Pub Date : 2001-10-14DOI: 10.1109/SFCS.2001.959931
Tibor Szabó, E. Welzl
Suppose we are given (the edge graph of) an n-dimensional hypercube with its edges oriented so that every face has a unique sink. Such an orientation is called a unique sink orientation, and we are interested in finding the unique sink of the whole cube, when the orientation is given implicitly. The basic operation available is the so-called vertex evaluation, where we can access an arbitrary vertex of the cube, for which we obtain the orientations of the incident edges. Unique sink orientations occur when the edges of a deformed geometric n-dimensional cube (i.e., a polytope with the combinatorial structure of a cube) are oriented according to some generic linear function. These orientations are easily seen to be acyclic. The main motivation for studying unique sink orientations are certain linear complementarity problems, which allow this combinatorial abstraction (due to Stickney and Watson, 1978), where orientations with cycles can arise. Similarly, some quadratic optimization problems, like computing the smallest enclosing ball of a finite point set, can be formulated as finding a sink in a unique sink orientation (with cycles possible). For acyclic unique sink orientations, randomized procedures due to Bernd Gartner (1998, 2001) with an expected number of at Most e/sup 2/spl radic/n/ vertex evaluations have been known. For the general case, a simple randomized (3/2)/sup n/ procedure exists (without explicit mention in the literature). We present new algorithms, a deterministic O(1.61/sup n/) procedure and a randomized O((43/20)/sup n/2/)=O(1.47/sup n/) procedure for unique sink orientations. An interesting aspect of these algorithms is that they do not proceed on a path to the sink (in a simplex-like fashion), but they exploit the potential of random access (in the sense of arbitrary access) to any vertex of the cube. We consider this feature the main contribution of the paper. We believe that unique sink orientations have a rich structure, and there is ample space for improvement on the bounds given above.
{"title":"Unique sink orientations of cubes","authors":"Tibor Szabó, E. Welzl","doi":"10.1109/SFCS.2001.959931","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/SFCS.2001.959931","url":null,"abstract":"Suppose we are given (the edge graph of) an n-dimensional hypercube with its edges oriented so that every face has a unique sink. Such an orientation is called a unique sink orientation, and we are interested in finding the unique sink of the whole cube, when the orientation is given implicitly. The basic operation available is the so-called vertex evaluation, where we can access an arbitrary vertex of the cube, for which we obtain the orientations of the incident edges. Unique sink orientations occur when the edges of a deformed geometric n-dimensional cube (i.e., a polytope with the combinatorial structure of a cube) are oriented according to some generic linear function. These orientations are easily seen to be acyclic. The main motivation for studying unique sink orientations are certain linear complementarity problems, which allow this combinatorial abstraction (due to Stickney and Watson, 1978), where orientations with cycles can arise. Similarly, some quadratic optimization problems, like computing the smallest enclosing ball of a finite point set, can be formulated as finding a sink in a unique sink orientation (with cycles possible). For acyclic unique sink orientations, randomized procedures due to Bernd Gartner (1998, 2001) with an expected number of at Most e/sup 2/spl radic/n/ vertex evaluations have been known. For the general case, a simple randomized (3/2)/sup n/ procedure exists (without explicit mention in the literature). We present new algorithms, a deterministic O(1.61/sup n/) procedure and a randomized O((43/20)/sup n/2/)=O(1.47/sup n/) procedure for unique sink orientations. An interesting aspect of these algorithms is that they do not proceed on a path to the sink (in a simplex-like fashion), but they exploit the potential of random access (in the sense of arbitrary access) to any vertex of the cube. We consider this feature the main contribution of the paper. We believe that unique sink orientations have a rich structure, and there is ample space for improvement on the bounds given above.","PeriodicalId":378126,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings 2001 IEEE International Conference on Cluster Computing","volume":"33 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2001-10-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"121535078","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2001-10-14DOI: 10.1109/SFCS.2001.959877
C. Papadimitriou
There has been recently increasing interaction between game theory and, more generally, economic theory, with theoretical computer science, mainly in the context of the Internet. The paper is an invitation to this important frontier.
{"title":"Game theory and mathematical economics: a theoretical computer scientist's introduction","authors":"C. Papadimitriou","doi":"10.1109/SFCS.2001.959877","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/SFCS.2001.959877","url":null,"abstract":"There has been recently increasing interaction between game theory and, more generally, economic theory, with theoretical computer science, mainly in the context of the Internet. The paper is an invitation to this important frontier.","PeriodicalId":378126,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings 2001 IEEE International Conference on Cluster Computing","volume":"6 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2001-10-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129554095","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2001-10-14DOI: 10.1109/SFCS.2001.959899
J. Hershberger, S. Suri
We solve a shortest path problem that is motivated by recent interest in pricing networks or other computational resources. Informally, how much is an edge in a network worth to a user who wants to send data between two nodes along a shortest path? If the network is a decentralized entity, such as the Internet, in which multiple self-interested agents own different parts of the network, then auction-based pricing seems appropriate. A celebrated result from auction theory shows that the use of Vickrey pricing motivates the owners of the network resources to bid truthfully. In Vickrey's scheme, each agent is compensated in proportion to the marginal utility he brings to the auction. In the context of shortest path routing, an edge's utility is the value by which it lowers the length of the shortest path, i.e., the difference between the shortest path lengths with and without the edge. Our problem is to compute these marginal values for all the edges of the network efficiently. The naive method requires solving the single-source shortest path problem up to n times, for an n-node network. We show that the Vickrey prices for all the edges can be computed in the same asymptotic time complexity as one single-source shortest path problem. This solves an open problem posed by N. Nisan and A. Ronen (1999).
{"title":"Vickrey prices and shortest paths: what is an edge worth?","authors":"J. Hershberger, S. Suri","doi":"10.1109/SFCS.2001.959899","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/SFCS.2001.959899","url":null,"abstract":"We solve a shortest path problem that is motivated by recent interest in pricing networks or other computational resources. Informally, how much is an edge in a network worth to a user who wants to send data between two nodes along a shortest path? If the network is a decentralized entity, such as the Internet, in which multiple self-interested agents own different parts of the network, then auction-based pricing seems appropriate. A celebrated result from auction theory shows that the use of Vickrey pricing motivates the owners of the network resources to bid truthfully. In Vickrey's scheme, each agent is compensated in proportion to the marginal utility he brings to the auction. In the context of shortest path routing, an edge's utility is the value by which it lowers the length of the shortest path, i.e., the difference between the shortest path lengths with and without the edge. Our problem is to compute these marginal values for all the edges of the network efficiently. The naive method requires solving the single-source shortest path problem up to n times, for an n-node network. We show that the Vickrey prices for all the edges can be computed in the same asymptotic time complexity as one single-source shortest path problem. This solves an open problem posed by N. Nisan and A. Ronen (1999).","PeriodicalId":378126,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings 2001 IEEE International Conference on Cluster Computing","volume":"129 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2001-10-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"124232945","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2001-10-14DOI: 10.1109/SFCS.2001.959932
T. Bohman, A. Frieze
Given a digraph D=(V, A) and a set of /spl kappa/ pairs of vertices in V, we are interested in finding for each pair (x/sub i/, y/sub i/), a directed path connecting x/sub i/ to y/sub i/, such that the set of /spl kappa/ paths so found is arc-disjoint. For arbitrary graphs, the problem is /spl Nscr//spl Pscr/-complete, even for /spl kappa/=2. We present a polynomial time randomized algorithm for finding arc-disjoint paths in an r-regular expander digraph D. We show that if D has sufficiently strong expansion properties and r is sufficiently large, then all sets of /spl kappa/=/spl Omega/(n/log n) pairs of vertices can be joined. This is within a constant factor of best possible.
{"title":"Arc-disjoint paths in expander digraphs","authors":"T. Bohman, A. Frieze","doi":"10.1109/SFCS.2001.959932","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/SFCS.2001.959932","url":null,"abstract":"Given a digraph D=(V, A) and a set of /spl kappa/ pairs of vertices in V, we are interested in finding for each pair (x/sub i/, y/sub i/), a directed path connecting x/sub i/ to y/sub i/, such that the set of /spl kappa/ paths so found is arc-disjoint. For arbitrary graphs, the problem is /spl Nscr//spl Pscr/-complete, even for /spl kappa/=2. We present a polynomial time randomized algorithm for finding arc-disjoint paths in an r-regular expander digraph D. We show that if D has sufficiently strong expansion properties and r is sufficiently large, then all sets of /spl kappa/=/spl Omega/(n/log n) pairs of vertices can be joined. This is within a constant factor of best possible.","PeriodicalId":378126,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings 2001 IEEE International Conference on Cluster Computing","volume":"43 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2001-10-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"128672780","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2001-10-14DOI: 10.1109/SFCS.2001.959905
Jin-Yi Cai
We prove a connection of the worst-case complexity to the average-case complexity based on the Closest Vector Problem (CVP) for lattices. We assume that there is an efficient algorithm which can approximately solve a random instance of CVP, with a non-trivial success probability. For lattices under a certain natural distribution, we show that one can approximately solve several lattice problems (including a version of CVP) efficiently for every lattice with high probability.
{"title":"On the average-case hardness of CVP","authors":"Jin-Yi Cai","doi":"10.1109/SFCS.2001.959905","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/SFCS.2001.959905","url":null,"abstract":"We prove a connection of the worst-case complexity to the average-case complexity based on the Closest Vector Problem (CVP) for lattices. We assume that there is an efficient algorithm which can approximately solve a random instance of CVP, with a non-trivial success probability. For lattices under a certain natural distribution, we show that one can approximately solve several lattice problems (including a version of CVP) efficiently for every lattice with high probability.","PeriodicalId":378126,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings 2001 IEEE International Conference on Cluster Computing","volume":"20 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2001-10-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"122064871","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2001-10-14DOI: 10.1109/SFCS.2001.959922
Oded Goldreich, L. Trevisan
Property testing is a relaxation of decision problems in which it is required to distinguish YES-instances (i.e., objects having a predetermined property) from instances that are far from any YES-instance. We present three theorems regarding testing graph properties in the adjacency matrix representation. More specifically, these theorems relate to the project of characterizing graph properties according to the complexity of testing them (in the adjacency matrix representation). The first theorem is that there exist monotone graph properties in /spl Nscr//spl Pscr/ for which testing is very hard (i.e., requires one to examine a constant fraction of the entries in the matrix). The second theorem is that every graph property that can be tested making a number of queries that is independent of the size of the graph, can be so tested by uniformly selecting a set of vertices and accepting iff the induced subgraph has some fixed graph property (which is not necessarily the same as the one being tested). The third theorem refers to the framework of graph partition problems, and is a characterization of the subclass of properties that can be tested using a one-sided error tester, making a number of queries that is independent of the size of the graph.
{"title":"Three theorems regarding testing graph properties","authors":"Oded Goldreich, L. Trevisan","doi":"10.1109/SFCS.2001.959922","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/SFCS.2001.959922","url":null,"abstract":"Property testing is a relaxation of decision problems in which it is required to distinguish YES-instances (i.e., objects having a predetermined property) from instances that are far from any YES-instance. We present three theorems regarding testing graph properties in the adjacency matrix representation. More specifically, these theorems relate to the project of characterizing graph properties according to the complexity of testing them (in the adjacency matrix representation). The first theorem is that there exist monotone graph properties in /spl Nscr//spl Pscr/ for which testing is very hard (i.e., requires one to examine a constant fraction of the entries in the matrix). The second theorem is that every graph property that can be tested making a number of queries that is independent of the size of the graph, can be so tested by uniformly selecting a set of vertices and accepting iff the induced subgraph has some fixed graph property (which is not necessarily the same as the one being tested). The third theorem refers to the framework of graph partition problems, and is a characterization of the subclass of properties that can be tested using a one-sided error tester, making a number of queries that is independent of the size of the graph.","PeriodicalId":378126,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings 2001 IEEE International Conference on Cluster Computing","volume":"35 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2001-10-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"133929920","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2001-10-14DOI: 10.1109/SFCS.2001.959911
A. Storjohann
A deterministic algorithm for computing the Frobenius canonical-form of a matrix over a field is described. A similarity transformation-matrix is recovered in the same time. The algorithm is nearly optimal, requiring about the same number of field operations as required for matrix multiplication. Previously-known reductions to matrix multiplication are probabilistic.
{"title":"Deterministic computation of the Frobenius form","authors":"A. Storjohann","doi":"10.1109/SFCS.2001.959911","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/SFCS.2001.959911","url":null,"abstract":"A deterministic algorithm for computing the Frobenius canonical-form of a matrix over a field is described. A similarity transformation-matrix is recovered in the same time. The algorithm is nearly optimal, requiring about the same number of field operations as required for matrix multiplication. Previously-known reductions to matrix multiplication are probabilistic.","PeriodicalId":378126,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings 2001 IEEE International Conference on Cluster Computing","volume":"102 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2001-10-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"132997010","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2001-10-14DOI: 10.1109/SFCS.2001.959890
B. Awerbuch, P. Berenbrink, A. Brinkmann, C. Scheideler
In this paper we consider the problem of delivering dynamically changing input streams in dynamically changing networks where both the topology and the input streams can change in an unpredictable way. In particular, we present two simple distributed balancing algorithms (one for packet injections and one for flow injections) and show that for the case of a single receiver these algorithms will always ensure that the number of packets or flow in the system is bounded at any time step, even for an injection process that completely saturates the capacities of the available edges and even if the network topology changes in a completely unpredictable way. We also show that the maximum number of packets or flow that can be in the system at any time is essentially best possible by providing a lower bound that holds for any online algorithm, whether distributed or not. Interestingly, our balancing algorithms do not behave well in a completely adversarial setting. We show that also in the other extreme of a static network and a static injection pattern the algorithms will converge to a point in which they achieve an average routing time that is close to the best possible average routing time that can be achieved by any strategy. This demonstrates that there are simple algorithms that can be efficient for very different scenarios.
{"title":"Simple routing strategies for adversarial systems","authors":"B. Awerbuch, P. Berenbrink, A. Brinkmann, C. Scheideler","doi":"10.1109/SFCS.2001.959890","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/SFCS.2001.959890","url":null,"abstract":"In this paper we consider the problem of delivering dynamically changing input streams in dynamically changing networks where both the topology and the input streams can change in an unpredictable way. In particular, we present two simple distributed balancing algorithms (one for packet injections and one for flow injections) and show that for the case of a single receiver these algorithms will always ensure that the number of packets or flow in the system is bounded at any time step, even for an injection process that completely saturates the capacities of the available edges and even if the network topology changes in a completely unpredictable way. We also show that the maximum number of packets or flow that can be in the system at any time is essentially best possible by providing a lower bound that holds for any online algorithm, whether distributed or not. Interestingly, our balancing algorithms do not behave well in a completely adversarial setting. We show that also in the other extreme of a static network and a static injection pattern the algorithms will converge to a point in which they achieve an average routing time that is close to the best possible average routing time that can be achieved by any strategy. This demonstrates that there are simple algorithms that can be efficient for very different scenarios.","PeriodicalId":378126,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings 2001 IEEE International Conference on Cluster Computing","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2001-10-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129629199","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2001-10-14DOI: 10.1109/SFCS.2001.959917
A. Meyerson
We consider the online variant of facility location, in which demand points arrive one at a time and we must maintain a set of facilities to service these points. We provide a randomized online O(1)-competitive algorithm in the case where points arrive in random order. If points are ordered adversarially, we show that no algorithm can be constant-competitive, and provide an O(log n)-competitive algorithm. Our algorithms are randomized and the analysis depends heavily on the concept of expected waiting time. We also combine our techniques with those of M. Charikar and S. Guha (1999) to provide a linear-time constant approximation for the offline facility location problem.
{"title":"Online facility location","authors":"A. Meyerson","doi":"10.1109/SFCS.2001.959917","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/SFCS.2001.959917","url":null,"abstract":"We consider the online variant of facility location, in which demand points arrive one at a time and we must maintain a set of facilities to service these points. We provide a randomized online O(1)-competitive algorithm in the case where points arrive in random order. If points are ordered adversarially, we show that no algorithm can be constant-competitive, and provide an O(log n)-competitive algorithm. Our algorithms are randomized and the analysis depends heavily on the concept of expected waiting time. We also combine our techniques with those of M. Charikar and S. Guha (1999) to provide a linear-time constant approximation for the offline facility location problem.","PeriodicalId":378126,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings 2001 IEEE International Conference on Cluster Computing","volume":"14 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2001-10-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"133397419","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2001-10-14DOI: 10.1109/SFCS.2001.959894
R. Impagliazzo, Nathan Segerlind
We give a family of tautologies whose algebraic translations have constant-degree, polynomial size polynomial calculus refutations over Z/sub 2/, but which require superpolynomial size bounded-depth Frege proofs from Count/sub 2/ axioms. This gives a superpolynomial size separation of bounded-depth Frege plus mod 2 counting axioms from bounded-depth Frege plus parity gates. Combined with another result of the authors, it gives the first size (as opposed to degree) separation between the polynomial calculus and Nullstellensatz systems.
{"title":"Counting axioms do not polynomially simulate counting gates","authors":"R. Impagliazzo, Nathan Segerlind","doi":"10.1109/SFCS.2001.959894","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/SFCS.2001.959894","url":null,"abstract":"We give a family of tautologies whose algebraic translations have constant-degree, polynomial size polynomial calculus refutations over Z/sub 2/, but which require superpolynomial size bounded-depth Frege proofs from Count/sub 2/ axioms. This gives a superpolynomial size separation of bounded-depth Frege plus mod 2 counting axioms from bounded-depth Frege plus parity gates. Combined with another result of the authors, it gives the first size (as opposed to degree) separation between the polynomial calculus and Nullstellensatz systems.","PeriodicalId":378126,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings 2001 IEEE International Conference on Cluster Computing","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2001-10-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"128785276","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}