# A Rewriting System for Convex Optimization Problems

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/1709.04494 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/1709.04494/

## Key facts

- Cited by 179 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 13 Sep 2017.

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## Abstract (arXiv)

We describe a modular rewriting system for translating optimization problems written in a domain-specific language to forms compatible with low-level solver interfaces. Translation is facilitated by reductions, which accept a category of problems and transform instances of that category to equivalent instances of another category. Our system proceeds in two key phases: analysis, in which we attempt to find a suitable solver for a supplied problem, and canonicalization, in which we rewrite the problem in the selected solver's standard form. We implement the described system in version 1.0 of CVXPY, a domain-specific language for mathematical and especially convex optimization. By treating reductions as first-class objects, our method makes it easy to match problems to solvers well-suited for them and to support solvers with a wide variety of standard forms.