FUTHER EXPLORATION

a) ) LINEAR PROGRAMMING
Linear programming (L.P. is also called linear optimization) is a
method achieve the best outcome (such as maximum profit or lower
cast) in mathematical model whose requirements are represented by
linear relationships. Linear programming is a special case of
mathematical programming (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. Its flexible region is a convex polytype, which is
a set defined as the intersection of finitely many half spaces, each of
which is a set defined by a linear inequality, Its objective function is a
real-valued affine function defined on this polyhedron. A linear
programming algorithm finds a point in the polyhedron where this
function has the smallest (or largest) value if such a point exists.
) HISTORY
The problem solving a system of linear inequalities dates back at
least as far as Fourier, who in 1827 published a method for solving
them, and after whom the method of Fourier-Motzin elimination is
named.
The first linear programming formulation of a problem that is
equivalent to the general linear programming problem was given by
Leonid Khachiyan in 1939, who also proposed a method for solving it.
He developed it during world war as a way to plan expenditures and
returns so as to reduce costs to the army and increase loses incurred
by the enemy. About the same time as Kantorovich, the DutchAmerican economist T.C Koopmans formulated classical economic
problems as linear programs. Kantorovich and Koopmans later shared
the 1975 Nobel Prize in economics. In 1941, Frank Lauren Hitchcock
also formulated transportation problems as linear programming and
gave a solution very similar to the later simplex method; Hitchcock had
died in 1957 and the Nobel Prize is not awarded posthumously.
During 1946-1947, George B.pantzig independently developed
general linear programming formulation to use for planning problems
in US Air Force. In 1947,pantzig also invented the simplex method that
for the first time efficiently tackled the linear programming problem in
most cases. When pantzig arranges meeting with Jon von Neumam to

discuss his simplex method, Neumam immediately conjured the theory

of duality by realizing that the problem he had been working in game
theory was equivalent. Pantzig provided formal proof in an
unpublished report A Thoerem on Linear Inequalities on January 5,
1948. Postwar, many industries found its use in their daily planning.
Pantzig original example was to find the best assignment of 70
people to do 70 jobs. The computing power required to test all
permutations to select the best assignments is vast; the number of
possible configurations exceeds the number of particles in the
observable universe. However it takes only a moment to find the
optimum solution by posing the problem as linear programming and
applying the simplex algorithm. The theory behind linear programming
drastically reduces the number of possible solutions that must be
checked.
The linear programming problem was first shown to be solvable in
polynomial filme by Leonard Khochiyanin in 1979, but a larger
theoretical and practical breakthrough in the field come 1984 when
Narendra Karmarter introduced a new interior-point method for solving
linear programming methods.

) THE IMPORTANCE OF LINEAR PROGRAMMING IN REAL LIFE

Linear programming is a considerable filed of optimization for
several reasons. Many practical problems in operations research can
be expressed as linear programming problems. Certain special cases of
linear programming, such as network flow problems and
multicommodity flow problems are considered important enough to
have generated much research on specialized algorithms for their
solution. A number of algorithm for other type of optimization theory
such as duality, decomposition and the importance of convexity and its
generalization, Likewise, linear programming is heavily used in
microeconomics and company management, such as planning,
production, transportation, technology and other issues. Although the
modern management issues are ever-changing most companies would
like to maximize profits or minimize costs with limited resource.
v) LINEAR PROGRAMMING IS BEING APPLIED IN VARIOUS FIELD OF
STUDY
Linear programming can be applied to various fields of study. It is
used in business and economics, but can also be utilized for some
engineering for some engineering problems. Industries that use linear
programming models include transportation, energy,
telecommunications and manufacturing. It has proved useful in
modeling types of problems in planning, routing, scheduling,
assignment and design.

EXAMPLES OF LINEAR PROGRAMMING APPLICATION

TRANSPORTATION
A company has a stock of goods allocated in m storehouses. The
goods are to be delivered to n customers, each of which is requesting a
certain quality of goods. It is supposed that the quantity of goods in
the storehouses is sufficient to cover the customers request. The
transportation cost of one unit of the goods from the storehouse no. to
the customer no.j is c for i=1, 2 , m and j=1,2,. N. The goal is to
make up a transportations plan so that the requests of the customers
are met and the total transportations costs are minimal.
MINIMIZATION OF PRODUCTION COSTS
A company produces n different kinds of goods. It has received
orders from customers to supply certain quantity of each kind of the
goods. The company produces the goods by m activities. Each of the
activities no.1, 2,.m produces all the kinds of the goods no1,2,..n in
a certain ratio. The unit production costs of the i-th activity are ci. The
goal is to make up an optimal production activities , so that the orders
of customers are met and the total production costs are minimal.