Entropic approximation for mathematical programs with robust equilibrium constraints

In this paper, we consider a class of mathematical programs with robust equilibrium constraints represented by a system of semi-infinite complementarity constraints (SIC C). We propose a numerical scheme for tackling SICC. Specific ally, by relaxing the complementarity constraints and then randomizing the index set of SICC, we employ the well-known entropic risk measure to approximate the semi-infinite onstraints with a finite number of stochastic inequality constraints. Under some moderate conditions, we quantify the approximation in term s of the feasible set and the optimal value. The approximation scheme is then applied to a class of two stage stochastic mathematical programs with complementarity constraints in combination with the polynomial decision rules. Finally, we extend the discussion to a mathematical program with distributionally robust equilibrium constraints which is essentially a one stage stochastic program with semi-infinite stochastic constraints indexed by some probability measures from an ambiguity set defined through the KL-divergence

International Conference on Continuous Optimization (ICCOPT) 2019 Conference Book

The Sixth International Conference on Continuous Optimization took place on the campus of the Technical University of Berlin, August 3-8, 2019. The ICCOPT is a flagship conference of the Mathematical Optimization Society (MOS), organized every three years. ICCOPT 2019 was hosted by the Weierstrass Institute for Applied Analysis and Stochastics (WIAS) Berlin. It included a Summer School and a Conference with a series of plenary and semi-plenary talks, organized and contributed sessions, and poster sessions. This book comprises the full conference program. It contains, in particular, the scientific program in survey style as well as with all details, and information on the social program, the venue, special meetings, and more

A distributionally robust index tracking model with the CVaR penalty: tractable reformulation

We propose a distributionally robust index tracking model with the conditional value-at-risk (CVaR) penalty. The model combines the idea of distributionally robust optimization for data uncertainty and the CVaR penalty to avoid large tracking errors. The probability ambiguity is described through a confidence region based on the first-order and second-order moments of the random vector involved. We reformulate the model in the form of a min-max-min optimization into an equivalent nonsmooth minimization problem. We further give an approximate discretization scheme of the possible continuous random vector of the nonsmooth minimization problem, whose objective function involves the maximum of numerous but finite nonsmooth functions. The convergence of the discretization scheme to the equivalent nonsmooth reformulation is shown under mild conditions. A smoothing projected gradient (SPG) method is employed to solve the discretization scheme. Any accumulation point is shown to be a global minimizer of the discretization scheme. Numerical results on the NASDAQ index dataset from January 2008 to July 2023 demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed model and the efficiency of the SPG method, compared with several state-of-the-art models and corresponding methods for solving them

Problem-driven scenario generation: an analytical approach for stochastic programs with tail risk measure

Scenario generation is the construction of a discrete random vector to represent parameters of uncertain values in a stochastic program. Most approaches to scenario generation are distribution-driven, that is, they attempt to construct a random vector which captures well in a probabilistic sense the uncertainty. On the other hand, a problem-driven approach may be able to exploit the structure of a problem to provide a more concise representation of the uncertainty. In this paper we propose an analytic approach to problem-driven scenario generation. This approach applies to stochastic programs where a tail risk measure, such as conditional value-at-risk, is applied to a loss function. Since tail risk measures only depend on the upper tail of a distribution, standard methods of scenario generation, which typically spread their scenarios evenly across the support of the random vector, struggle to adequately represent tail risk. Our scenario generation approach works by targeting the construction of scenarios in areas of the distribution corresponding to the tails of the loss distributions. We provide conditions under which our approach is consistent with sampling, and as proof-of-concept demonstrate how our approach could be applied to two classes of problem, namely network design and portfolio selection. Numerical tests on the portfolio selection problem demonstrate that our approach yields better and more stable solutions compared to standard Monte Carlo sampling

A distributionally robust joint chance constrained optimization model for the dynamic network design problem under demand uncertainty

This paper develops a distributionally robust joint chance constrained optimization model for a dynamic network design problem (NDP) under demand uncertainty. The major contribution of this paper is to propose an approach to approximate a joint chance-constrained Cell Transmission Model (CTM) based System Optimal Dynamic Network Design Problem with only partial distributional information of uncertain demand. The proposed approximation is tighter than two popular benchmark approximations, namely the Bonferroni’s inequality and second-order cone programming (SOCP) approximations. The resultant formulation is a semidefinite program which is computationally efficient. A numerical experiment is conducted to demonstrate that the proposed approximation approach is superior to the other two approximation approaches in terms of solution quality. The proposed approximation approach may provide useful insights and have broader applicability in traffic management and traffic planning problems under uncertainty.postprin

Distributionally Robust Optimization: A Review

The concepts of risk-aversion, chance-constrained optimization, and robust optimization have developed significantly over the last decade. Statistical learning community has also witnessed a rapid theoretical and applied growth by relying on these concepts. A modeling framework, called distributionally robust optimization (DRO), has recently received significant attention in both the operations research and statistical learning communities. This paper surveys main concepts and contributions to DRO, and its relationships with robust optimization, risk-aversion, chance-constrained optimization, and function regularization

Robust unit commitment with n - 1 security criteria

The short-term unit commitment and reserve scheduling decisions are made in the face of increasing supply-side uncertainty in power systems. This has mainly been caused by a higher penetration of renewable energy generation that is encouraged and enforced by the market and policy makers. In this paper, we propose a two-stage stochastic and distributionally robust modeling framework for the unit commitment problem with supply uncertainty. Based on the availability of the information on the distribution of the random supply, we consider two specific models: (a) a moment model where the mean values of the random supply variables are known, and (b) a mixture distribution model where the true probability distribution lies within the convex hull of a finite set of known distributions. In each case, we reformulate these models through Lagrange dualization as a semi-infinite program in the former case and a one-stage stochastic program in the latter case. We solve the reformulated models using sampling method and sample average approximation, respectively. We also establish exponential rate of convergence of the optimal value when the randomization scheme is applied to discretize the semi-infinite constraints. The proposed robust unit commitment models are applied to an illustrative case study, and numerical test results are reported in comparison with the two-stage non-robust stochastic programming model