The bipartite margin shop and maximum red matchings free of blue–red alternating cycles

The margin shop arises as a model of margining investment portfolios in a batch, a mandatory end-of-day risk management operation for any prime brokerage firm. The margin-shop scheduling problem is the extension of the preemptive flow-shop scheduling problem where precedence constraints can be introduced between preempted parts of jobs. This paper is devoted to the bipartite case which is equivalent to the problem of finding a maximum red matching that is free of blue–red alternating cycles in a complete bipartite graph with blue and red edges. It is also equivalent to the version of the jump-number problem for bipartite posets where jumps inside only one part should be counted. We show that the unit-time bipartite margin-shop scheduling problem is NP-hard but can be solved in polynomial time if the precedence graph is of degree at most two or a forest.     

Facility location and supply chain management – A review

Facility location decisions play a critical role in the strategic design of supply chain networks. In this paper, a literature review of facility location models in the context of supply chain management is given. We identify basic features that such models must capture to support decision-making involved in strategic supply chain planning. In particular, the integration of location decisions with other decisions relevant to the design of a supply chain network is discussed. Furthermore, aspects related to the structure of the supply chain network, including those specific to reverse logistics, are also addressed. Significant contributions to the current state-of-the-art are surveyed taking into account numerous factors. Supply chain performance measures and optimization techniques are also reviewed. Applications of facility location models to supply chain network design ranging across various industries are presented. Finally, a list of issues requiring further research are highlighted.     

A location–allocation heuristic for the capacitated multi-facility Weber problem with probabilistic customer locations

The capacitated multi-facility Weber problem is concerned with locating m facilities in the Euclidean plane, and allocating their capacities to n customers at minimum total cost. The deterministic version of the problem, which assumes that customer locations and demands are known with certainty, is a non-convex optimization problem and difficult to solve. In this work, we focus on a probabilistic extension and consider the situation where the customer locations are randomly distributed according to a bivariate distribution. We first present a mathematical programming formulation, which is even more difficult than its deterministic version. We then propose an alternate location–allocation local search heuristic generalizing the ideas used originally for the deterministic problem. In its original form, the applicability of the heuristic depends on the calculation of the expected distances between the facilities and customers, which can be done for only very few distance and probability density function combinations. We therefore propose approximation methods which make the method applicable for any distance function and bivariate location distribution.     

Hierarchical location–allocation models for congested systems

In this paper we address the issue of locating hierarchical facilities in the presence of congestion. Two hierarchical models are presented, where lower level servers attend requests first, and then, some of the served customers are referred to higher level servers. In the first model, the objective is to find the minimum number of servers and their locations that will cover a given region with a distance or time standard. The second model is cast as a maximal covering location (MCL) formulation. A heuristic procedure is then presented together with computational experience. Finally, some extensions of these models that address other types of spatial configurations are offered.     

Hub location–allocation in intermodal logistic networks

Within the context of intermodal logistics, the design of transportation networks becomes more complex than it is for single mode logistics. In an intermodal network, the respective modes are characterized by the transportation cost structure, modal connectivity, availability of transfer points and service time performance. These characteristics suggest the level of complexity involved in designing intermodal logistics networks. This research develops a mathematical model using the multiple-allocation p-hub median approach. The model encompasses the dynamics of individual modes of transportation through transportation costs, modal connectivity costs, and fixed location costs under service time requirements. A tabu search meta-heuristic is used to solve large size (100 node) problems. The solutions obtained using this meta-heuristic are compared with tight lower bounds developed using a Lagrangian relaxation approach. An experimental study evaluates the performance of the intermodal logistics networks and explores the effects and interactions of several factors on the design of intermodal hub networks subject to service time requirements.     

Multi-source facility location–allocation and inventory problem

We consider a joint facility location–allocation and inventory problem that incorporates multiple sources of warehouses. The problem is motivated by a real situation faced by a multinational applied chemistry company. In this problem, multiple products are produced in several plants. Warehouse can be replenished by several plants together because of capabilities and capacities of plants. Each customer in this problem has stochastic demand and certain amount of safety stock must be maintained in warehouses so as to achieve certain customer service level. The problem is to determine number and locations of warehouses, allocation of customers demand and inventory levels of warehouses. The objective is to minimize the expected total cost with the satisfaction of desired demand weighted average customer lead time and desired cycle service level. The problem is formulated as a mixed integer nonlinear programming model. Utilizing approximation and transformation techniques, we develop an iterative heuristic method for the problem. An experiment study shows that the proposed procedure performs well in comparison with a lower bound.     

Hotelling’s location model with negative network externalities

We study a variation of Hotelling’s location model in which consumers choose between firms based on travel distances as well as the number of consumers visiting each firm. The model in which the network externality is the same for all firms was proposed by Kohlberg (Econ Lett 11:211–216, 1983), who claims that no equilibrium exists for more than two firms. We assume the network effects to be linear and, in contrast to the claim in Kohlberg (Econ Lett 11:211–216, 1983), derive a condition under which a subgame perfect Nash equilibrium exists for four and six firms. Moreover, we show that for more than two firms the equilibrium locations of the firms are different from the equilibrium locations in Hotelling’s location model. Our results suggest that a subgame perfect Nash equilibrium exists if and only if the number of firms is even. We also provide examples of subgame perfect equilibria in which the network externality is different for some of the firms.     

Error reduction of the adaptive conforming and nonconforming finite element methods with red–green refinement

In this paper, we analyze the convergence of the adaptive conforming and nonconforming $P_1$ finite element methods with red–green refinement based on standard Dörfler marking strategy. Since the mesh after refining is not nested into the one before, the usual Galerkin-orthogonality or quasi-orthogonality for newest vertex bisection does not hold for this case. To overcome such a difficulty, we develop some new quasi-orthogonality instead under certain condition on the initial mesh (Condition A). Consequently, we show convergence of the adaptive methods by establishing the reduction of some total errors. To weaken the condition on the initial mesh, we propose a modified red–green refinement and prove the convergence of the associated adaptive methods under a much weaker condition on the initial mesh (Condition B). Furthermore, we also develop an initial mesh generator which guarantee that all the interior triangles are equilateral triangles (satisfy Condition A) and the other triangles containing at least one vertex on the boundary satisfy Condition B.     

New lower bounds for the facility location problem with clients’ preferences

A bilevel facility location problem in which the clients choose suppliers based on their own preferences is studied. It is shown that the coopertative and anticooperative statements can be reduced to a particular case in which every client has a linear preference order on the set of facilities to be opened. For this case, various reductions of the bilevel problem to integer linear programs are considered. A new statement of the problem is proposed that is based on a family of valid inequalities that are related to the problem on a pair of matrices and the set packing problem. It is shown that this formulation is stronger than the other known formulations from the viewpoint of the linear relaxation and the integrality gap.     

Joint pricing and procurement of substitutable products with random demands – A technical note

Single-period joint pricing and procurement of substitutable products entails one time procurement and pricing decisions for substitutable products that face price dependent stochastic demands. Recently, Karakul and Chan [Karakul, M., Chan, L., 2008. Analytical and managerial implications of integrating product substitutability in the joint pricing and procurement problem. European Journal of Operational Research 190, 179–204] considered this problem for two one-way substitutable products. Authors model the demands for each product in the well known additive form, where the mean demands are linear functions of the price of the high grade new product plus an additive stochastic noise term. By assuming that the noise term for the low grade existing product follows a general discrete distribution and the noise term for the high grade product follows a general continuous distribution, authors are able to show the unimodality of the expected profit function with respect to the procurement quantities and the price of the new product. In this paper, we extend this result to the case where the noise term in the demand of the low grade product follows a general continuous distribution as well.     

A splitter location–allocation problem in designing fiber optic access networks

This paper deals with a physical access network design problem of fiber-to-the-home passive optical network (FTTH-PON). The design of FTTH-PON access network seeks the cost effective location of optical splitters that provide optical connectivity from central office to subscribers in a given service area. We formulate the problem as a multi-level capacitated facility location problem on a tree topology with nonlinear link cost. Dealing with the nonlinear link cost, we propose an objective function relaxation approach to obtain tight upper and lower bounds. We develop valid inequalities that enhance the lower bound and propose a local search heuristic procedure that improves the upper bound. Valid inequalities force integrality condition on the number of splitters placed at nodes. Local search heuristic improves the initial greedy solution by placing splitters on the sub-root nodes of a given tree network. Computational results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed solution procedures.     

On the location of resonances of exponentially decaying Sturm–Liouville potentials

The paper is concerned with analytic continuation into the unphysical sheet for Sturm–Liouville potentials whose decay at infinity is no faster than O(e^−ax). A resonance-free region is found and the existence of a natural boundary is discussed. An example related to the Bessel equation is examined in some detail.     

Collocation with WEB–Splines

We describe a collocation method with weighted extended B–splines (WEB–splines) for arbitrary bounded multidimensional domains, considering Poisson’s equation as a typical model problem. By slightly modifying the B–spline classification for the WEB–basis, the centers of the supports of inner B–splines can be used as collocation points. This resolves the mismatch between the number of basis functions and interpolation conditions, already present in classical univariate schemes, in a simple fashion. Collocation with WEB–splines is particularly easy to implement when the domain boundary can be represented as zero set of a weight function; sample programs are provided on the website http://www.web-spline.de. In contrast to standard finite element methods, no mesh generation and numerical integration is required, regardless of the geometric shape of the domain. As a consequence, the system equations can be compiled very efficiently. Moreover, numerical tests confirm that increasing the B–spline degree yields highly accurate approximations already on relatively coarse grids. Compared with Ritz-Galerkin methods, the observed convergence rates are decreased by 1 or 2 when using splines of odd or even order, respectively. This drawback, however, is outweighed by a substantially smaller bandwidth of collocation matrices.     

A skew–normal mixture of joint location,scale and skewness models

Normal mixture regression models are one of the most important statistical data analysis tools in a heterogeneous population. When the data set under consideration involves asymmetric outcomes, in the last two decades, the skew normal distribution has been shown beneficial in dealing with asymmetric data in various theoretic and applied problems. In this paper, we propose and study a novel class of models: a skew–normal mixture of joint location,scale and skewness models to analyze the heteroscedastic skew–normal data coming from a heterogeneous population. The issues of maximum likelihood estimation are addressed. In particular, an Expectation–Maximization(EM) algorithm for estimating the model parameters is developed. Properties of the estimators of the regression coefficients are evaluated through Monte Carlo experiments. Results from the analysis of a real data set from the Body Mass Index(BMI) data are presented.     

Cauchy–Kowaleskaya–Kashiwara theorem with growth conditions

Here we prove the Cauchy–Kowaleskaya–Kashiwara theorem for holomorphic functions with growth conditions.     

The Cahn–Hilliard–Hele–Shaw system with singular potential

The Cahn–Hilliard–Hele–Shaw system is a fundamental diffuse-interface model for an incompressible binary fluid confined in a Hele–Shaw cell. It consists of a convective Cahn–Hilliard equation in which the velocity u is subject to a Korteweg force through Darcy's equation. In this paper, we aim to investigate the system with a physically relevant potential (i.e., of logarithmic type). This choice ensures that the (relative) concentration difference φ takes values within the admissible range. To the best of our knowledge, essentially all the available contributions in the literature are concerned with a regular approximation of the singular potential. Here we first prove the existence of a global weak solution with finite energy that satisfies an energy dissipative property. Then, in dimension two, we further obtain the uniqueness and regularity of global weak solutions. In particular, we show that any two-dimensional weak solution satisfies the so-called strict separation property, namely, if φ is not a pure state at some initial time, then it stays instantaneously away from the pure states. When the spatial dimension is three, we prove the existence of a unique global strong solution, provided that the initial datum is regular enough and sufficiently close to any local minimizer of the free energy. This also yields the local Lyapunov stability of the local minimizer itself. Finally, we prove that under suitable assumptions any global solution converges to a single equilibrium as time goes to infinity.