Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-computer-science-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2019/algorithms/2/c/solution
Past exam of the computer science course of the University of Oxford 2019 Algorithms 2 c Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-25
First suppose the stated nonnegative vectors exist. If , multiply by and by . Since and , this gives the contradictionThus the certificate implies .
For the converse, putA common feasible point exists exactly when , . Introducing a nonnegative vector of slack variables makes this equivalent toIf this system is infeasible, the nonnegative-equations version of Farkas' lemma supplies an unrestricted vector such thatSplit according to the original two blocks of inequalities. The three conditions become , and , exactly the desired certificate. Both directions are proved. The role of is essential: it is why the combined normal need only be nonnegative rather than zero.[ref]
Convex Optimization by Stephen Boyd and Lieven Vandenberghe. §5.8.3, printed pp. 261–262, linear-inequality alternatives and Farkas' lemma
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