Constructing lattice-free gradient polyhedra in dimension two

Abstract

Lattice-free gradient polyhedra can be used to certify optimality for mixed-integer convex minimization models. We consider how to construct these polyhedra for unconstrained models with two integer variables under the assumption that all level sets are bounded. A classic result of Bell, Doignon, and Scarf states that a lattice-free gradient polyhedron with at most four facets exists in this setting. We present an algorithm for creating a sequence of gradient polyhedra, each of which has at most four facets, that finitely converges to a lattice-free gradient polyhedron. Each update requires constantly many gradient evaluations. Our updates imitate the gradient descent algorithm, and consequently, it yields a gradient descent type of algorithm for problems with two integer variables.