Sinkhorn Distributionally Robust Optimization
提出基于Sinkhorn距离的分布鲁棒优化方法,通过熵正则化提升计算效率,并给出强对偶重构和随机镜像下降算法,在报童问题、投资组合优化等实验中表现优于传统Wasserstein方法。
Entropy-Regularized Wasserstein Distributionally Robust Optimization Uncertainty in data poses a central challenge in operations research. Distributionally robust optimization (DRO) offers a principled framework for addressing this challenge by producing solutions resilient to distributional variations. Among various DRO approaches, the Wasserstein DRO has received significant attention though its computational efficiency relies on stringent assumptions, and its worst case distributions are typically discrete. In “Sinkhorn Distributionally Robust Optimization,” Wang, Gao, and Xie leverage the Sinkhorn distance—an entropy-regularized variant of the Wasserstein distance—to more realistically model uncertainty, enhancing computational efficiency. The authors establish a strong duality reformulation and propose a first order stochastic mirror descent algorithm with provable complexity guarantees for general loss functions. Unlike Wasserstein DRO, Sinkhorn DRO yields continuous worst case distributions, offering a more flexible representation of practical uncertainties. Extensive experiments in the newsvendor problem, portfolio optimization, and adversarial classification demonstrate its superior performance in both out-of-sample performance and efficiency.