CONTINUOUS PROGRAMMING METHODS ON AN ANALOG COMPUTER,

A feasible solution of a programming problem, in which a positive vector x maximizes a function gx under m convex conditions f sub i x or O usually exhibits certain stable properties and the entire system can be said to be in equilibrium or that it is an equilibrium model. Beginning at a solution, a time transient may be induced in the system by making f andor g functions of time. Methods for examining such transients on the analog computer are examined with examples. The problem considered here arises because often the behavior of a system in time under the influence of a variation of parameters is as interesting as the initial or final stable states. Typical examples are found in a petroleum fractionating column or a complex chemical equilibrium.