Questions tagged [ds.algorithms]
Questions regarding well-defined instructions for completing a task, and relevant analysis in terms of time/memory/etc.
1,632
questions
-3
votes
1answer
42 views
Finding a non-negative solution to an integer system of linear equations
Let $A$ be an $n \times m$ integer matrix and consider the system of equations $Ax = b$ where $b$ is an integer vector. I want to find a solution $x$, assuming one exists, such that the components of $...
3
votes
1answer
84 views
What is the complexity of this weighted b-edge matching problem?
I'm wondering about the complexity of the following variant of the Generalized Weighted b-edge Matching problem:
Input: An undirected multigraph $G = (V, E)$ without
loops, an edge partition $(E_1,...
0
votes
1answer
87 views
Time complexity for multiplying two lower triangular matrices
I was wondering, if multiplication of two $n \times n$ lower (or upper) triangular matrices has a more efficient algorithm than multiplication of two general $n \times n$ matrices?
$$
\begin{bmatrix}
...
4
votes
0answers
74 views
Optimal point placement on integer lattice
What is known about the following point placement problem?
For positive integers $N$, $n<N^2$, and $N\times N$ grid $\mathcal{G}$, compute
\begin{eqnarray*}
\mu_1(N,n)\triangleq\min_{\mathcal{P}\...
7
votes
0answers
111 views
Subgraph isomorphism on graph sequences
I'm looking for a subgraph isomorphism algorithm that takes advantage of properties of graph sequences.
Say $\{G_i\}_{i=1}^k$ is a sequence of graphs on vertex set $\{1 ... n\}$, and two consecutive ...
0
votes
0answers
26 views
Best known bounds on feedback arcset in high-girth directed graphs?
I asked this question over at MathOverflow, but thinking about it a little more I think it is a more natural fit here.
Let $G$ be a directed graph with $n$ vertices and $m$ edges such that every ...
-1
votes
0answers
23 views
Evolving expression trees to approximate an unknown function
I started a small toy project[0], that given a black box function: $\mathbb{R}^n \to \mathbb{R}$ tries to find a good approximation (if not exact solution) by evolving expression trees. These ...
1
vote
1answer
62 views
Running an algorithm for fixed amount of time on RAM model machine
Suppose there is a deterministic algorithm of size $O(1)$ that operates on an input of size $N$ on a RAM model machine. I want to run the algorithm for $O(\sqrt{N})$ time, pause the algorithm, print "...
0
votes
0answers
44 views
Can we multiply two numbers more efficiently (using binary circuits) if one of the numbers is fixed? [duplicate]
Let $a_1, a_2 \dots$ be a sequence of natural numbers, where $a_i$ has bit length $i$. Consider a function $f_n : \{0, 1\}^n \to \{0, 1\}^{2n}$ defined as $f_n(x) = a_n \cdot x$ ($\cdot$ is ...
1
vote
0answers
61 views
Combinatorial problems in electronics
This could be a downvoted question but I am asking because I am not able to get usable info via Google.
Are there any interesting combinatorial problems in the field of electronics circuits design? I ...
2
votes
1answer
87 views
Are string palindrome questions practically interesting?
I've been reading Don Gusfield's "Algorithms on Strings, Trees, and Sequences", and quite a some chunk of the textbook concentrates on palindromic-related ideas.
I'm unsure as to whether this is ...
9
votes
0answers
119 views
Is Gödel's speed-up theorem an instance of Blum's speedup theorem?
Blum's speedup theorem is a statement about a certain class of computable functions for which it is always possible to find a faster algorithm.
Gödel's speed-up theorem is a statement about the ...
0
votes
0answers
15 views
Why is it more efficient to merge larger runs higher in the tree than perform a balanced tree of merges in an unbalanced ping-pong merge?
While studying the research paper published by Microsoft in 2014, I stumbled upon Unbalanced Ping-Pong Merge.
In section 3.2 of the paper, it discusses about merging two sorted runs at a time. It ...
3
votes
1answer
326 views
Best parameterized algorithm for maximum clique
I have seen the basic algorithm for the maximum clique problem parameterized by the maximum degree at an algorithms course. However, I struggle to find anything better. Searching for things like "...
2
votes
0answers
56 views
Time Complexity for Nearest Neighbor Searches in kd-trees
Nearest neighbor searches in kd-trees run in logarithmic time, as shown by Friedman et al. However, I have some difficulty to fully understand the proof.
In order to calculate the average number of ...
3
votes
1answer
138 views
Convex polygons inclusion relation
I have the following problem which came as a subproblem in some work I was doing and I am completely stuck.
Note that I am interested in it only in terms of worst case time complexity (not heuristics ...
18
votes
3answers
545 views
Examples of the value of proofs for algorithms
In teaching Intro. Algorithms to undergrads, one of the most difficult tasks is to motivate why they need to know how to prove things about algorithms. (For many students, at least in many US ...
3
votes
0answers
88 views
Isomorphic subforest problem
I recently read that the following problem is NP-Complete:
Given a tree $T$, and a forest $F$, is there a subgraph of $T$ isomorphic to $F$?
The reference provide was to the textbook “Computers and ...
14
votes
2answers
1k views
NP-hard problems with very fast exponential-time algorithms
NP-hard problems with very fast exact exponential-time algorithms, say with $O(1.01^n)$ time, are very rare.
Is any fact like
"For any constant $\epsilon>0$ there is an NP-hard 'natural' ...
3
votes
0answers
110 views
Matrix multiplication when one matrix is fixed
Let $A$ be a fixed positive entried integer matrix of size $a\times n$ with $\ell$ bits per entry
One is allowed to pre-process this matrix as appropriate.
Given another positive integer entried $B$...
1
vote
1answer
269 views
Potentially stronger form of non-$ETH$
If we have a $2^{n^a}$ algorithm to $K$-$SAT$ where $a<1$ for all $K>2$ then $ETH$ fails and literature gives consequences. What are the consequences if $a=o(1)$?
9
votes
0answers
133 views
What are some examples of algorithmic applications of noncommutative rational identity testing?
The problem of polynomial identity testing (PIT) is known to be in $\mathsf{RP}$, but not known to be in $\mathsf{P}$.
The related problem of noncommutative rational identity testing (NCIT) is known ...
5
votes
1answer
232 views
What are the consequences of a faster algorithm for $CIRCUIT$-$SAT$?
What is the best algorithm known for $CIRCUIT$-$SAT$ in $n$ variables and $m$ gates?
What is the consequence if there is an $\alpha\in(0,1)$ such that $CIRCUIT$-$SAT$ in $n$ variables and $m$ gates ...
0
votes
1answer
87 views
Dividing a complete graph into two cliques with maximal sum of edge weights
Problem: Considering a complete weighted graph $G$ with $n$ vertices, where $n\in2\mathbb Z$ is an even number, remove edges in such a way that you end up with two cliques of graph $G$, each having $\...
2
votes
0answers
97 views
Can you partially sort using $O(\log n)$ comparisons per element?
Input is a list of $n$ integers in an array A. Desired output is stored in Array B, such that $|rank(B[i])- i | \leq \sqrt{n}$.
Can this be done using $O(\log n)$ comparisons per element?
Just looking ...
2
votes
1answer
72 views
Reconstruction of a sequence generated by a Markov chain - reference request
Let S be a finite sequence of symbols from a finite alphabet, with gaps - that is on some known locations an unknown number of symbols are missing. Assuming that the sequence , including the symbols ...
0
votes
0answers
64 views
Generalization of k-Coloring: maximizing the number of vertices with no neighbours of same color
One can consider the following generalization of the $k$-Coloring problem:
Let be given a graph $G$ and an two integers $k$ and $p$. A vertex $v$ of $G$ is properly colored if $v$ has no neighbour ...
6
votes
1answer
224 views
What is the fastest known algorithm for computing a 1.99-approximation of Vertex Cover?
It is known that computing $(\sqrt 2 -\epsilon)$-approximation for VC is NP-hard and that UGC implies that even a $(2 -\epsilon)$-approximation is hard.
There is also a parameterized algorithm for ...
5
votes
1answer
134 views
Consequences/existence of problems without any “optimal” algorithm
Let $P$ be some kind of "problem" such as addition or graph coloring, that has an input size $n$. Let $S_P$ denote the set of algorithms $A_1, A_2, \dots$ which deterministically solve $P$. Based off ...
0
votes
2answers
436 views
Formalizing and optimizing constraints involving booleans, pairs of booleans, and integer sums
My scenario has various flavors of SAT, constrained quadratic pseudo-Boolean, and integer programming. My attempts to formalize and solve the problem with Z3's ...
-2
votes
1answer
98 views
An efficient algorithm for maximizing gain by choosing from a set of options
(I hope this is on-topic for this site -- mods feel free to send this to another stack exchange if not )
I've got an optimization problem where I need to choose from one of several options to ...
-1
votes
2answers
121 views
Hospital Resident Matching Algorithm with Incomplete Preferences
Consider a set of doctors $D$ and hospitals $H$ such that each doctor $d \in D$ has a rank ordered strict preference over a subset of hospitals, $H_d \subseteq H$. Similarly, each hospital $h \in H$ ...
2
votes
0answers
78 views
Algorithm for computing the smallest subset of nodes to remove from a graph to make it a tree
I have encountered an interesting problem that I couldn't find any references to solve:
Determine the smallest subset of nodes that
need to be removed from an undirected graph to make it a tree.
...
2
votes
0answers
69 views
Cost of in-place partitioning integer arrays
Suppose we are given an array $a\colon[n]\to[m]$ of length $n$ (and each entry is between 1 and m). We will denote the $i$th entry of the array as $a[i]$.
Task: Permute the array $a$ in-place so that ...
3
votes
1answer
141 views
Given a subset of of the hypercube and an affine transform of it, find the affine map
This is a follow up to this resolved question.
Suppose we are given a set of bitvectors $A\subseteq\mathbb{F}_2^d$ and an invertible affine transformed copy of it
$$B=\{Mx + s\mid x\in A\}$$
for some ...
7
votes
0answers
170 views
Tortoise and hare algorithms
Consider the problem:
Given an array $a[0..n]$ where $n\ge 1$ and $a[i]\in [n]$ for all $i=0,\ldots,n$ find two indices $s\neq t$ so that $a[s] = a[t]$.
This problem has a stunning solution running ...
9
votes
1answer
367 views
Hidden Constants in Complexity of Algorithms
For many problems, the algorithm with the best asymptotic complexity has a very large constant factor that is hidden by big O notation. This occurs in matrix multiplication, integer multiplication (...
5
votes
0answers
128 views
Interpolation of the square of a polynomial
Let $\mathcal{P}^2_n$ be the set of rational polynomials of degree at most $2n$ that are sqares of polynomials, i.e. $\mathcal{P}^2_n$ consists of the set of polynomials of the following form:
$$(a_0 +...
2
votes
1answer
85 views
Placing color boxes on a colored image such that color consistency is maximized
I have encountered the following challenging problem that I think to be a non straightforward generalization of the Knapsack problem.
Given an image with black background that contains blobs whose ...
0
votes
1answer
136 views
Is it possible to prove that a general purpose integer factorization algorithm must contain a loop?
1)
Let $A$ be a (general purpose) algorithm that factors $n$. Suppose $A$ contains a loop (which is hard to imagine if not impossible that it does not.) If $A$ contains nested loops then these loops ...
-2
votes
1answer
159 views
Is it possible to sort by only knowing the sign of pairwise sums?
I am currently thinking of how much structure one actually needs in order to be able to sort things at all. All comparison-based algorithms need a direct comparability, but are we able to remove this ...
2
votes
1answer
166 views
How many samples are needed to reconstruct a path?
Consider an input set of vertices $V$ and vertices $s,t\in V$.
The goal is to learn some unknown shortest path from $s$ to $t$; the set of edges of the graph is hidden at first and there may be ...
1
vote
0answers
55 views
Mapping of entire balls using Locality Sensitive Hashing (LSH)
LSH functions are useful for approximate nearest neighbor search.
They are usually defined, for distance metric $d$ and $c>1$ as follows:
A family of hash functions is $(r, cr, p_1, p_2)$-LSH ...
5
votes
0answers
195 views
Is there a fast algorithm for inverting a sparse matrix?
I am doing research on a random-walk like problem. As a critical part of my solution, I need to invert a non-singular sparse matrix of size $n \times n$ and with $O(n)$ non-empty entries. I'm working ...
7
votes
2answers
186 views
Determining how n-tuples are sorted as you search them?
I have a sorted list of $N$ n-tuples, but I do not know exactly how they were sorted. The person who sorted them did so by lexicographically ordering some permutation least-to-greatest. For example, ...
-1
votes
1answer
54 views
How is additive error handled in this simple algorithm? 'Product of all elements'
Say we have two unit vectors $\hat{u}, \hat{v} \in \mathbb{R}^n$ where $\hat{u} = (u_1,...,u_n)$ and $\hat{v}$ approximates $\hat{u}$. $~\hat{v} = (u_1+\epsilon, ...,u_n+\epsilon)$ where $\epsilon = \...
2
votes
1answer
71 views
In external memory, is grouping equal elements easier than sorting?
Sorting an array will put equal elements adjacent to each other. So, in no model of computation can grouping equal elements be harder than sorting. In the RAM model, grouping equal elements is $O(n)$ ...
2
votes
1answer
86 views
Longest stack-sortable subsequence
Given an array of $n$ pairwise-different positive integers, the problem is to find the longest subsequence that is stack-sortable, i.e. avoiding the permutation pattern $231$.
How fast can this ...
2
votes
0answers
138 views
Shortest s-t path when is allowed to ignore k weights
Given an undirected graph $G$ with $n$ vertices and $m$ edges, with non-negative weights on the edges, what's the best algorithm that computes the shortest path from $s$ to $t$, where you are allowed ...
2
votes
0answers
53 views
Complexity of comparing extended integer power towers
Inspired by this stackexchange question, is it an open problem to compare two power towers of positive integers if we additionally allow numbers lower in the tower to themselves be represented by ...
