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Main Authors: Tanaka, Tatsuya, Li, Huimin, Yamanaka, Shota, Fukuda, Ellen H., Yamashita, Nobuo
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.25393
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author Tanaka, Tatsuya
Li, Huimin
Yamanaka, Shota
Fukuda, Ellen H.
Yamashita, Nobuo
author_facet Tanaka, Tatsuya
Li, Huimin
Yamanaka, Shota
Fukuda, Ellen H.
Yamashita, Nobuo
contents Many practical optimization problems involve uncertain parameters that are strictly positive. However, the most common uncertainty sets used in robust optimization are the box and the ellipsoidal sets, which may include non-positive values when the level of uncertainty is large. This can lead to overly conservative solutions or make the corresponding robust counterpart infeasible. To overcome this, in this paper, we propose a new uncertainty-set model that not only preserves positivity but is also computationally tractable. The proposed set uses a particular convex function that measures the variation of uncertain parameters from their nominal values. We can also write the dual reformulation of the associated robust problem. For the theoretical results, we show several properties of the proposed model, including analytical bounds that guide the choice of the uncertainty level, as well as a probabilistic guarantee result. To check the validity of our proposal, we consider photovoltaic-battery operation planning problems and support vector machines in the numerical experiments. For these problems, standard uncertainty models may lead to infeasibility of the robust counterpart, while the proposed uncertainty set gives a tractable dual reformulation.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2604_25393
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle An uncertainty model for positive-valued parameters with application to robust optimization
Tanaka, Tatsuya
Li, Huimin
Yamanaka, Shota
Fukuda, Ellen H.
Yamashita, Nobuo
Optimization and Control
90C15, 90C46, 90C90
Many practical optimization problems involve uncertain parameters that are strictly positive. However, the most common uncertainty sets used in robust optimization are the box and the ellipsoidal sets, which may include non-positive values when the level of uncertainty is large. This can lead to overly conservative solutions or make the corresponding robust counterpart infeasible. To overcome this, in this paper, we propose a new uncertainty-set model that not only preserves positivity but is also computationally tractable. The proposed set uses a particular convex function that measures the variation of uncertain parameters from their nominal values. We can also write the dual reformulation of the associated robust problem. For the theoretical results, we show several properties of the proposed model, including analytical bounds that guide the choice of the uncertainty level, as well as a probabilistic guarantee result. To check the validity of our proposal, we consider photovoltaic-battery operation planning problems and support vector machines in the numerical experiments. For these problems, standard uncertainty models may lead to infeasibility of the robust counterpart, while the proposed uncertainty set gives a tractable dual reformulation.
title An uncertainty model for positive-valued parameters with application to robust optimization
topic Optimization and Control
90C15, 90C46, 90C90
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.25393