Intersection cuts for nonlinear integer programming: convexification techniques for structured sets

We study the generalization of split and intersection cuts from Mixed Integer Linear Programming to the realm of Mixed Integer Nonlinear Programming. Constructing such cuts requires calculating the convex hull of the difference of two convex sets with specific geometric structures. We introduce two techniques to give precise characterizations of such convex hulls and use them to construct split and intersection cuts for several classes of sets. In particular, we give simple formulas for split cuts for essentially all convex sets described by a single quadratic inequality and for more general intersection cuts for a wide variety of convex quadratic sets.