Dantzig–Wolfe decomposition

Dantzig–Wolfe decomposition is an algorithm for solving linear programming problems with special structure. It was originally developed by George Dantzig and Philip Wolfe and initially published in 1960. Many texts on linear programming have sections dedicated to discussing this decomposition algorithm.

Dantzig–Wolfe decomposition relies on delayed column generation for improving the tractability of large-scale linear programs. For most linear programs solved via the revised simplex algorithm, at each step, most columns (variables) are not in the basis. In such a scheme, a master problem containing at least the currently active columns (the basis) uses a subproblem or subproblems to generate columns for entry into the basis such that their inclusion improves the objective function.