Related papers: On the strength of recursive McCormick relaxations…
We consider the exact solution of problem $(QP)$ that consists in minimizing a quadratic function subject to quadratic constraints. Starting from the classical convex relaxation that uses the McCormick's envelopes, we introduce 12…
We efficiently treat bilinear forms in the context of global optimization, by applying McCormick convexification and by extending an approach of Saxena, Bonami and Lee for symmetric quadratic forms to bilinear forms. A key application of…
We consider the energy minimization problem for undirected graphical models, also known as MAP-inference problem for Markov random fields which is NP-hard in general. We propose a novel polynomial time algorithm to obtain a part of its…
Spectral Clustering as a relaxation of the normalized/ratio cut has become one of the standard graph-based clustering methods. Existing methods for the computation of multiple clusters, corresponding to a balanced $k$-cut of the graph, are…
Dual decomposition, and more generally Lagrangian relaxation, is a classical method for combinatorial optimization; it has recently been applied to several inference problems in natural language processing (NLP). This tutorial gives an…
We develop tractable convex relaxations for rank-constrained quadratic optimization problems over $n \times m$ matrices, a setting for which tractable relaxations are typically only available when the objective or constraints admit spectral…
In this paper, we present several new linearizations of a quadratic binary optimization problem (QBOP), primarily using the method of aggregations. Although aggregations were studied in the past in the context of solving system of…
Dynamic Programming (DP) provides standard algorithms to solve Markov Decision Processes. However, these algorithms generally do not optimize a scalar objective function. In this paper, we draw connections between DP and (constrained)…
Recent advances in the efficiency and robustness of algorithms solving convex quadratically constrained quadratic programming (QCQP) problems motivate developing techniques for creating convex quadratic relaxations that, although more…
Recently a new class of Monte Carlo methods, called Time Relaxed Monte Carlo (TRMC), designed for the simulation of the Boltzmann equation close to fluid regimes have been introduced. A generalized Wild sum expansion of the solution is at…
In this paper, we study a nonconvex continuous relaxation of MAP inference in discrete Markov random fields (MRFs). We show that for arbitrary MRFs, this relaxation is tight, and a discrete stationary point of it can be easily reached by a…
Semidefinite relaxations of polynomial optimization have become a central tool for addressing the non-convex optimization problems over non-commutative operators that are ubiquitous in quantum information theory and, more in general,…
Although many convex relaxations of clustering have been proposed in the past decade, current formulations remain restricted to spherical Gaussian or discriminative models and are susceptible to imbalanced clusters. To address these…
We develop an algorithmic theory of convex optimization over discrete sets. Using a combination of algebraic and geometric tools we are able to provide polynomial time algorithms for solving broad classes of convex combinatorial…
We study a mixed integer linear program with m integer variables and k non-negative continuous variables in the form of the relaxation of the corner polyhedron that was introduced by Andersen, Louveaux, Weismantel and Wolsey [Inequalities…
We present a technique for producing valid dual bounds for nonconvex quadratic optimization problems. The approach leverages an elegant piecewise linear approximation for univariate quadratic functions due to Yarotsky, formulating this…
This paper presents an algorithmic study of a class of covering mixed-integer linear programming problems which encompasses classic cover problems, including multidimensional knapsack, facility location and supplier selection problems. We…
Discrete optimization belongs to the set of $\mathcal{NP}$-hard problems, spanning fields such as mixed-integer programming and combinatorial optimization. A current standard approach to solving convex discrete optimization problems is the…
Many recent successful (deep) reinforcement learning algorithms make use of regularization, generally based on entropy or Kullback-Leibler divergence. We propose a general theory of regularized Markov Decision Processes that generalizes…
Optimal power flow (OPF) is a key problem in power system operations. OPF problems that use the nonlinear AC power flow equations to accurately model the network physics have inherent challenges associated with non-convexity. To address…