Abstract
Signature algorithms solve certain classes of transportation problems in a number of steps bounded by the diameter of the dual polyhedron. The class of problems to which signature algorithms may be applied—the “signature classes” of the title—are characterized, and the monotonic Hirsch conjecture is shown to hold for them. In addition, certain more precise results are given for different cases. Finally, it is explained why a supposed proof of the Hirsch conjecture for all transportation polytopes is incomplete and apparently irremedial.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
J.L. Ahrens, “Counting basic feasible solutions of transportation problems,”Operations Research Verfahren 31 (1978) 29–43.
M.L. Balinski, “On two special classes of transportation polytopes,”Mathematical Programming Study 1 (1974) 43–58.
M.L. Balinski, “The Hirsch conjecture for dual transportation polyhedra,”Mathematics of Operations Research 9 (1984) 629–633.
M.L. Balinski, “Signature methods for the assignment problem,”Operations Research 33 (1985) 527–536.
M.L. Balinski, “A competitive (dual) simplex method for the assignment problem,”Mathematical Programming 34 (1986) 125–141.
M.L. Balinski and D. Gale, “On the core of the assignment game,” in: L.J. Leifman, ed.,Functional Analysis, Optimization and Mathematical Economics: a Memorial Volume in Honor of L. Kantorovich (Oxford University Press, Oxford and New York, 1990) pp. 274–289.
M.L. Balinski and J. Gonzalez, “Maximum matchings in bipartite graphs via strong spanning trees,”Networks 21 (1991) 165–179.
M.L. Balinski and A. Russakoff, “On the assignment polytope,”SIAM Review 16(4) (1974) 516–525.
E.D. Bolker, “Transportation polytopes,”Journal of Combinatorial Theory Series B 13 (1972) 251–262.
D. Goldfarb, “Efficient dual simplex algorithms for the assignment problem,”Mathematical Programming 33 (1985) 187–203.
J. Gonzalez, “Sparse dual transportation polyhedra: extreme points and signatures,”Operations Research Letters 9 (1990) 115–120.
B. Grunbaum,Convex Polytopes (Interscience, New York, 1967).
V. Klee, “Paths on polyhedra I,”Journal of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics 13 (1965) 946–956.
V. Klee and P. Kleinschmidt, “Thed-step conjecture and its relatives,”Mathematics of Operations Research 12 (1987) 718–755.
V. Klee and C. Witzgall, “Facets and vertices of transportation polytopes,” in: G. Dantzig and A.F. Veinott, eds.,Mathematics of the Decision Sciences II (American Mathematical Society, Providence, RI, 1968) 257–282.
P. Kleinschmidt, C.W. Lee and H. Schannath, “Transportation problems which can be solved by the use of Hirsch-paths for the dual problems,”Mathematical Programming 37 (1987) 153–168.
M.K. Kravtsov, “A proof of the maximal diameter conjecture for the transportation polyhedron,”Kibernetika 21 (1985) 79–82. [In Russian.]
K. Paparrizos, “A relaxation column signature method for assignment problems,”European Journal of Operational Research 50 (1991) 211–219.
F.J. Rispoli, “The monotonic diameter of the perfect matching and shortest path polytopes,”Operations Research Letters, 12 (1992) 23–27.
M.J. Todd, “The monotonic bounded Hirsch conjecture is false for dimension at least 4,”Mathematics of Operations Research 5 (1980) 599–601.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Dedicated with affection to Philip Wolfe on the occasion of his 65th birthday.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Balinski, M.L., Rispoli, F.J. Signature classes of transportation polytopes. Mathematical Programming 60, 127–144 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01580606
Received:
Revised:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01580606