Bilevel programming for generating discrete representations in multiobjective optimization

The solution to a multiobjective optimization problem consists of the nondominated set that portrays all relevant trade-off information. The ultimate goal is to identify a Decision Maker’s most preferred solution without generating the entire set of nondominated solutions. We propose a bilevel programming formulation that can be used to this end. The bilevel program is capable of delivering an efficient solution that maps into a given set, provided that one exits. If the Decision Maker’s preferences are known a priori, they can be used to specify the given set. Alternatively, we propose a method to obtain a representation of the nondominated set when the Decision Maker’s preferences are not available. This requires a thorough search of the outcome space. The search can be facilitated by a partitioning scheme similar to the ones used in global optimization. Since the bilevel programming formulation either finds a nondominated solution in a given partition element or determines that there is none, a representation with a specified coverage error level can be found in a finite number of iterations. While building a discrete representation, the algorithm also generates an approximation of the nondominated set within the specified error factor. We illustrate the algorithm on the multiobjective linear programming problem.