On semidefinite programming relaxations of the traveling salesman problem

We consider a new semidefinite programming (SDP) relaxation of the symmetric traveling salesman problem (TSP), obtained via an SDP relaxation of the more general quadratic assignment problem (QAP). We show that the new relaxation dominates the one in the paper: [D. Cvetkovic, M. Cangalovic and V. Kovacevic-Vucic. Semidefinite Programming Methods for the Symmetric Traveling Salesman … Read more

A Log-Robust Optimization Approach to Portfolio Management

In this paper we present a robust optimization approach to portfolio management under uncertainty that (i) builds upon the well-established Lognormal model for stock prices while addressing its limitations, and (ii) incorporates the imperfect knowledge on the true distribution of the continuously compounded rates of return, i.e., the increments of the logarithm of the stock … Read more

Fischer-Burmeister Complementarity Function on Euclidean Jordan Algebras

Recently, Gowda et al. [10] established the Fischer-Burmeister (FB) complementarity function (C-function) on Euclidean Jordan algebras. In this paper, we prove that FB C-function as well as the derivatives of the squared norm of FB C-function are Lipschitz continuous. CitationResearch Report CORR 2007-17, Department of Combinatorics and Optimization, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, November … Read more

Approximation Algorithms for Linear Fractional-Multiplicative Problems

In this paper we propose a Fully Polynomial Time Approximation Scheme (FPTAS) for a class of optimization problems where the feasible region is a polyhedral one and the objective function is the sum or product of linear ratio functions. The class includes the well known ones of Linear (Sum-of-Ratios) Fractional Programming and Multiplicative Programming. ArticleDownload … Read more

A Level-Value Estimation Algorithm and Its Stochastic Implementation for Global Optimization

In this paper, we propose a new method for finding global optimum of continuous optimization problems, namely Level-Value Estimation algorithm(LVEM). First we define the variance function v(c) and the mean deviation function m(c) with respect to a single variable (the level value c), and both of these functions depend on the optimized function f(x). We … Read more

LANCELOt_simple, a simple interface to LANCELOT B

We describe LANCELOT_simple, an interface to the LANCELOT B nonlinear optimization package within the GALAHAD} library (Gould, Orban, Toint, 2003) which ignores problem structure. The result is an easy-to-use Fortran 90 subroutine, with a small number of intuitively interpretable arguments. However, since structure is ignored, the means of presenting problems to the solver limited and … Read more

Intensity based Three-Dimensional Reconstruction with Nonlinear Optimization

New images of a three-dimensional scene can be generated from known image sequences using lightfields. To get high quality images, it is important to have accurate information about the structure of the scene. In order to optimize this information, we define a residual-function. This function represents the difference between an image, rendered in a known … Read more

Polymatroids and Mean-Risk Minimization in Discrete Optimization

In financial markets high levels of risk are associated with large returns as well as large losses, whereas with lower levels of risk, the potential for either return or loss is small. Therefore, risk management is fundamentally concerned with finding an optimal trade-off between risk and return matching an investor’s risk tolerance. Managing risk is … Read more

On Adaptive Multicut Aggregation for Two-Stage Stochastic Linear Programs with Recourse

Outer linearization methods for two-stage stochastic linear programs with recourse, such as the L-shaped algorithm,generally apply a single optimality cut on the nonlinear objective at each major iteration, while the multicut version of the algorithm allows for several cuts to be placed at once. In general, the L-shaped algorithm tends to have more major iterations … Read more

Robust Efficient Frontier Analysis with a Separable Uncertainty Model

Mean-variance (MV) analysis is often sensitive to model mis-specification or uncertainty, meaning that the MV efficient portfolios constructed with an estimate of the model parameters (i.e., the expected return vector and covariance of asset returns) can give very poor performance for another set of parameters that is similar and statistically hard to distinguish from the … Read more