Simplex Algorithm - Canonical Tableaux

Canonical Tableaux

A linear program in standard form can be represented as a tableau of the form

The first row defines the objective function and the remaining rows specify the constraints. (Note, different authors use different conventions as to the exact layout.) If the columns of A can be rearranged so that it contains the identity matrix of order p (the number of rows in A) then the tableau is said to be in canonical form. The variables corresponding to the columns of the identity matrix are called basic variables while the remaining variables are called nonbasic or free variables. If the nonbasic variables are assumed to be 0, then the values of the basic variables are easily obtained as entries in b and this solution is a basic feasible solution.

Conversely, given a basic feasible solution, the columns corresponding to the nonzero variables can be expanded to a nonsingular matrix. If the corresponding tableau is multiplied by the inverse of this matrix then the result is a tableau in canonical form.

Let

be a tableau in canonical form. Additional row-addition transformations can be applied to remove the coefficients cT_B from the objective function. This process is called pricing out and results in a canonical tableau

where z_B is the value of the objective function at the corresponding basic feasible solution. The updated coefficients, also known as relative cost coefficients, are the rates of change of the objective function with respect to the nonbasic variables.