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hkcool
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This was on my homework this week. I already turned it in but the professor hasn't posted the solutions yet so I'm genuinely curious what the answer is.
The LP:
http://i48.tinypic.com/25svp6u.png
The problem:
http://i50.tinypic.com/nnnm2w.png
c^{T}d = z_{N}^{T}d_{N}
sorry for the non-use of latex! I tried to use the ## ## and [itex] environments but couldn't get it to work!
Not sure how standard the notation is since we don't use a textbook, just the professor's notes. Anyway, I'm taking my first analysis course this semester so I'm getting decent with proofs. He gives us a big hint in the problem statement.
So suppose there exists an i in the index set N such that ##z_{Ni} = 0##. Does this mean that we just let all the remaining components of z_N be strictly positive? I assumed we want to show that if z_N >= 0, we no longer have a unique solution so we require z_N > 0. Optimality occurs when z_N >= 0, but I interpreted the problem as wanting us to show that we need a stronger condition for uniqueness
From this, I said that d_N must necessarily be the zero vector since we use the convention that:
d_Nj = 1, if there exists a j0 such that z_Nj0 < 0
d_Nj = 0, otherwise
Since we clearly have that z_N is non-negative, d_N must be zero. We have the relation
(c^T)d = (z_N)^T*d_N (since d_N = 0)
Then this means that we can find a feasible direction d such that (c^T)d = 0, ie we can step down to x' = x + td. The objective function value at x' is:
(c^T)(x' + td) = (c^T)x' + t*(c^T)d = (c^T)x' + 0
which is a contradiction since we know x is a unique solution but we find that x' is also a solution.
My proof-writing is sketchy but I think I understood the main jist. The problem is I don't get how the hint that we should assume that a single component of z_N is zero helps us. How is this any different than if I assumed for contradiction that z_N was strictly positive for all i? Because for strictly positive z_N, we'd still have d_N = 0.
Homework Statement
The LP:
http://i48.tinypic.com/25svp6u.png
The problem:
http://i50.tinypic.com/nnnm2w.png
Homework Equations
c^{T}d = z_{N}^{T}d_{N}
sorry for the non-use of latex! I tried to use the ## ## and [itex] environments but couldn't get it to work!
The Attempt at a Solution
Not sure how standard the notation is since we don't use a textbook, just the professor's notes. Anyway, I'm taking my first analysis course this semester so I'm getting decent with proofs. He gives us a big hint in the problem statement.
So suppose there exists an i in the index set N such that ##z_{Ni} = 0##. Does this mean that we just let all the remaining components of z_N be strictly positive? I assumed we want to show that if z_N >= 0, we no longer have a unique solution so we require z_N > 0. Optimality occurs when z_N >= 0, but I interpreted the problem as wanting us to show that we need a stronger condition for uniqueness
From this, I said that d_N must necessarily be the zero vector since we use the convention that:
d_Nj = 1, if there exists a j0 such that z_Nj0 < 0
d_Nj = 0, otherwise
Since we clearly have that z_N is non-negative, d_N must be zero. We have the relation
(c^T)d = (z_N)^T*d_N (since d_N = 0)
Then this means that we can find a feasible direction d such that (c^T)d = 0, ie we can step down to x' = x + td. The objective function value at x' is:
(c^T)(x' + td) = (c^T)x' + t*(c^T)d = (c^T)x' + 0
which is a contradiction since we know x is a unique solution but we find that x' is also a solution.
My proof-writing is sketchy but I think I understood the main jist. The problem is I don't get how the hint that we should assume that a single component of z_N is zero helps us. How is this any different than if I assumed for contradiction that z_N was strictly positive for all i? Because for strictly positive z_N, we'd still have d_N = 0.
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