Accelerating Cutting-Plane Algorithms via Reinforcement Learning Surrogates

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Mana, Kyle, Acero, Fernando, Mak, Stephen, Zehtabi, Parisa, Cashmore, Michael, Magazzeni, Daniele, Veloso, Manuela
Format: Preprint
Published: 2023
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author Mana, Kyle
Acero, Fernando
Mak, Stephen
Zehtabi, Parisa
Cashmore, Michael
Magazzeni, Daniele
Veloso, Manuela
author_facet Mana, Kyle
Acero, Fernando
Mak, Stephen
Zehtabi, Parisa
Cashmore, Michael
Magazzeni, Daniele
Veloso, Manuela
contents 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 use of cutting-plane algorithms, which reach optimal solutions by iteratively adding inequalities known as \textit{cuts} to refine a feasible set. Despite the existence of a number of general-purpose cut-generating algorithms, large-scale discrete optimization problems continue to suffer from intractability. In this work, we propose a method for accelerating cutting-plane algorithms via reinforcement learning. Our approach uses learned policies as surrogates for $\mathcal{NP}$-hard elements of the cut generating procedure in a way that (i) accelerates convergence, and (ii) retains guarantees of optimality. We apply our method on two types of problems where cutting-plane algorithms are commonly used: stochastic optimization, and mixed-integer quadratic programming. We observe the benefits of our method when applied to Benders decomposition (stochastic optimization) and iterative loss approximation (quadratic programming), achieving up to $45\%$ faster average convergence when compared to modern alternative algorithms.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2307_08816
institution arXiv
publishDate 2023
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Accelerating Cutting-Plane Algorithms via Reinforcement Learning Surrogates
Mana, Kyle
Acero, Fernando
Mak, Stephen
Zehtabi, Parisa
Cashmore, Michael
Magazzeni, Daniele
Veloso, Manuela
Machine Learning
Artificial Intelligence
Optimization and Control
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 use of cutting-plane algorithms, which reach optimal solutions by iteratively adding inequalities known as \textit{cuts} to refine a feasible set. Despite the existence of a number of general-purpose cut-generating algorithms, large-scale discrete optimization problems continue to suffer from intractability. In this work, we propose a method for accelerating cutting-plane algorithms via reinforcement learning. Our approach uses learned policies as surrogates for $\mathcal{NP}$-hard elements of the cut generating procedure in a way that (i) accelerates convergence, and (ii) retains guarantees of optimality. We apply our method on two types of problems where cutting-plane algorithms are commonly used: stochastic optimization, and mixed-integer quadratic programming. We observe the benefits of our method when applied to Benders decomposition (stochastic optimization) and iterative loss approximation (quadratic programming), achieving up to $45\%$ faster average convergence when compared to modern alternative algorithms.
title Accelerating Cutting-Plane Algorithms via Reinforcement Learning Surrogates
topic Machine Learning
Artificial Intelligence
Optimization and Control
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2307.08816