A Comparative Study of Large-Scale Nonlinear Optimization Algorithms

In recent years, much work has been done on implementing a variety of algorithms in nonlinear programming software. In this paper, we analyze the performance of several state-of-the-art optimization codes on large-scale nonlinear optimization problems. Extensive numerical results are presented on different classes of problems, and features of each code that make it efficient or … Read more

Power transmission network design by a greedy randomized adaptive path relinking approach

This paper illustrates results obtained by a new metaheuristic approach, Greedy Randomized Adaptive Path Relinking, applied to solve static power transmission network design problems. This new approach consists of a generalization of GRASP concepts to explore different trajectories between two Citation AT&T Labs Research Report, December 2001 Submitted to PSCC’02. Article Download View Power transmission … Read more

New Versions of Interior Point Methods Applied to the Optimal Power Flow Problem

Interior Point methods for Nonlinear Programming have been extensively used to solve the Optimal Power Flow problem. These optimization algorithms require the solution of a set of nonlinear equations to obtain the optimal solution of the power network equations. During the iterative process to solve these equations, the search for the optimum is based on … Read more

Smoothing Method of Multipliers for Sum-Max Problems

We study nonsmooth unconstrained optimization problem, which includes sum of pairwise maxima of smooth functions. Minimum $l_1$-norm approximation is a particular case of this problem. Combining ideas Lagrange multipliers with smooth approximation of max-type function, we obtain a new kind of nonquadratic augmented Lagrangian. Our approach does not require artificial variables, and preserves sparse structure … Read more

Disruption Management – Operations Research between planning and execution

For a large number of applications Operations Research has a proven track record: it can deliver high quality solutions for planning problems. Important examples can be found in the airline industry, logistics and production management. This report will describe real-world examples of a novel way of applying Operations Research: As plans have to be adjusted … Read more

Using Heuristics to Solve the Dedicated Aircraft Recovery Problem

The Dedicated Aircraft Recovery Problem (DARP) involves decisions concerning aircraft to flight assignments in situations where unforeseen events have disrupted the existing flight schedule, e.g. bad weather causing flight delays. The dedicated aircraft recovery problem aims to recover these flight schedules through a series of reassignments of aircraft to flights, delaying of flights and cancellations … Read more

Pivot, Cut, and Dive: A Heuristic for 0-1 Mixed Integer Programming

We present a heuristic method for general 0-1 mixed integer programming, intended for eventual incorporation into parallel branch-and-bound methods for solving such problems exactly. The core of the heuristic is a rounding method based on simplex pivots, employing only gradient information, for a strictly concave, differentiable merit function measuring integer feasibility. When local minima of … Read more

Lagrangean Duality Applied on Vehicle Routing with Time Windows

This paper presents the results of the application of a non-differentiable optimization method in connection with the Vehicle Routing Problem with Time Windows (VRPTW). The VRPTW is an extension of the Vehicle Routing Problem. In the VRPTW the service at each customer must start within an associated time window. The Shortest Path decomposition of the … Read more

Products of positive forms, linear matrix inequalities, and Hilbert 17-th problem for ternary forms

A form p on R^n (homogeneous n-variate polynomial) is called positive semidefinite (psd) if it is nonnegative on R^n. In other words, the zero vector is a global minimizer of p in this case. The famous 17th conjecture of Hilbert (later proven by Artin) is that a form p is psd if and only if … Read more

User’s Guide for SeDuMi Interface 1.01

A user-friendly free Matlab package for defining Linear Matrix Inequality (LMI) problems. It acts as an interface for the Self-Dual-Minimisation package SeDuMi developed by Jos F. Sturm. The functionalities of SeDuMi Interface are the following: (1) Declare an LMI problem. Five Matlab functions allow to define completely an LMI problem which can be characterised by … Read more