AN O(root n L)-ITERATION LARGE-STEP PRIMAL-DUAL AFFINE ALGORITHM FOR LINEAR PROGRAMMING

An algorithm based on reducing a suitable potential function for linear programming is described. At each iteration, separate scalings are applied to the primal and dual problems, and a step is taken in either the primal or the dual space. It is shown that a constant reduction can always be achieved, leading to a bound of O(n(1/2)L) iterations. Moreover, it is also shown that a reduction of Omega(n(1/4)) can usually be obtained, so that O(n(1/4)L) iterations are expected to suffice. Finally, it is proved that no general algorithm taking either primal or dual steps and guaranteeing the reduction of such a potential function can achieve R-order of convergence greater than one.