Convex Chance-Constrained Programs with Wasserstein Ambiguity

Chance constraints yield non-convex feasible regions in general. In particular, when the uncertain parameters are modeled by a Wasserstein ball, [Xie19] and [CKW18] showed that the distributionally robust (pessimistic) chance constraint admits a mixed-integer conic representation. This paper identifies sufficient conditions that lead to convex feasible regions of chance constraints with Wasserstein ambiguity. First, when uncertainty arises from the left-hand side of a pessimistic individual chance constraint, we derive a convex and conic representation if the Wasserstein ball is centered around a Gaussian distribution. Second, when uncertainty arises from the right-hand side of a pessimistic joint chance constraint, we show that the ensuing feasible region is convex if the Wasserstein ball is centered around a log-concave distribution (or, more generally, an α-concave distribution with α ≥ −1). In addition, we propose a block coordinate ascent algorithm for this class of chance constraints and prove its convergence to global optimum. Furthermore, we extend the convexity results and conic representation to optimistic chance constraints.