On Calmness of the Argmin Mapping in Parametric Optimization Problems

Recently, Canovas et. al. (2013) presented an interesting result: the argmin mapping of a linear semi-infinite program under canonical perturbations is calm if and only if some associated linear semi-infinite inequality system is calm. Using classical tools from parametric optimization, we show that the if-direction of this condition holds in a much more general framework … Read more

Problem Formulations for Simulation-based Design Optimization using Statistical Surrogates and Direct Search

Typical challenges of simulation-based design optimization include unavailable gradients and unreliable approximations thereof, expensive function evaluations, numerical noise, multiple local optima and the failure of the analysis to return a value to the optimizer. One possible remedy to alleviate these issues is to use surrogate models in lieu of the computational models or simulations and … Read more

Applying oracles of on-demand accuracy in two-stage stochastic programming – a computational study

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

Reclaimer Scheduling: Complexity and Algorithms

We study a number of variants of an abstract scheduling problem inspired by the scheduling of reclaimers in the stockyard of a coal export terminal. We analyze the complexity of each of the variants, providing complexity proofs for some and polynomial algorithms for others. For one, especially interesting variant, we also develop a constant factor … Read more

Superlinearly convergent smoothing Newton continuation algorithms for variational inequalities over definable sets

In this paper, we use the concept of barrier-based smoothing approximations introduced by Chua and Li to extend various smoothing Newton continuation algorithms to variational inequalities over general closed convex sets X. We prove that when the underlying barrier has a gradient map that is definable in some o-minimal structure, the iterates generated converge superlinearly … Read more

Decomposition Algorithm for Optimizing Multi-server Appointment Scheduling with Chance Constraints

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

Joint Variable Selection for Data Envelopment Analysis via Group Sparsity

This study develops a data-driven group variable selection method for data envelopment analysis (DEA), a non-parametric linear programming approach to the estimation of production frontiers. The proposed method extends the group Lasso (least absolute shrinkage and selection operator) designed for variable selection on (often predefined) groups of variables in linear regression models to DEA models. … Read more

Bound Improvement for LNG Inventory Routing

Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) is steadily becoming a common mode for commercializing natural gas. In this paper, we develop methods for improving both lower and upper bounds for a previously stated form of an LNG inventory routing problem. A Dantzig-Wolfe-based decomposition approach is developed for LNG inventory routing problem (LNG-IRP) attempting to overcome poor lower … Read more

An improved Kalai-Kleitman bound for the diameter of a polyhedron

Kalai and Kleitman established the bound $n^{\log(d) + 2}$ for the diameter of a $d$-dimensional polyhedron with $n$ facets. Here we improve the bound slightly to $(n-d)^{\log(d)}$. CitationSchool of Operations Research and Information Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca NY, USA, February 2014ArticleDownload View PDF

An Accelerated Linearized Alternating Direction Method of Multipliers

We present a novel framework, namely AADMM, for acceleration of linearized alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM). The basic idea of AADMM is to incorporate a multi-step acceleration scheme into linearized ADMM. We demonstrate that for solving a class of convex composite optimization with linear constraints, the rate of convergence of AADMM is better than … Read more