The “Principle of Least Action" is the foundational principle of fundamental physics. Application of this principle to the supply chain naturally results in an “uncertainty principle” linking variation in production to variation in net‐inventory. The model also provides an easy means of determining the stationary distribution of net‐inventory for a variety of control strategies. The formalism results in a control strategy that outperforms commonly used control methods.
The ATLAS Collaboration. 2012. Observation of a new particle in the search for the Standard Model Higgs boson with the ATLAS detector at the LHC, Phys. Lett. B716: 1–29.
2.
BoltyanskiiV. G. 1958. Maximum principle in the theory of optimal processes, Dokl. Akad. Nauk. SSSR119(6): 1070–1073.
3.
BurnsJ. B.ConnollyC. I.GrupenR. A.JogJ. S.. 2012. A least‐action model for dyskinesias in Parkenson's disease. Available www.ai.sri.com/pubs/files/388.ps accessed date November 4, 2012).
4.
BurrageK.LeaneI.LytheG.. 2007. Numerical methods for second‐order stochastic differential equations, SIAM J. Sci. Comput. 29: 245–264.
De SapioV.KhatibO.DelpS.. 2007. Least action principles and their application to constrained and task‐level problems in robotics and biomechanics, Multibody Syst. Dyn.19: 303–322.
16.
SethiS. P.ThompsonG. L.. 2000. Optimal Control Theory: Applications to Management Science and Economics, 2nd edn. Kluwer, Norwell, MA.
17.
SamuelsonP. A. 1970. Maximum principles in analytical economics, Nobel Memorial Lecture, December 11, 1970, Stockholm.
18.
SamuelsonP. A.1974. A biological least‐action principle for the ecological model of Volterra‐Lotka, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U S A, 71–8: 3041–3044.
19.
StermanJ.2000. Business Dynamics: Systems Thinking and Modeling for a Complex World. McGraw‐Hill, New York.
20.
StevensC. F. 1995. The Six Core Theories of Modern Physics. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA.
21.
ZipkinP. H. 2000. Foundations of Inventory Management. McGraw‐Hill, New York.
