We treat in this paper Linear Programming (LP) problems with uncertain data. The focus is on uncertainty associated with hard constraints: those which must be satisfied, whatever is the actual realization of the data (within a prescribed uncertainty set). We suggest a modeling methodology whereas an uncertain LP is replaced by its Robust Counterpart (RC). We then develop the analytical and computational optimization tools to obtain robust solutions of an uncertain LP problem via solving the corresponding explicitly stated convex RC program. In particular, it is shown that the RC of an LP with ellipsoidal uncertainty set is computationally tractable, since it leads to a conic quadratic program, which can be solved in polynomial time.

We propose an approach to address data uncertainty for discrete optimization and network flow problems that allows controlling the degree of conservatism of the solution, and is computationally tractable both practically and theoretically. In particular, when both the cost coefficients and the data in the constraints of an integer programming problem are subject to uncertainty, we propose a robust integer programming problem of moderately larger size that allows controlling the degree of conservatism of the solution in terms of probabilistic bounds on constraint violation. When only the cost coefficients are subject to uncertainty and the problem is a 0 − 1 discrete optimization problem on n variables, then we solve the robust counterpart by solving at most n+1 instances of the original problem. Thus, the robust counterpart of a polynomially solvable 0−1 discrete optimization problem remains polynomially solvable. In particular, robust matching, spanning tree, shortest path, matroid intersection, etc. are polynomially solvable. We also show that the robust counterpart of an NP-hard α-approximable 0 − 1 discrete optimization problem, remains α-approximable. Finally, we propose an algorithm for robust network flows that solves the robust counterpart by solving a polynomial number of nominal minimum cost flow problems in a modified network.

Optimal solutions of Linear Programming problems may become severely infeasible if the nominal data is slightly perturbed. We demonstrate this phenomenon by studying 90 LPs from the well-known NETLIB collection. We then apply the Robust Optimization methodology (Ben-Tal and Nemirovski [1-3]; El Ghaoui et al. [5,6]) to produce “robust ” solutions of the above LPs which are in a sense immuned against uncertainty. Surprisingly, for the NETLIB problems these robust solutions nearly lose nothing in optimality. 1

In this paper we consider semidefinite programs (SDPs) whose data depend on some unknown but bounded perturbation parameters. We seek "robust" solutions to such programs, that is, solutions which minimize the (worst-case) objective while satisfying the constraints for every possible value of parameters within the given bounds. Assuming the data matrices are rational functions of the perturbation parameters, we show how to formulate sufficient conditions for a robust solution to exist as SDPs. When the perturbation is "full," our conditions are necessary and sufficient. In this case, we provide sufficient conditions which guarantee that the robust solution is unique and continuous (Hölder-stable) with respect to the unperturbed problem's data. The approach can thus be used to regularize ill-conditioned SDPs. We illustrate our results with examples taken from linear programming, maximum norm minimization, polynomial interpolation, and integer programming.

Abstract. We present efficiently verifiable sufficient conditions for the validity of specific NPhard semi-infinite systems of Linear Matrix Inequalities (LMI’s) arising from LMI’s with uncertain data and demonstrate that these conditions are “tight ” up to an absolute constant factor. In particular, we prove that given an n × n interval matrix Uρ = {A | |Aij − A ∗ ij | ≤ ρCij}, one can build a computable lower bound, accurate within the factor π, on the supremum of those ρ for which 2 all instances of Uρ share a common quadratic Lyapunov function. We then obtain a similar result for the problem of Quadratic Lyapunov Stability Synthesis. Finally, we apply our techniques to the problem of maximizing a homogeneous polynomial of degree 3 over the unit cube. Key words. Robust semidefinite optimization, data uncertainty, Lyapunov stability synthesis, relaxations of combinatorial problems AMS subject classifications. 90C05, 90C25, 90C30

Abstract. In earlier proposals, the robust counterpart of conic optimization problems exhibits a lateral increase in complexity, i.e., robust linear programming problems (LPs) become second order cone problems (SOCPs), robust SOCPs become semidefinite programming problems (SDPs), and robust SDPs become NP-hard. We propose a relaxed robust counterpart for general conic optimization problems that (a) preserves the computational tractability of the nominal problem; specifically the robust conic optimization problem retains its original structure, i.e., robust LPs remain LPs, robust SOCPs remain SOCPs and robust SDPs remain SDPs, and (b) allows us to provide a guarantee on the probability that the robust solution is feasible when the uncertain coefficients obey independent and identically distributed normal distributions. Key words. Robust Optimization – Conic Optimization – Stochastic Optimization 1.

This paper presents a new approach to finite-horizon guaranteed state prediction for discrete-time systems affected by bounded noise and unknown-but-bounded parameter uncertainty. Our framework handles possibly nonlinear dependence of the state-space matrices on the uncertain parameters. The main result is that a minimal confidence ellipsoid for the state, consistent with the measured output and the uncertainty description, may be recursively computed in polynomial time, using interior-point methods for convex optimization. With n states, l uncertain parameters appearing linearly in the state-space matrices, with rank-one matrix coefficients, the worst-case complexity grows as O(l(n + l) 3:5 ). With unstructured uncertainty in all system matrices, the worst-case complexity reduces to O(n 3:5 ).

Recent results on positive polynomials are used to obtain a convex inner approximation of the stability domain in the space of coe#cients of a polynomial. An application to the design of fixed-order controllers robustly stabilizing a linear system subject to polytopic uncertainty is then proposed, based on LMI optimization.

In this paper we survey the primary research, both theoretical and applied, in the field of Robust Optimization (RO). Our focus will be on the computational attractiveness of RO approaches, as well as the modeling power and broad applicability of the methodology. In addition to surveying the most prominent theoretical results of RO over the past decade, we will also present some recent results linking RO to adaptable models for multi-stage decision-making problems. Finally, we will highlight successful applications of RO across a wide spectrum of domains, including, but not limited to, finance, statistics, learning, and engineering.

Abstract Robust Optimization is a rapidly developing methodology for handling optimization problems affected by non-stochastic “uncertain-butbounded” data perturbations. In this paper, we overview several selected topics in this popular area, specifically, (1) recent extensions of the basic concept of robust counterpart of an optimization problem with uncertain data, (2) tractability of robust counterparts, (3) links between RO and traditional chance constrained settings of problems with stochastic data, and (4) a novel generic application of the RO methodology in Robust Linear Control. Keywords optimization under uncertainty · robust optimization · convex programming · chance constraints · robust linear control