Arbitrary precision arithmetic

This tutorial was generated using Literate.jl. Download the source as a .jl file.

The purpose of this tutorial is to explain how to use a solver which supports arithmetic using a number type other than Float64.

Required packages

This tutorial uses the following packages:

using JuMP
import CDDLib
import Clarabel

Higher-precision arithmetic

To create a model with a number type other than Float64, use GenericModel with an optimizer which supports the same number type:

model = GenericModel{BigFloat}(Clarabel.Optimizer{BigFloat})
A JuMP Model
├ value_type: BigFloat
├ solver: Clarabel
├ objective_sense: FEASIBILITY_SENSE
├ num_variables: 0
├ num_constraints: 0
└ Names registered in the model: none

The syntax for adding decision variables is the same as a normal JuMP model, except that values are converted to BigFloat:

@variable(model, -1 <= x[1:2] <= sqrt(big"2"))
2-element Vector{GenericVariableRef{BigFloat}}:
 x[1]
 x[2]

Note that each x is now a GenericVariableRef{BigFloat}, which means that the value of x in a solution will be a BigFloat.

The lower and upper bounds of the decision variables are also BigFloat:

lower_bound(x[1])
-1.0
typeof(lower_bound(x[1]))
BigFloat
upper_bound(x[2])
1.414213562373095048801688724209698078569671875376948073176679737990732478462102
typeof(upper_bound(x[2]))
BigFloat

The syntax for adding constraints is the same as a normal JuMP model, except that coefficients are converted to BigFloat:

@constraint(model, c, x[1] == big"2" * x[2])

\[ x_{1} - 2.0 x_{2} = 0.0 \]

The function is a GenericAffExpr with BigFloat for the coefficient and variable types;

constraint = constraint_object(c)
typeof(constraint.func)
GenericAffExpr{BigFloat, GenericVariableRef{BigFloat}}

and the set is a MOI.EqualTo{BigFloat}:

typeof(constraint.set)
MathOptInterface.EqualTo{BigFloat}

The syntax for adding and objective is the same as a normal JuMP model, except that coefficients are converted to BigFloat:

@objective(model, Min, 3x[1]^2 + 2x[2]^2 - x[1] - big"4" * x[2])

\[ 3.0 x_{1}^2 + 2.0 x_{2}^2 - x_{1} - 4.0 x_{2} \]

typeof(objective_function(model))
GenericQuadExpr{BigFloat, GenericVariableRef{BigFloat}}

Here's the model we have built:

print(model)
Min 3.0 x[1]² + 2.0 x[2]² - x[1] - 4.0 x[2]
Subject to
 c : x[1] - 2.0 x[2] = 0.0
 x[1] ≥ -1.0
 x[2] ≥ -1.0
 x[1] ≤ 1.414213562373095048801688724209698078569671875376948073176679737990732478462102
 x[2] ≤ 1.414213562373095048801688724209698078569671875376948073176679737990732478462102

Let's solve and inspect the solution:

optimize!(model)
@assert is_solved_and_feasible(model; dual = true)
solution_summary(model)
* Solver : Clarabel

* Status
  Result count       : 1
  Termination status : OPTIMAL
  Message from the solver:
  "SOLVED"

* Candidate solution (result #1)
  Primal status      : FEASIBLE_POINT
  Dual status        : FEASIBLE_POINT
  Objective value    : -6.42857e-01
  Dual objective value : -6.42857e-01

* Work counters
  Solve time (sec)   : 4.24953e-01
  Barrier iterations : 5

The value of each decision variable is a BigFloat:

value.(x)
2-element Vector{BigFloat}:
 0.4285714246558161076147072906813123533593766450416896337912086518811186790735189
 0.2142857123279078924828007272730108809297577877991360649674411645247653239673801

as well as other solution attributes like the objective value:

objective_value(model)
-0.6428571428571422964607590389935242587959291815638830868454759876473734138856053

and dual solution:

dual(c)
1.571428571977140845343978069015092190548250919787945065022059071052557047888015

This problem has an analytic solution of x = [3//7, 3//14]. Currently, our solution has an error of approximately 1e-9:

value.(x) .- [3 // 7, 3 // 14]
2-element Vector{BigFloat}:
 -3.915612463813864137890116218069194783529738937637362776690309892355053792476207e-09
 -1.957806393231484987012703404784527926486578220746844549760948961746906215408591e-09

But by reducing the tolerances, we can obtain a more accurate solution:

set_attribute(model, "tol_gap_abs", 1e-32)
set_attribute(model, "tol_gap_rel", 1e-32)
optimize!(model)
@assert is_solved_and_feasible(model)
value.(x) .- [3 // 7, 3 // 14]
2-element Vector{BigFloat}:
 -4.120732596246374574619292889406407106157605546563218305172773512099467866195165e-32
 -7.146646610782677659152301436088423235900252780211057986251367981130623553333357e-32

Rational arithmetic

In addition to higher-precision floating point number types like BigFloat, JuMP also supports solvers with exact rational arithmetic. One example is CDDLib.jl, which supports the Rational{BigInt} number type:

model = GenericModel{Rational{BigInt}}(CDDLib.Optimizer{Rational{BigInt}})
A JuMP Model
├ value_type: Rational{BigInt}
├ solver: CDD
├ objective_sense: FEASIBILITY_SENSE
├ num_variables: 0
├ num_constraints: 0
└ Names registered in the model: none

As before, we can create variables using rational bounds:

@variable(model, 1 // 7 <= x[1:2] <= 2 // 3)
2-element Vector{GenericVariableRef{Rational{BigInt}}}:
 x[1]
 x[2]
lower_bound(x[1])
1//7
typeof(lower_bound(x[1]))
Rational{BigInt}

As well as constraints:

@constraint(model, c1, (2 // 1) * x[1] + x[2] <= 1)

\[ 2//1 x_{1} + x_{2} \leq 1//1 \]

@constraint(model, c2, x[1] + 3x[2] <= 9 // 4)

\[ x_{1} + 3//1 x_{2} \leq 9//4 \]

and objective functions:

@objective(model, Max, sum(x))

\[ x_{1} + x_{2} \]

Here's the model we have built:

print(model)
Max x[1] + x[2]
Subject to
 c1 : 2//1 x[1] + x[2] ≤ 1//1
 c2 : x[1] + 3//1 x[2] ≤ 9//4
 x[1] ≥ 1//7
 x[2] ≥ 1//7
 x[1] ≤ 2//3
 x[2] ≤ 2//3

Let's solve and inspect the solution:

optimize!(model)
@assert is_solved_and_feasible(model)
solution_summary(model)
* Solver : CDD

* Status
  Result count       : 1
  Termination status : OPTIMAL
  Message from the solver:
  "Optimal"

* Candidate solution (result #1)
  Primal status      : FEASIBLE_POINT
  Dual status        : NO_SOLUTION
  Objective value    : 5//6

* Work counters

The optimal values are given in exact rational arithmetic:

value.(x)
2-element Vector{Rational{BigInt}}:
 1//6
 2//3
objective_value(model)
5//6
value(c2)
13//6