Risk Adjusted Budget Allocation Models with Application in Homeland Security

This paper presents and studies several models for multi-criterion budget allocation problems under uncertainty. We start by introducing a robust weighted objective model, which is developed further using the concept of stochastic dominance to incorporate risk averseness of the decision maker. A budget minimization variant of this model is also presented. We use a Sample … Read more

Prediction Range Estimation from Noisy Raman Spectra

Inferences need to be drawn in biological systems using experimental multivariate data. The number of samples collected in many such experiments is small, and the data is noisy. We present and study the performance of a robust optimization (RO) model for such situations. We adapt this model to generate a minimum and a maximum estimation … Read more

Nonconvex Robust Optimization

We propose a novel robust optimization technique, which is applicable to nonconvex and simulation-based problems. Robust optimization finds decisions with the best worst-case performance under uncertainty. If constraints are present, decisions should also be feasible under perturbations. In the real-world, many problems are nonconvex and involve computer-based simulations. In these applications, the relationship between decision … Read more

Two-Stage Robust Unit Commitment Problem

As an energy market transforms from a regulated market to a deregulated one, the demands for a power plant are highly uncertain. In this paper, we study a two-stage robust optimization formulation and provide a tractable solution approach for the problem. The computational experiments show the effectiveness of our approach. ArticleDownload View PDF

Robust Software Partitioning with Multiple Instantiation

The purpose of software partitioning is to assign code segments of a given computer program to a range of execution locations such as general purpose processors or specialist hardware components. These execution locations differ in speed, communication characteristics, and in size. In particular, hardware components offering high speed tend to accommodate only few code segments. … Read more

On the Power of Robust Solutions in Two-Stage Stochastic and Adaptive Optimization Problems

We consider a two-stage mixed integer stochastic optimization problem and show that a static robust solution is a good approximation to the fully-adaptable two-stage solution for the stochastic problem under fairly general assumptions on the uncertainty set and the probability distribution. In particular, we show that if the right hand side of the constraints is … Read more

Worst-Case Value-at-Risk of Non-Linear Portfolios

Portfolio optimization problems involving Value-at-Risk (VaR) are often computationally intractable and require complete information about the return distribution of the portfolio constituents, which is rarely available in practice. These difficulties are compounded when the portfolio contains derivatives. We develop two tractable conservative approximations for the VaR of a derivative portfolio by evaluating the worst-case VaR … Read more

Robust Optimization Made Easy with ROME

We introduce an algebraic modeling language, named ROME, for a class of robust optimization problems. ROME serves as an intermediate layer between the modeler and optimization solver engines, allowing modelers to express robust optimization problems in a mathematically meaningful way. In this paper, we highlight key features of ROME which expediates the modeling and subsequent … Read more

Distributionally Robust Optimization and its Tractable Approximations

In this paper, we focus on a linear optimization problem with uncertainties, having expectations in the objective and in the set of constraints. We present a modular framework to obtain an approximate solution to the problem that is distributionally robust, and more flexible than the standard technique of using linear rules. Our framework begins by … Read more

Robust Linear Optimization With Recourse

We propose an approach to linear optimization with recourse that does not involve a probabilistic description of the uncertainty, and allows the decision-maker to adjust the degree of robustness of the model while preserving its linear properties. We model random variables as uncertain parameters belonging to a polyhedral uncertainty set and minimize the sum of … Read more