decomposition, a popular approach of solving many nonconvex optimization problems, we investigate the strength of DW relaxation (DWR) of the RCOP, which admits the … Read more

Finding Groups with Maximum Betweenness Centrality via Integer Programming with Random Path Sampling

One popular approach to access the importance/influence of a group of nodes in a network is based on the notion of centrality. For a given group, its group betweenness centrality is computed, first, by evaluating a ratio of shortest paths between each node pair in a network that are “covered” by at least one node … Read more