A note on quadratic constraints with indicator variables: Convex hull description and perspective relaxation

Abstract

In this paper, we study the mixed-integer nonlinear set given by a separable quadratic constraint on continuous variables, where each continuous variable is controlled by an additional indicator. This set occurs pervasively in optimization problems with uncertainty and in machine learning. We show that optimization over this set is NP-hard. Despite this negative result, we discover links between the convex hull of the set under study, and a family of polyhedral sets studied in the literature. Moreover, we show that although perspective relaxation in the literature for this set fails to match the structure of its convex hull, it is guaranteed to be a close approximation.