Implementing Simplex Method infinite loop - matlab

Question

I am trying to implement a simplex algorithm following the rules I was given at my optimization course. The problem is
min c'*x s.t.
Ax = b
x >= 0
All vectors are assumes to be columns, ' denotes the transpose. The algorithm should also return the solution to dual LP. The rules to follow are:
Here, A_J denotes columns from A with indices in J and x_J, x_K denotes elements of vector x with indices in J or K respectively. Vector a_s is column s of matrix A.
Now I do not understand how this algorithm takes care of condition x >= 0, but I decided to give it a try and follow it step by step. I used Matlab for this and got the following code.
X = zeros(n, 1);
Y = zeros(m, 1);
% i. Choose starting basis J and K = {1,2,...,n} \ J
J = [4 5 6] % for our problem
K = setdiff(1:n, J)
% this while is for goto
while 1
% ii. Solve system A_J*\bar{x}_J = b.
xbar = A(:,J) \ b
% iii. Calculate value of criterion function with respect to current x_J.
fval = c(J)' * xbar
% iv. Calculate dual solution y from A_J^T*y = c_J.
y = A(:,J)' \ c(J)
% v. Calculate \bar{c}^T = c_K^T - u^T A_K. If \bar{c}^T >= 0, we have
% found the optimal solution. If not, select the smallest s \in K, such
% that c_s < 0. Variable x_s enters basis.
cbar = c(K)' - c(J)' * inv(A(:,J)) * A(:,K)
cbar = cbar'
tmp = findnegative(cbar)
if tmp == -1 % we have found the optimal solution since cbar >= 0
X(J) = xbar;
Y = y;
FVAL = fval;
return
end
s = findnegative(c, K) %x_s enters basis
% vi. Solve system A_J*\bar{a} = a_s. If \bar{a} <= 0, then the problem is
% unbounded.
abar = A(:,J) \ A(:,s)
if findpositive(abar) == -1 % we failed to find positive number
disp('The problem is unbounded.')
return;
end
% vii. Calculate v = \bar{x}_J / \bar{a} and find the smallest rho \in J,
% such that v_rho > 0. Variable x_rho exits basis.
v = xbar ./ abar
rho = J(findpositive(v))
% viii. Update J and K and goto ii.
J = setdiff(J, rho)
J = union(J, s)
K = setdiff(K, s)
K = union(K, rho)
end
Functions findpositive(x) and findnegative(x, S) return the first index of positive or negative value in x. S is the set of indices, over which we look at. If S is omitted, whole vector is checked. Semicolons are omitted for debugging purposes.
The problem I tested this code on is
c = [-3 -1 -3 zeros(1,3)];
A = [2 1 1; 1 2 3; 2 2 1];
A = [A eye(3)];
b = [2; 5; 6];
The reason for zeros(1,3) and eye(3) is that the problem is inequalities and we need slack variables. I have set starting basis to [4 5 6] because the notes say that starting basis should be set to slack variables.
Now, what happens during execution is that on first run of while, variable with index 1 enters basis (in Matlab, indices go from 1 on) and 4 exits it and that is reasonable. On the second run, 2 enters the basis (since it is the smallest index such that c(idx) < 0 and 1 leaves it. But now on the next iteration, 1 enters basis again and I understand why it enters, because it is the smallest index, such that c(idx) < 0. But here the looping starts. I assume that should not have happened, but following the rules I cannot see how to prevent this.
I guess that there has to be something wrong with my interpretation of the notes but I just cannot see where I am wrong. I also remember that when we solved LP on the paper, we were updating our subjective function on each go, since when a variable entered basis, we removed it from the subjective function and expressed that variable in subj. function with the expression from one of the equalities, but I assume that is different algorithm.
Any remarks or help will be highly appreciated.

Answer 1

The problem has been solved. Turned out that the point 7 in the notes was wrong. Instead, point 7 should be