Question: In this problem we'll see how strong duality, which is critical in single-commodity flow (as discussed in class and in previous problems), breaks down in

 In this problem we'll see how strong duality, which is critical

In this problem we'll see how strong duality, which is critical in single-commodity flow (as discussed in class and in previous problems), breaks down in multi-commodity flow. In multi-commodity flow our basic input is (V, C, s_1, t_1, d_1,.. ., s_k, t_k, d_k) where each s_i or t_i is a vertex in V (there may be repetitions in the list), and each d_i is some nonnegative demand. The meaning of the edge capacities C_uv is that C_uv, bounds the total of all commodities flowing across edge (u, v) in either direction. We say the input is feasible if there are flows f^1,. . ., f^k which ship quantity d_i of flow from s_i to t_i for each i, and which in combination respect the edge capacities. More carefully, this means that each f^i is an s_i - t_i flow (in the single-commodity sense, so f^i has flow conservation everywhere except at s_i and t_i), and that for each (u, v), we have sigma_1^k|f_uv^i| lessthanorequalto C_uv. Let (S,S^c) be any partition of V, i.e., a cut. The capacity of the cut is C_S, S^c = sigma_u elementof S, v elementof S^c.C_uv The demand of the cut is D_S, S^c = . (a) (Weak duality) Show that the input is infeasible if there is a cut (S, S^c) such that D_S, S^c > C_S, S^c. (b) (Failure of strong duality) By appropriately choosing demands and capacities for the following network, show that the input may be infeasible even if for all cuts (S, S^c), D_S, S^c lessthanorequalto C_S, S^c. (I.e., the converse of (5a) does not hold.) How large can you make min_i Val(f^i)/d_i? (For maximum credit, show how to get 3/4.)

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