A simple branching scheme for Vertex Coloring Problems

We present a branching scheme for some Vertex Coloring Problems based on a new graph operator called extension. The extension operator is used to generalize the branching scheme proposed by Zykov for the basic problem to a broad class of coloring problems, such as the graph multicoloring, where each vertex requires a multiplicity of colors, … Read more

PARNES: A rapidly convergent algorithm for accurate recovery of sparse and approximately sparse signals

In this article we propose an algorithm, NESTA-LASSO, for the LASSO problem (i.e., an underdetermined linear least-squares problem with a one-norm constraint on the solution) that exhibits linear convergence under the restricted isometry property (RIP) and some other reasonable assumptions. Inspired by the state-of-the-art sparse recovery method, NESTA, we rely on an accelerated proximal gradient … Read more

Sparse and Low-Rank Matrix Decomposition Via Alternating Direction Methods

The problem of recovering the sparse and low-rank components of a matrix captures a broad spectrum of applications. Authors in [4] proposed the concept of “rank-sparsity incoherence” to characterize the fundamental identifiability of the recovery, and derived practical sufficient conditions to ensure the high possibility of recovery. This exact recovery is achieved via solving a … Read more

Multi-Objective Stochastic Linear Programming with General form of Distributions

Probabilistic or Stochastic programming is a framework for modeling optimization problems that involve uncertainty. The basic idea used in solving stochastic optimization problems has so far been to convert a stochastic model into an equivalent deterministic model and is possible when the right hand side resource vector follows some specific distributions such as normal, lognormal … Read more

Second-Order Cone Relaxations for Binary Quadratic Polynomial Programs

Several types of relaxations for binary quadratic polynomial programs can be obtained using linear, second-order cone, or semidefinite techniques. In this paper, we propose a general framework to construct conic relaxations for binary quadratic polynomial programs based on polynomial programming. Using our framework, we re-derive previous relaxation schemes and provide new ones. In particular, we … Read more

Mixed Integer NonLinear Programs featuring “On/Off ” constraints: convex analysis and applications

We call ”on/off” constraint an algebraic constraint that is activated if and only if a corresponding boolean variable is turned ”on” or equal to 1. Our main subject of interest is to derive tight convex formulations of Mixed Integer NonLinear Programs (MINLPs) featuring ”on/off” constraints. We study the simple set defined by one ”on/off” constraint … Read more

The positive semidefinite Grothendieck problem with rank constraint

Given a positive integer n and a positive semidefinite matrix A = (A_{ij}) of size m x m, the positive semidefinite Grothendieck problem with rank-n-constraint is (SDP_n) maximize \sum_{i=1}^m \sum_{j=1}^m A_{ij} x_i \cdot x_j, where x_1, …, x_m \in S^{n-1}. In this paper we design a polynomial time approximation algorithm for SDP_n achieving an approximation … Read more

Exact Penalty Functions for Nonlinear Integer Programming Problems

In this work, we study exact continuous reformulations of nonlinear integer programming problems. To this aim, we preliminarily state conditions to guarantee the equivalence between pairs of general nonlinear problems. Then, we prove that optimal solutions of a nonlinear integer programming problem can be obtained by using various exact penalty formulations of the original problem … Read more

On the nonexistence of sum of squares certificates for the BMV conjecture

The algebraic reformulation of the BMV conjecture is equivalent to a family of dimensionfree tracial inequalities involving positive semidefinite matrices. Sufficient conditions for these to hold in the form of algebraic identities involving polynomials in noncommuting variables have been given by Markus Schweighofer and the second author. Later the existence of these certificates has been … Read more