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16-76
In this article, we study compact Mixed-Integer Programming (MIP) models for the Resource-Constrained Project Scheduling Problem (RCPSP). Compared to the classical time-indexed formulation, the size of compact models is strongly polynomial in the number of jobs. In addition to two compact models from the literature, we propose a new compact model. We can show that all three compact models are equivalent by successive linear transformations. For their LP-relaxations, however, we state a full inclusion hierarchy where our new model dominates the previous models in terms of polyhedral strength. Moreover, we reveal a polyhedral relationship to the common time-indexed model. Furthermore, a general class of valid cutting planes for the compact models is introduced and finally all models are evaluated by computational experiments.
16-74
In this article, we introduce parallel mixed integer linear programming (MILP) solvers. MILP solving algorithms have been improved tremendously in the last two decades. Currently, commercial MILP solvers are known as a strong optimization tool. Parallel MILP solver development has started in 1990s. However, since the improvements of solving algorithms have much impact to solve MILP problems than application of parallel computing, there were not many visible successes. With the spread of multi-core CPUs, current state-of-the-art MILP solvers have parallel implementations and researches to apply parallelism in the solving algorithm also getting popular. We summarize current existing parallel MILP solver architectures.
16-25
In constraint programming, energetic reasoning constitutes a powerful start time propagation rule for cumulative scheduling problems (CuSP). In this paper, we first present an improved time interval checking algorithm that is derived from a polyhedral model. In a second step, we extend this algorithm to an energetic reasoning propagation algorithm with complexity O(n^2 log n) where n denotes the number of jobs. The key idea is based on a new sweep line subroutine that efficiently evaluates the relevant time intervals for all jobs. In particular, our algorithm yields at least one possible energetic reasoning propagation for each job. Finally, we show that on the vast number of relevant time intervals our approach yields the maximum possible propagation according to the energetic reasoning rule.
16-54
It is shown how piecewise differentiable functions \(F: R^n → R^m\) that are defined by evaluation programs can be approximated locally by a piecewise linear model based on a pair of sample points x̌ and x̂. We show that the discrepancy between function and model at any point x is of the bilinear order O(||x − x̌|| ||x − x̂||). This is a little surprising since x ∈ R^n may vary over the whole Euclidean space, and we utilize only two function samples F̌ = F(x̌) and F̂ = F(x̂), as well as the intermediates computed during their evaluation. As an application of the piecewise linearization procedure we devise a generalized Newton’s method based on successive piecewise linearization and prove for it sufficient conditions for convergence and convergence rates equaling those of semismooth Newton. We conclude with the derivation of formulas for the numerically stable implementation of the aforedeveloped piecewise linearization methods.
16-78
Modern MIP solvers employ dozens of auxiliary algorithmic components to support the branch-and-bound search in finding and improving primal solutions and in strengthening the dual bound.
Typically, all components are tuned to minimize the average running time to prove optimality. In this article, we take a different look at the run of a MIP solver. We argue that the solution process consists of three different phases, namely achieving feasibility, improving the incumbent solution, and proving optimality. We first show that the entire solving process can be improved by adapting the search strategy with respect to the phase-specific aims using different control tunings. Afterwards, we provide criteria to predict the transition between the individual phases and evaluate the performance impact of altering the algorithmic behavior of the MIP solver SCIP at the predicted phase transition points.
16-67
In this paper, we compare several approaches for the problem of gas network expansions using loops, that is, to build new pipelines in parallel to existing ones. We present different model formulations for the problem of continuous loop expansions as well as discrete loop expansions. We then analyze problem properties, such as the structure and convexity of the underlying feasible regions. The paper concludes with a computational study comparing the continuous and the discrete formulations.
16-68
In the context of gas transmission in decoupled entry-exit systems, many approaches to determine the network capacity are based on the evaluation of realistic and severe transport situations. In this paper, we review the Reference Point Method, which is an algorithm used in practice to generate a set of scenarios using the so-called transport moment as a measure for severity. We introduce a new algorithm for finding severe transport situations that considers an actual routing of the flow through the network and is designed to handle issues arising from cyclic structures in a more dynamical manner. Further, in order to better approximate the physics of gas, an alternative, potential based flow formulation is proposed. The report concludes with a case study based on data from the benchmark library GasLib.
ZR-16-73
A railway operator creates (rolling stock) rotations in order to have a precise master plan for the
operation of a timetable by railway vehicles. A rotation is considered as a cycle that multiply
traverses a set of operational days while covering trips of the timetable. As it is well known,
the proper creation of rolling stock rotations by, e.g., optimization algorithms is challenging
and still a topical research subject. Nevertheless, we study a completely different but strongly
related question in this paper, i.e.: How to visualize a rotation? For this purpose, we introduce
a basic handout concept, which directly leads to the visualization, i.e., handout of a rotation. In
our industrial application at DB Fernverkehr AG, the handout is exactly as important as the
rotation itself. Moreover, it turns out that also other European railway operators use exactly the
same methodology (but not terminology). Since a rotation can have many handouts of different
quality, we show how to compute optimal ones through an integer program (IP) by standard
software. In addition, a construction as well as an improvement heuristic are presented. Our
computational results show that the heuristics are a very reliable standalone approach to quickly
find near-optimal and even optimal handouts. The efficiency of the heuristics is shown via a
computational comparison to the IP approach.
16-71
Portfolio parallelization is an approach that runs several solver instances in parallel and terminates when one of them succeeds in solving the problem. Despite it's simplicity portfolio parallelization has been shown to perform well for modern mixed-integer programming (MIP) and boolean satisfiability problem (SAT) solvers. Domain propagation has also been shown to be a simple technique in modern MIP and SAT solvers that effectively finds additional domain reductions after a variables domain has been reduced. This paper investigates the impact of distributed domain propagation in modern MIP solvers that employ portfolio parallelization. Computational experiments were conducted for two implementations of this parallelization approach. While both share global variable bounds and solutions they communicate differently. In one implementation the communication is performed only at designated points in the solving process and in the other it is performed completely asynchronously. Computational experiments show a positive performance impact of communicating global variable bounds and provide valuable insights in communication strategies for parallel solvers.
16-64
SCIP is a solver for a wide variety of mathematical optimization problems. It is written in C and extendable due to its plug-in based design. However, dealing with all C specifics when extending SCIP can be detrimental to development and testing of new ideas. This paper attempts to provide a remedy by introducing PySCIPOpt, a Python interface to SCIP that enables users to write new SCIP code entirely in Python. We demonstrate how to intuitively model mixed-integer linear and quadratic optimization problems and moreover provide examples on how new Python plug-ins can be added to SCIP.