Conformal Mixed-Integer Constraint Learning with Feasibility Guarantees

Daniel Ovalle, Lorenz T. Biegler, Ignacio E Grossmann, Carl D Laird, Mateo Dulce Rubio

Keywords: Constraint Learning, Conformal Prediction, Mixed-Integer Programming

TL;DR: We propose Conformal Mixed-Integer Constraint Learning, a novel framework that provides probabilistic feasibility guarantees for data-driven constraints in optimization problems.

Abstract: We propose Conformal Mixed-Integer Constraint Learning (C-MICL), a novel framework that provides probabilistic feasibility guarantees for data-driven constraints in optimization problems. While standard Mixed-Integer Constraint Learning methods often violate the true constraints due to model error or data limitations, our C-MICL approach leverages conformal prediction to ensure feasible solutions are ground-truth feasible with probability at least $1{-}\alpha$, under a conditional independence assumption. The proposed framework supports both regression and classification tasks without requiring access to the true constraint function, while avoiding the scalability issues associated with ensemble-based heuristics. Experiments on real-world applications demonstrate that C-MICL consistently achieves target feasibility rates, maintains competitive objective performance, and significantly reduces computational cost compared to existing methods. Our work bridges mathematical optimization and machine learning, offering a principled approach to incorporate uncertainty-aware constraints into decision-making with rigorous statistical guarantees.

Primary Area: Optimization (e.g., convex and non-convex, stochastic, robust)

Submission Number: 24412