Some Properties of Redundant Constraints and Extraneous Variables in Direct and Dual Linear Programming Problems

Abstract

Model equivalences may sometimes be used to replace “realistic” but unwieldy initial formulations with simpler counterparts. This can involve sophisticated uses of prototypes, quasi models, etc., or it may involve only simpler ideas of redundancy elimination, removal of extraneous variables, etc. In either case questions can arise concerning the properties of these models when further analyses are to be conducted via parameterizations, duality, etc. These topics are examined in the general context of direct and dual linear programming problems with special reference to boundedness properties of the associated solution sets. It is shown that a bounded solution set in one problem implies an unbounded solution set in the dual problem, unless both are one-point sets. The ideas of projection equivalence are then developed to suggest a possible route for utilizing these one-point solution properties for analyzing or solving linear programming problems. These possibilities might prove useful when, for example, it is desired to simplify an initial formulation while achieving a solution that has additional properties—e.g., boundedness—that are also considered desirable.