Landmarks in defense literature

Military Leadership: In Pursuit of Excellence: edited by Robert L. Taylor and William E. Rosenbach. Westview Press, Boulder, Colorado, 253 pp. 1984.     

Optimal control of price through restricted production

Consider a regulated monopolist whose current profits would be maximized if they could charge a price p?, where p? exceeds the current market price. By reducing production below current consumer demand the monopolist can create an illusion of a shortage and induce the regulator to allow a price increase. Conditions are given for which the production rate that maximizes the monopolist's expected discounted profits over an infinite horizon will have the property that the amount of unsatisfied consumer demand will be a non-increasing function of current market price.     

Computing the discounted return in markov and semi-markov chains

This paper addresses the problem of computing the expected discounted return in finite Markov and semi-Markov chains. The objective is to reveal insights into two questions. First, which iterative methods hold the most promise? Second, when are interative methods preferred to Gaussian elimination? A set of twenty-seven randomly generated problems is used to compare the performance of the methods considered. The observations that apply to the problems generated here are as follows: Gauss-Seidel is not preferred to Pre-Jacobi in general. However, if the matrix is reordered in a certain way and the author's row sum extrapolation is used, then Gauss-Seidel is preferred. Transforming a semi-Markov problem into a Markov one using a transformation that comes from Schweitzer does not yield improved performance. A method analogous to symmetric successive overrelaxation (SSOR) in numerical analysis yields improved performance, especially when the row-sum extrapolation is used only sparingly. This method is then compared to Gaussian elimination and is found to be superior for most of the problems generated.     

The M/G/1 queue with instantaneous bernoulli feedback

In this paper we are concerned with several random processes that occur in M/G/1 queues with instantaneous feedback in which the feedback decision process is a Bernoulli process. Queue length processes embedded at various times are studied. It is shown that these do not all have the same asymptotic distribution, and that in general none of the output, input, or feedback processes is renewal. These results have implications in the application of certain decomposition results to queueing networks.     

Markov chain with taboo states and reliability

A computationally feasible matrix method is presented to find the first-passage probabilities in a Markov chain where a set of states is taboo during transit. This concept has been used to evaluate the reliability of a system whose changes in strength can be thought of as a Markov chain, while the environment in which it is functioning generates stresses which can also be envisaged as another Markov chain.     

Some comparative & design aspects of fixed cycle production systems

A serial production line is defined wherein a unit is produced if, and only if, all machines are functioning. A single buffer stock with finite capacity is to be placed immediately after one of the first N-1 machines in the N machine line. When all machines have equal probability of failure it is shown that the optimal buffer position is exactly in the middle of the line. This result is synthesized with the earlier work of Koenigsberg and Buzacott including an analysis of the covariance between transition states. An alternative model formulation is presented and integrated with previous results. Finally, a sufficient condition and solution procedure is derived for the installation of a buffer where there is a possible trade-off between increasing the reliability of the line versus adding a buffer stock.