Lecture

Simplex Algorithm: Solution on a Vertex

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Description

This lecture introduces the simplex algorithm, the most famous optimization algorithm designed by George Dantzig in 1949 to solve linear optimization problems. The algorithm is based on the concept that the solution to a problem lies on one of the vertices of the constraint polyhedron. It illustrates this idea using a one-dimensional problem and explains how the optimal solution can be found on a vertex. The lecture then generalizes this concept to multiple dimensions, highlighting that for a linear optimization problem with a feasible solution, the optimal solution can be found on a vertex of the constraint polyhedron. The lecture also discusses the practical challenges of enumerating all the base solutions of a polyhedron and emphasizes the importance of understanding feasible base solutions in the context of the simplex algorithm.

In MOOC

Optimization: principles and algorithms - Linear optimization

What you'll learn Formulation: you will learn from simple examples how to formulate, transform and characterize an optimization problem. Constraints: you will learn how to represent the constraints of a linear optimization problem, both from a geometric and algebraic point of views. Duality: you will learn how to derive a companion problem called the "dual". Optimality conditions: you will learn sufficient and necessary conditions for an optimal solution. Simplex method: you will learn an algorithm to solve

Official source

Ontological neighbourhood

Theoretical computer science

Algorithms and data structures: Combinatorial optimization

Related concepts (27)

Linear programming

Linear programming (LP), also called linear optimization, is a method to achieve the best outcome (such as maximum profit or lowest cost) in a mathematical model whose requirements are represented by linear relationships. Linear programming is a special case of mathematical programming (also known as mathematical optimization). More formally, linear programming is a technique for the optimization of a linear objective function, subject to linear equality and linear inequality constraints.

Mathematical optimization

Mathematical optimization (alternatively spelled optimisation) or mathematical programming is the selection of a best element, with regard to some criterion, from some set of available alternatives. It is generally divided into two subfields: discrete optimization and continuous optimization. Optimization problems arise in all quantitative disciplines from computer science and engineering to operations research and economics, and the development of solution methods has been of interest in mathematics for centuries.

Combinatorial optimization

Combinatorial optimization is a subfield of mathematical optimization that consists of finding an optimal object from a finite set of objects, where the set of feasible solutions is discrete or can be reduced to a discrete set. Typical combinatorial optimization problems are the travelling salesman problem ("TSP"), the minimum spanning tree problem ("MST"), and the knapsack problem. In many such problems, such as the ones previously mentioned, exhaustive search is not tractable, and so specialized algorithms that quickly rule out large parts of the search space or approximation algorithms must be resorted to instead.

Convex optimization

Convex optimization is a subfield of mathematical optimization that studies the problem of minimizing convex functions over convex sets (or, equivalently, maximizing concave functions over convex sets). Many classes of convex optimization problems admit polynomial-time algorithms, whereas mathematical optimization is in general NP-hard.

Nonlinear programming

In mathematics, nonlinear programming (NLP) is the process of solving an optimization problem where some of the constraints or the objective function are nonlinear. An optimization problem is one of calculation of the extrema (maxima, minima or stationary points) of an objective function over a set of unknown real variables and conditional to the satisfaction of a system of equalities and inequalities, collectively termed constraints. It is the sub-field of mathematical optimization that deals with problems that are not linear.

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