Probabilistic programming with discrete distributions and precedence constrained knapsack polyhedra

 We consider stochastic programming problems with probabilistic constraints involving random variables with discrete distributions. They can be reformulated as large scale mixed integer programming problems with knapsack constraints. Using specific properties of stochastic programming problems and bounds on the probability of the union of events we develop new valid inequalities for these mixed integer programming problems. We also develop methods for lifting these inequalities. These procedures are used in a general iterative algorithm for solving probabilistically constrained problems. The results are illustrated with a numerical example. Received: October 8, 2000 / Accepted: August 13, 2002 Published online: September 27, 2002 Key words. stochastic programming – integer programming – valid inequalities     

Lifting for conic mixed-integer programming

Lifting is a procedure for deriving valid inequalities for mixed-integer sets from valid inequalities for suitable restrictions of those sets. Lifting has been shown to be very effective in developing strong valid inequalities for linear integer programming and it has been successfully used to solve such problems with branch-and-cut algorithms. Here we generalize the theory of lifting to conic integer programming, i.e., integer programs with conic constraints. We show how to derive conic valid inequalities for a conic integer program from conic inequalities valid for its lower-dimensional restrictions. In order to simplify the computations, we also discuss sequence-independent lifting for conic integer programs. When the cones are restricted to nonnegative orthants, conic lifting reduces to the lifting for linear integer programming as one may expect.     

Lifting inequalities: a framework for generating strong cuts for nonlinear programs

In this paper, we introduce the first generic lifting techniques for deriving strong globally valid cuts for nonlinear programs. The theory is geometric and provides insights into lifting-based cut generation procedures, yielding short proofs of earlier results in mixed-integer programming. Using convex extensions, we obtain conditions that allow for sequence-independent lifting in nonlinear settings, paving a way for efficient cut-generation procedures for nonlinear programs. This sequence-independent lifting framework also subsumes the superadditive lifting theory that has been used to generate many general-purpose, strong cuts for integer programs. We specialize our lifting results to derive facet-defining inequalities for mixed-integer bilinear knapsack sets. Finally, we demonstrate the strength of nonlinear lifting by showing that these inequalities cannot be obtained using a single round of traditional integer programming cut-generation techniques applied on a tight reformulation of the problem.      

Strong valid inequalities for fluence map optimization problem under dose-volume restrictions

Fluence map optimization problems are commonly solved in intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) planning. We show that, when subject to dose-volume restrictions, these problems are NP-hard and that the linear programming relaxation of their natural mixed integer programming formulation can be arbitrarily weak. We then derive strong valid inequalities for fluence map optimization problems under dose-volume restrictions using disjunctive programming theory and show that strengthening mixed integer programming formulations with these valid inequalities has significant computational benefits.     

A time indexed formulation of non-preemptive single machine scheduling problems

We consider the formulation of non-preemptive single machine scheduling problems using time-indexed variables. This approach leads to very large models, but gives better lower bounds than other mixed integer programming formulations. We derive a variety of valid inequalities, and show the role of constraint aggregation and the knapsack problem with generalised upper bound constraints as a way of generating such inequalities. A cutting plane/branch-and-bound algorithm based on these inequalities has been implemented. Computational experience on small problems with 20/30 jobs and various constraints and objective functions is presented.The research of this author was partially supported by JNICT/INVOTAN under grant No. 30/A/85/PO and by the PAC, contract No. 87/92-106, for computation.     

Flow-based formulations for operational fixed interval scheduling problems with random delays

We deal with operational fixed interval scheduling problem with random delays in job processing times. We formulate two stochastic programming problems. In the first problem with a probabilistic objective, all jobs are processed on available machines and the goal is to obtain a schedule with the highest attainable reliability. The second problem is to select a subset of jobs with the highest reward under a chance constraint ensuring feasibility of the schedule with a prescribed probability. We assume that the multivariate distribution of delays follows an Archimedean copula, whereas there are no restrictions on marginal distributions. We introduce new deterministic integer linear reformulations based on flow problems. We compare the formulations with the extended robust coloring problem, which was shown to be a deterministic equivalent to the stochastic programming problem with probabilistic objective by Branda et al. (Comput Ind Eng 93:45–54, 2016). In the numerical study, we report average computational times necessary to solve a large number of simulated instances. It turns out that the new flow-based formulation helps to solve the FIS problems considerably faster than the other one.     

Valid inequalities for separable concave constraints with indicator variables

We study valid inequalities for optimization models that contain both binary indicator variables and separable concave constraints. These models reduce to a mixed-integer linear program (MILP) when the concave constraints are ignored, or to a nonconvex global optimization problem when the binary restrictions are ignored. In algorithms designed to solve these problems to global optimality, cutting planes to strengthen the relaxation are traditionally obtained using valid inequalities for the MILP only. We propose a technique to obtain valid inequalities that are based on both the MILP constraints and the concave constraints. We begin by characterizing the convex hull of a four-dimensional set consisting of a single binary indicator variable, a single concave constraint, and two linear inequalities. Using this analysis, we demonstrate how valid inequalities for the single node flow set and for the lot-sizing polyhedron can be “tilted” to give valid inequalities that also account for separable concave functions of the arc flows. We present computational results demonstrating the utility of the new inequalities for nonlinear transportation problems and for lot-sizing problems with concave costs. To our knowledge, this is one of the first works that simultaneously convexifies both nonconvex functions and binary variables to strengthen the relaxations of practical mixed-integer nonlinear programs.     

On discrete lot-sizing and scheduling on identical parallel machines

We consider the multi-item discrete lot-sizing and scheduling problem on identical parallel machines. Based on the fact that the machines are identical, we introduce aggregate integer variables instead of individual variables for each machine. For the problem with start-up costs, we show that the inequalities based on a unit flow formulation for each machine can be replaced by a single integer flow formulation without any change in the resulting LP bound. For the resulting integer lot-sizing with start-ups subproblem, we show how inequalities for the unit demand case can be generalized and how an approximate version of the extended formulation of Eppen and Martin can be constructed. The results of some computational experiments carried out to compare the effectiveness of the various mixed-integer programming formulations are presented.     

On mixing sets arising in chance-constrained programming

The mixing set with a knapsack constraint arises in deterministic equivalent of chance-constrained programming problems with finite discrete distributions. We first consider the case that the chance-constrained program has equal probabilities for each scenario. We study the resulting mixing set with a cardinality constraint and propose facet-defining inequalities that subsume known explicit inequalities for this set. We extend these inequalities to obtain valid inequalities for the mixing set with a knapsack constraint. In addition, we propose a compact extended reformulation (with polynomial number of variables and constraints) that characterizes a linear programming equivalent of a single chance constraint with equal scenario probabilities. We introduce a blending procedure to find valid inequalities for intersection of multiple mixing sets. We propose a polynomial-size extended formulation for the intersection of multiple mixing sets with a knapsack constraint that is stronger than the original mixing formulation. We also give a compact extended linear program for the intersection of multiple mixing sets and a cardinality constraint for a special case. We illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed inequalities in our computational experiments with probabilistic lot-sizing problems.     

Branch-and-cut approaches for chance-constrained formulations of reliable network design problems

We study solution approaches for the design of reliably connected networks. Specifically, given a network with arcs that may fail at random, the goal is to select a minimum cost subset of arcs such the probability that a connectivity requirement is satisfied is at least $1 - \epsilon $ , where $\epsilon $ is a risk tolerance. We consider two types of connectivity requirements. We first study the problem of requiring an $s$ - $t$ path to exist with high probability in a directed graph. Then we consider undirected graphs, where we require the graph to be fully connected with high probability. We model each problem as a stochastic integer program with a joint chance constraint, and present two formulations that can be solved by a branch-and-cut algorithm. The first formulation uses binary variables to represent whether or not the connectivity requirement is satisfied in each scenario of arc failures and is based on inequalities derived from graph cuts in individual scenarios. We derive additional valid inequalities for this formulation and study their facet-inducing properties. The second formulation is based on probabilistic graph cuts, an extension of graph cuts to graphs with random arc failures. Inequalities corresponding to probabilistic graph cuts are sufficient to define the set of feasible solutions and violated inequalities in this class can be found efficiently at integer solutions, allowing this formulation to be solved by a branch-and-cut algorithm. Computational results demonstrate that the approaches can effectively solve instances on large graphs with many failure scenarios. In addition, we demonstrate that, by varying the risk tolerance, our model yields a rich set of solutions on the efficient frontier of cost and reliability.     

Concavity and efficient points of discrete distributions in probabilistic programming

We consider stochastic programming problems with probabilistic constraints involving integer-valued random variables. The concept of a p-efficient point of a probability distribution is used to derive various equivalent problem formulations. Next we introduce the concept of r-concave discrete probability distributions and analyse its relevance for problems under consideration. These notions are used to derive lower and upper bounds for the optimal value of probabilistically constrained stochastic programming problems with discrete random variables. The results are illustrated with numerical examples. Received: October 1998 / Accepted: June 2000?Published online October 18, 2000     

The mixed vertex packing problem

We study a generalization of the vertex packing problem having both binary and bounded continuous variables, called the mixed vertex packing problem (MVPP). The well-known vertex packing model arises as a subproblem or relaxation of many 0-1 integer problems, whereas the mixed vertex packing model arises as a natural counterpart of vertex packing in the context of mixed 0-1 integer programming. We describe strong valid inequalities for the convex hull of solutions to the MVPP and separation algorithms for these inequalities. We give a summary of computational results with a branch-and-cut algorithm for solving the MVPP and using it to solve general mixed-integer problems. Received: June 1998 / Accepted: February 2000?Published online September 20, 2000     

A note on second-order stochastic dominance constraints induced by mixed-integer linear recourse

We introduce stochastic integer programs with second-order dominance constraints induced by mixed-integer linear recourse. Closedness of the constraint set mapping with respect to perturbations of the underlying probability measure is derived. For discrete probability measures, large-scale, block-structured, mixed- integer linear programming equivalents to the dominance constrained stochastic programs are identified. For these models, a decomposition algorithm is proposed and tested with instances from power optimization.     

A polyhedral study of the cardinality constrained knapsack problem

 A cardinality constrained knapsack problem is a continuous knapsack problem in which no more than a specified number of nonnegative variables are allowed to be positive. This structure occurs, for example, in areas such as finance, location, and scheduling. Traditionally, cardinality constraints are modeled by introducing auxiliary 0-1 variables and additional constraints that relate the continuous and the 0-1 variables. We use an alternative approach, in which we keep in the model only the continuous variables, and we enforce the cardinality constraint through a specialized branching scheme and the use of strong inequalities valid for the convex hull of the feasible set in the space of the continuous variables. To derive the valid inequalities, we extend the concepts of cover and cover inequality, commonly used in 0-1 programming, to this class of problems, and we show how cover inequalities can be lifted to derive facet-defining inequalities. We present three families of non-trivial facet-defining inequalities that are lifted cover inequalities. Finally, we report computational results that demonstrate the effectiveness of lifted cover inequalities and the superiority of the approach of not introducing auxiliary 0-1 variables over the traditional MIP approach for this class of problems. Received: March 13, 2003 Published online: April 10, 2003 Key Words. mixed-integer programming – knapsack problem – cardinality constrained programming – branch-and-cut     

Conic mixed-integer rounding cuts

A conic integer program is an integer programming problem with conic constraints. Many problems in finance, engineering, statistical learning, and probabilistic optimization are modeled using conic constraints. Here we study mixed-integer sets defined by second-order conic constraints. We introduce general-purpose cuts for conic mixed-integer programming based on polyhedral conic substructures of second-order conic sets. These cuts can be readily incorporated in branch-and-bound algorithms that solve either second-order conic programming or linear programming relaxations of conic integer programs at the nodes of the branch-and-bound tree. Central to our approach is a reformulation of the second-order conic constraints with polyhedral second-order conic constraints in a higher dimensional space. In this representation the cuts we develop are linear, even though they are nonlinear in the original space of variables. This feature leads to a computationally efficient implementation of nonlinear cuts for conic mixed-integer programming. The reformulation also allows the use of polyhedral methods for conic integer programming. We report computational results on solving unstructured second-order conic mixed-integer problems as well as mean–variance capital budgeting problems and least-squares estimation problems with binary inputs. Our computational experiments show that conic mixed-integer rounding cuts are very effective in reducing the integrality gap of continuous relaxations of conic mixed-integer programs and, hence, improving their solvability. This research has been supported, in part, by Grant # DMI0700203 from the National Science Foundation.     

Modelling either-or relations in integer programming

Logical relations occur frequently in integer programming problems and are modelled by introducing binary variables in association with linear expressions. Applications requiring constraints involving precedence, exclusion, implication and other conditions give rise to the logical relations OR and IMPLIES in the models. These relations will be considered in this paper from a modelling point of view and formulations investigated for situations where the logical variables link sets of integer variables. Valid inequalities (cuts) that can be added to a model will be developed for a number of the formulations and the computational benefits of these cuts will be considered from an experimental point of view by considering the performance of sets of problem instances. New formulations and combinations of older established formulations will be considered. It will be contended that tight formulations may not always be the most successful.     

An integer programming approach for linear programs with probabilistic constraints

Linear programs with joint probabilistic constraints (PCLP) are difficult to solve because the feasible region is not convex. We consider a special case of PCLP in which only the right-hand side is random and this random vector has a finite distribution. We give a mixed-integer programming formulation for this special case and study the relaxation corresponding to a single row of the probabilistic constraint. We obtain two strengthened formulations. As a byproduct of this analysis, we obtain new results for the previously studied mixing set, subject to an additional knapsack inequality. We present computational results which indicate that by using our strengthened formulations, instances that are considerably larger than have been considered before can be solved to optimality.     

Fenchel decomposition for stochastic mixed-integer programming

This paper introduces a new cutting plane method for two-stage stochastic mixed-integer programming (SMIP) called Fenchel decomposition (FD). FD uses a class of valid inequalities termed, FD cuts, which are derived based on Fenchel cutting planes from integer programming. First, we derive FD cuts based on both the first and second-stage variables, and devise an FD algorithm for SMIP and establish finite convergence for binary first-stage. Second, we derive FD cuts based on the second-stage variables only and use an idea from disjunctive programming to lift the cuts to the higher dimension space including the first-stage variables. We then devise an alternative algorithm (FD-L algorithm) based on the lifted FD cuts. Finally, we report on computational results based on several test instances from the literature involving the special structure of knapsack problems with nonnegative left-hand side coefficients. The results are promising and show that both algorithms can outperform a standard direct solver and a disjunctive decomposition algorithm on large-scale instances. Furthermore, the FD-L algorithm provides better performance than the FD algorithm in general. Since Fenchel cuts can be computationally expensive in general and are best suited for problems with special structure, both algorithms exploit the special structure of the test instances by reducing the size of the cut generation problems based on the number of nonzero components in the non-integer solution that needs to be cut off.     

Mixing mixed-integer inequalities

Mixed-integer rounding (MIR) inequalities play a central role in the development of strong cutting planes for mixed-integer programs. In this paper, we investigate how known MIR inequalities can be combined in order to generate new strong valid inequalities.?Given a mixed-integer region S and a collection of valid “base” mixed-integer inequalities, we develop a procedure for generating new valid inequalities for S. The starting point of our procedure is to consider the MIR inequalities related with the base inequalities. For any subset of these MIR inequalities, we generate two new inequalities by combining or “mixing” them. We show that the new inequalities are strong in the sense that they fully describe the convex hull of a special mixed-integer region associated with the base inequalities.?We discuss how the mixing procedure can be used to obtain new classes of strong valid inequalities for various mixed-integer programming problems. In particular, we present examples for production planning, capacitated facility location, capacitated network design, and multiple knapsack problems. We also present preliminary computational results using the mixing procedure to tighten the formulation of some difficult integer programs. Finally we study some extensions of this mixing procedure. Received: April 1998 / Accepted: January 2001?Published online April 12, 2001