A simplex algorithm for piecewise-linear programming I: Derivation and proof

The simplex method for linear programming can be extended to permit the minimization of any convex separable piecewise-linear objective, subject to linear constraints. This three-part paper develops and analyzes a general, computationally practical simplex algorithm for piecewiselinear programming.Part I derives and justifies the essential steps of the algorithm, by extension from the simplex method for linear programming in bounded variables. The proof employs familiar finite-termination arguments and established piecewise-linear duality theory.Part II considers the relaxation of technical assumptions pertaining to finiteness, feasibility and nondegeneracy of piecewise-linear programs. Degeneracy is found to have broader consequences than in the linear case, and the standard techniques for prevention of cycling are extended accordingly.Part III analyzes the computational requirements of piecewise-linear programming. The direct approach embodied in the piecewise-linear simplex algorithm is shown to be inherently more efficient than indirect approaches that rely on transformation of piecewise-linear programs to equivalent linear programs. A concluding section surveys the many applications of piecewise-linear programming in linear programming,l ₁ estimation, goal programming, interval programming, and nonlinear optimization.This research has been supported in part by the National Science Foundation under grant MCS-8217261.     

A simplex algorithm for piecewise-linear programming III: Computational analysis and applications

The first two parts of this paper have developed a simplex algorithm for minimizing convex separable piecewise-linear functions subject to linear constraints. This concluding part argues that a direct piecewiselinear simplex implementation has inherent advantages over an indirect approach that relies on transformation to a linear program. The advantages are shown to be implicit in relationships between the linear and piecewise-linear algorithms, and to be independent of many details of implementation. Two sets of computational results serve to illustarate these arguments; the piecewise-linear simplex algorithm is observed to run 2–6 times faster than a comparable linear algorithm, not including any additional expense that might be incurred in setting up the equivalent linear program. Further support for the practical value of a good piecewise-linear programming algorithm is provided by a survey of many varied applications.This research has been supported in part by the National Science Foundation under grant DMS-8217261.     

A Dual Simplex Algorithm for Piecewise-Linear Programming

This paper presents a dual piecewise-linear simplex algorithm for minimizing convex separable piecewise-linear functions subject to linear constraints. It is an extension of Fourier's work on piecewise-linear programming to the dual piecewise-linear simplex algorithm. This algorithm has advantages over indirect methods which solve equivalent linear programs augmented by additional variables and/or constraints. Computational experience is presented which demonstrates the efficiency these advantages contribute.     

Piecewise-linear programming: The compact (CPLP) algorithm

A compact algorithm is presented for solving the convex piecewise-linear-programming problem, formulated by means of a separable convex piecewise-linear objective function (to be minimized) and a set of linear constraints. This algorithm consists of a finite sequence of cycles, derived from the simplex method, characteritic of linear programming, and the line search, characteristic of nonlinear programming. Both the required storage and amount of calculation are reduced with respect to the usual approach, based on a linear-programming formulation with an expanded tableau. The tableau dimensions arem×(n+1), wherem is the number of constraints andn the number of the (original) structural variables, and they do not increase with the number of breakpoints of the piecewise-linear terms constituting the objective function.     

Exploiting structure in piecewise-linear homotopy algorithms for solving equations

We consider the recent algorithms for computing fixed points or zeros of continuous functions fromR ⁿ to itself that are based on tracing piecewise-linear paths in triangulations. We investigate the possible savings that arise when these fixed-point algorithms with their usual triangulations are applied to computing zeros of functionsf with special structure:f is either piecewise-linear in certain variables, separable, or has Jacobian with small bandwidth. Each of these structures leads to a property we call modularity; the algorithmic path within a simplex can be continued into an adjacent simplex without a function evaluation or linear programming pivot. Modularity also arises without any special structure onf from the linearity of the function that is deformed tof. In the case thatf is separable we show that the path generated by Kojima's algorithm with the homotopyH ² coincides with the path generated by the standard restart algorithm of Merrill when the usual triangulations are employed. The extra function evaluations and linear programming steps required by the standard algorithm can be avoided by exploiting modularity.This research was performed while the author was visiting the Mathematics Research Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and was sponsored by the United States Army under Contract No. DAAG-29-75-C-0024 and by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. ENG76-08749.     

Scaling,shifting and weighting in interior-point methods

We examine certain questions related to the choice of scaling, shifting and weighting strategies for interior-point methods for linear programming. One theme is the desire to make trajectories to be followed by algorithms into straight lines if possible to encourage fast convergence. While interior-point methods in general follow curves, this occurrence of straight lines seems appropriate to honor George Dantzig's contributions to linear programming, since his simplex method can be seen as following either a piecewise-linear path inn-space or a straight line inm-space (the simplex interpretation).Dedicated to Professor George B. Dantzig on the occasion of his eightieth birthday.Research supported in part by NSF, AFOSR, and ONR through NSF Grant DMS-8920550.     

Some fundamental issues of basic line search algorithm for linear programming problems

In this article we present the fundamental idea, concepts and theorems of a basic line search algorithm for solving linear programming problems which can be regarded as an extension of the simplex method. However, unlike the iteration of the simplex method from a basic point to an improved adjacent basic point via pivot operation, the basic line search algorithm, also by pivot operation, moves from a basic line which contains two basic feasible points to an improved basic line which also contains two basic feasible points whose objective values are no worse than that of the two basic feasible points on the previous basic line. The basic line search algorithm may skip some adjacent vertices so that it converges to an optimal solution faster than the simplex method. For example, for a 2-dimensional problem, the basic line search algorithm can find an optimal solution with only one iteration.     

Linear multiplicative programming

An algorithm for solving a linear multiplicative programming problem (referred to as LMP) is proposed. LMP minimizes the product of two linear functions subject to general linear constraints. The product of two linear functions is a typical non-convex function, so that it can have multiple local minima. It is shown, however, that LMP can be solved efficiently by the combination of the parametric simplex method and any standard convex minimization procedure. The computational results indicate that the amount of computation is not much different from that of solving linear programs of the same size. In addition, the method proposed for LMP can be extended to a convex multiplicative programming problem (CMP), which minimizes the product of two convex functions under convex constraints.     

An Algorithm for Approximate Multiparametric Linear Programming

Multiparametric programming considers optimization problems where the data are functions of a parameter vector and describes the optimal value and an optimizer as explicit functions of the parameters. In this paper, we consider a linear program where the right-hand side is an affine function of a parameter vector; we propose an algorithm for approximating its solution. Given a full-dimensional simplex in the parameter space and an optimizer for each simplex vertex, the algorithm formulates the linear interpolation of the given solutions as an explicit function of the parameters, giving a primal feasible approximation of an optimizer inside the simplex. If the resulting absolute error in the objective exceeds a prescribed tolerance, then the algorithm subdivides the simplex into smaller simplices where it applies recursively. We propose both a basic version and a refined version of the algorithm. The basic version is polynomial in the output size, provided a polynomial LP solver is used; the refined version may give a smaller output. A global error bound for the optimizer is derived and some computational tests are discussed.     

An algorithm for determining all extreme points of a convex polytope

An algorithm for determining all the extreme points of a convex polytope associated with a set of linear constraints, via the computation of basic feasible solutions to the constraints, is presented. The algorithm is based on the product-form revised simplex method and as such can be readily linked onto standard linear programming codes. Applications of such an algorithm are reviewed and limited computational experience given.     

George Dantzig’s impact on the theory of computation

George Dantzig created the simplex algorithm for linear programming, perhaps the most important algorithm developed in the 20th century. This paper traces a single historical thread: Dantzig’s work on linear programming and its application and extension to combinatorial optimization, and the investigations it has stimulated about the performance of the simplex algorithm and the intrinsic complexity of linear programming and combinatorial optimization.     

线性规划最优解集的表现

文献［１］讨论了有无穷多最优解的线性规划问题，并利用最优单纯形表格的检验数给出线性规划有无穷多最优解的判别法，本文利用最优基可行解的凸组合及最优极向的非负线性组合给出线性规划最优解集的表现，从而把线性规划最优解集的几何特征阐释清楚．     

A linear programming-based optimization algorithm for solving nonlinear programming problems

In this paper a linear programming-based optimization algorithm called the Sequential Cutting Plane algorithm is presented. The main features of the algorithm are described, convergence to a Karush–Kuhn–Tucker stationary point is proved and numerical experience on some well-known test sets is showed. The algorithm is based on an earlier version for convex inequality constrained problems, but here the algorithm is extended to general continuously differentiable nonlinear programming problems containing both nonlinear inequality and equality constraints. A comparison with some existing solvers shows that the algorithm is competitive with these solvers. Thus, this new method based on solving linear programming subproblems is a good alternative method for solving nonlinear programming problems efficiently. The algorithm has been used as a subsolver in a mixed integer nonlinear programming algorithm where the linear problems provide lower bounds on the optimal solutions of the nonlinear programming subproblems in the branch and bound tree for convex, inequality constrained problems.     

An Exact Method for Fractional Goal Programming

Goal Programming with fractional objectives can be reduced to mathematical programming with a linear objective under linear and quadratic constraints, thus optimal solutions can be obtained by using existing Global Optimization techniques. However, only heuristic procedures are suggested in the literature on the field. In this note we explore the practical applicability of a recent algorithm for nonconvex quadratic programming with quadratic constraints for this problem. Encouraging computational experiences for randomly generated instances with up to 14 fractional objectives are presented.     

如何利用单纯形表上的信息

本文分析了求解线性规划的基本方法－－单纯形法所使用的单纯形表，将表中所提供的信息分为直接信息和间接信息两类，论述了如何充分利用这些信息的方法。例如如何由最终表求原问题、如何利用表中的数据互相推演和校正等。这是一篇教学经验的总结，对初学者可能有一定的帮助。     

On the Equivalence of the Simplex Methods and a Multiplier-Alike Method for Linear Programming

In linear programming, the simplex method has been viewed for a long time as an efficient tool. Interior methods have attracted a lot of attention since they were proposed recently. It seems plausible intuitively that there is no reason why a good linear programming algorithm should not be allowed to cross the boundary of the feasible region when necessary. However, such an algorithm is seldom studied. In this paper, we will develop first a framework of a multiplier-alike algorithm for linear programming which allows its trajectory to move across the boundary of the feasible region. Second, we illustrate that such a framework has the potential to perform as well as the simplex method by showing that these methods are equivalent in a well-defined sense, even though they look so different.     

A regularized decomposition method for minimizing a sum of polyhedral functions

A problem of minimizing a sum of many convex piecewise-linear functions is considered. In view of applications to two-stage linear programming, where objectives are marginal values of lower level problems, it is assumed that domains of objectives may be proper polyhedral subsets of the space of decision variables and are defined by piecewise-linear induced feasibility constraints. We propose a new decomposition method that may start from an arbitrary point and simultaneously processes objective and feasibility cuts for each component. The master program is augmented with a quadratic regularizing term and comprises an a priori bounded number of cuts. The method goes through nonbasic points, in general, and is finitely convergent without any nondegeneracy assumptions. Next, we present a special technique for solving the regularized master problem that uses an active set strategy and QR factorization and exploits the structure of the master. Finally, some numerical evidence is given.On leave from Instytut Automatyki, Politechnika Warszawska, Poland.     

A simplex algorithm for piecewise-linear fractional programming problems

Generalizations of the well-known simplex method for linear programming are available to solve the piecewise linear programming problem and the linear fractional programming problem. In this paper we consider a further generalization of the simplex method to solve piecewise linear fractional programming problems unifying the simplex method for linear programs, piecewise linear programs, and the linear fractional programs. Computational results are presented to obtain further insights into the behavior of the algorithm on random test problems.     

线性规划的最钝角松弛算法

本文提出一个基于最钝角原理的松弛算法求解线性规划问题。该算法依据最钝角原理略去部分约束得到一个规模较小的子问题,用原始单纯形算法解之;再添加所略去的约束恢复原问题,若此时全部约束条件均满足则已获得一个基本最优解,否则用对偶单纯形算法继续求解。初步的数值试验表明,新算法比传统两阶段单纯形算法快得多。