A conjugate direction based simplicial decomposition framework for solving a specific class of dense convex quadratic programs

Abstract

Many real-world applications can usually be modeled as convex quadratic problems. In the present paper, we want to tackle a specific class of quadratic programs having a dense Hessian matrix and a structured feasible set. We hence carefully analyze a simplicial decomposition like algorithmic framework that handles those problems in an effective way. We introduce a new master solver, called Adaptive Conjugate Direction Method, and embed it in our framework. We also analyze the interaction of some techniques for speeding up the solution of the pricing problem. We report extensive numerical experiments based on a benchmark of almost 1400 instances from specific and generic quadratic problems. We show the efficiency and robustness of the method when compared to a commercial solver (Cplex).