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We propose kernel distributionally robust optimization (Kernel DRO) using insights from the robust optimization theory and functional analysis. Our method uses reproducing kernel Hilbert spaces (RKHS) to construct a wide range of convex ambiguity sets, which can be generalized to sets based on integral probability metrics and finite-order moment bounds. This perspective unifies multiple existing robust and stochastic optimization methods. We prove a theorem that generalizes the classical duality in the mathematical problem of moments. Enabled by this theorem, we reformulate the maximization with respect to measures in DRO into the dual program that searches for RKHS functions. Using universal RKHSs, the theorem applies to a broad class of loss functions, lifting common limitations such as polynomial losses and knowledge of the Lipschitz constant. We then establish a connection between DRO and stochastic optimization with expectation constraints. Finally, we propose practical algorithms based on both batch convex solvers and stochastic functional gradient, which apply to general optimization and machine learning tasks.
Inverse multiobjective optimization provides a general framework for the unsupervised learning task of inferring parameters of a multiobjective decision making problem (DMP), based on a set of observed decisions from the human expert. However, the performance of this framework relies critically on the availability of an accurate DMP, sufficient decisions of high quality, and a parameter space that contains enough information about the DMP. To hedge against the uncertainties in the hypothetical DMP, the data, and the parameter space, we investigate in this paper the distributionally robust approach for inverse multiobjective optimization. Specifically, we leverage the Wasserstein metric to construct a ball centered at the empirical distribution of these decisions. We then formulate a Wasserstein distributionally robust inverse multiobjective optimization problem (WRO-IMOP) that minimizes a worst-case expected loss function, where the worst case is taken over all distributions in the Wasserstein ball. We show that the excess risk of the WRO-IMOP estimator has a sub-linear convergence rate. Furthermore, we propose the semi-infinite reformulations of the WRO-IMOP and develop a cutting-plane algorithm that converges to an approximate solution in finite iterations. Finally, we demonstrate the effectiveness of our method on both a synthetic multiobjective quadratic program and a real world portfolio optimization problem.
We propose and analyze algorithms for distributionally robust optimization of convex losses with conditional value at risk (CVaR) and $chi^2$ divergence uncertainty sets. We prove that our algorithms require a number of gradient evaluations independent of training set size and number of parameters, making them suitable for large-scale applications. For $chi^2$ uncertainty sets these are the first such guarantees in the literature, and for CVaR our guarantees scale linearly in the uncertainty level rather than quadratically as in previous work. We also provide lower bounds proving the worst-case optimality of our algorithms for CVaR and a penalized version of the $chi^2$ problem. Our primary technical contributions are novel bounds on the bias of batch robust risk estimation and the variance of a multilevel Monte Carlo gradient estimator due to [Blanchet & Glynn, 2015]. Experiments on MNIST and ImageNet confirm the theoretical scaling of our algorithms, which are 9--36 times more efficient than full-batch methods.
We present a distributionally robust formulation of a stochastic optimization problem for non-i.i.d vector autoregressive data. We use the Wasserstein distance to define robustness in the space of distributions and we show, using duality theory, that the problem is equivalent to a finite convex-concave saddle point problem. The performance of the method is demonstrated on both synthetic and real data.
This paper studies distributionally robust optimization (DRO) when the ambiguity set is given by moments for the distributions. The objective and constraints are given by polynomials in decision variables. We reformulate the DRO with equivalent moment conic constraints. Under some general assumptions, we prove the DRO is equivalent to a linear optimization problem with moment and psd polynomial cones. A moment-SOS relaxation method is proposed to solve it. Its asymptotic and finite convergence are shown under certain assumptions. Numerical examples are presented to show how to solve DRO problems.
This paper presents a novel deep learning based data-driven optimization method. A novel generative adversarial network (GAN) based data-driven distributionally robust chance constrained programming framework is proposed. GAN is applied to fully extract distributional information from historical data in a nonparametric and unsupervised way without a priori approximation or assumption. Since GAN utilizes deep neural networks, complicated data distributions and modes can be learned, and it can model uncertainty efficiently and accurately. Distributionally robust chance constrained programming takes into consideration ambiguous probability distributions of uncertain parameters. To tackle the computational challenges, sample average approximation method is adopted, and the required data samples are generated by GAN in an end-to-end way through the differentiable networks. The proposed framework is then applied to supply chain optimization under demand uncertainty. The applicability of the proposed approach is illustrated through a county-level case study of a spatially explicit biofuel supply chain in Illinois.