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Title: Optimization-Driven Scenario Grouping

Journal Article · · INFORMS Journal on Computing
ORCiD logo [1];  [1];  [1];  [2];  [2];  [3]
  1. Georgia Inst. of Technology, Atlanta, GA (United States). School of Industrial and Systems Engineering
  2. Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
  3. Sandia National Lab. (SNL-CA), Livermore, CA (United States)

Scenario decomposition algorithms for stochastic programs compute bounds by dualizing all nonanticipativity constraints and solving individual scenario problems independently. Here, we develop an approach that improves on these bounds by reinforcing a carefully chosen subset of nonanticipativity constraints, effectively placing scenarios into groups. Specifically, we formulate an optimization problem for grouping scenarios that aims to improve the bound by optimizing a proxy metric based on information obtained from evaluating a subset of candidate feasible solutions. We show that the proposed grouping problem is NP-hard in general, identify a polynomially solvable case, and present two formulations for solving the problem: a matching formulation for a special case and a mixed-integer programming formulation for the general case. We use the proposed grouping scheme as a preprocessing step for a particular scenario decomposition algorithm and demonstrate its effectiveness in solving standard test instances of two-stage 0–1 stochastic programs. Using this approach, we are able to prove optimality for all previously unsolved instances of a standard test set. Additionally, we implement this scheme as a preprocessing step for PySP, a publicly available and widely used implementation of progressive hedging, and compare this grouping approach with standard grouping approaches on large-scale stochastic unit commitment instances. Finally, the idea is extended to propose a finitely convergent algorithm for two-stage stochastic programs with a finite feasible region.

Research Organization:
Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA); US Department of the Navy, Office of Naval Research (ONR)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC52-07NA27344; NA-0003525; N00014-15-1-2078
OSTI ID:
1660514
Report Number(s):
LLNL-JRNL-760222; 948648
Journal Information:
INFORMS Journal on Computing, Vol. 32, Issue 3; ISSN 1091-9856
Publisher:
INFORMSCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

References (10)

A scenario decomposition algorithm for 0–1 stochastic programs journal November 2013
Nonanticipative duality, relaxations, and formulations for chance-constrained stochastic programs journal May 2016
The value of the stochastic solution in stochastic linear programs with fixed recourse journal December 1982
Dual decomposition in stochastic integer programming journal February 1999
Scenario grouping in a progressive hedging-based meta-heuristic for stochastic network design journal March 2014
Monotonic bounds in multistage mixed-integer stochastic programming journal April 2016
Scenarios and Policy Aggregation in Optimization Under Uncertainty journal February 1991
Scenario Decomposition for 0-1 Stochastic Programs: Improvements and Asynchronous Implementation conference May 2016
An Adaptive Partition-Based Approach for Solving Two-Stage Stochastic Programs with Fixed Recourse journal January 2015
Progressive hedging innovations for a class of stochastic mixed-integer resource allocation problems journal July 2010

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