Optimal parallel verification of minimum spanning trees in logarithmic time

We present the first optimal parallel algorithms for the verification and sensitivity analysis of minimum spanning trees. Our algorithms are deterministic and run inO(logn) time and require linear-work in the CREW PRAM model. These algorithms are used as a subroutine in the linear-work randomized algorithm for finding minimum spanning trees of Cole, Klein, and Tarjan. Research partially supported by a National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship and by DIMACS (Center for Discrete Mathematics and Theoretical Computer Science), a National Science Foundation Science and Technology Center, Grant No. NSF-STC88-09648. Research at Princeton University was partially supported by the National Science Foundation, Grant No. CCR-8920505, the Office of Naval Research, Contract No. N00014-91-J-1463, and by DIMACS (Center for Discrete Mathematics and Theoretical Computer Science), a National Science Foundation Science and Technology Center, Grant No. NSF-STC88-09648.     

Forests, frames, and games: Algorithms for matroid sums and applications

This paper presents improved algorithms for matroid-partitioning problems, such as finding a maximum cardinality set of edges of a graph that can be partitioned intok forests, and finding as many disjoint spanning trees as possible. The notion of a clump in a matroid sum is introduced, and efficient algorithms for clumps are presented. Applications of these algorithms are given to problems arising in the study of the structural rigidity of graphs, the Shannon switching game, and others.This is a revised and expanded version of a paper appearing in theProceedings of the 20th Annual ACM Symposium on Theory of Computing, 1988. This research was supported in part by National Science Foundation Grants MCS-8302648 and DCR-851191.     

Worst-case analysis for region and partial region searches in multidimensional binary search trees and balanced quad trees

Summary Given a file of N records each of which has k keys, the worst-case analysis for the region and partial region queries in multidimensional binary search trees and balanced quad trees are presented. It is shown that the search algorithms proposed in [1, 3] run in time O(k·N ^1–1/k) for region queries in both tree structures. For partial region queries with s keys specified, the search algorithms run at most in time O(s·N ^1–1/k ) in both structures.This author's research was supported in part by the National Science Foundation under grant MCS-76-17321 and in part by the Joint Service Electronics Program under contract DAAB-07-72-C-0259     

Optimal parallel algorithms for point-set and polygon problems

In this paper we give parallel algorithms for a number of problems defined on point sets and polygons. All our algorithms have optimalT(n) * P(n) products, whereT(n) is the time complexity andP(n) is the number of processors used, and are for the EREW PRAM or CREW PRAM models. Our algorithms provide parallel analogues to well-known phenomena from sequential computational geometry, such as the fact that problems for polygons can oftentimes be solved more efficiently than point-set problems, and that nearest-neighbor problems can be solved without explicitly constructing a Voronoi diagram.The research of R. Cole was supported in part by NSF Grants CCR-8702271, CCR-8902221, and CCR-8906949, by ONR Grant N00014-85-K-0046, and by a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation fellowship. M. T. Goodrich's research was supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant CCR-8810568 and by the National Science Foundation and DARPA under Grant CCR-8908092.     

Expected parallel time and sequential space complexity of graph and digraph problems

This paper determines upper bounds on the expected time complexity for a variety of parallel algorithms for undirected and directed random graph problems. For connectivity, biconnectivity, transitive closure, minimum spanning trees, and all pairs minimum cost paths, we prove the expected time to beO(log logn) for the CRCW PRAM (this parallel RAM machine allows resolution of write conflicts) andO(logn · log logn) for the CREW PRAM (which allows simultaneous reads but not simultaneous writes). We also show that the problem of graph isomorphism has expected parallel timeO(log logn) for the CRCW PRAM andO(logn) for the CREW PRAM. Most of these results follow because of upper bounds on the mean depth of a graph, derived in this paper, for more general graphs than was known before.For undirected connectivity especially, we present a new probabilistic algorithm which runs on a randomized input and has an expected running time ofO(log logn) on the CRCW PRAM, withO(n) expected number of processors only.Our results also improve known upper bounds on the expected space required for sequential graph algorithms. For example, we show that the problems of finding connected components, transitive closure, minimum spanning trees, and minimum cost paths have expected sequential spaceO(logn · log logn) on a deterministic Turing Machine. We use a simulation of the CRCW PRAM to get these expected sequential space bounds.This research was supported by National Science Foundation Grant DCR-85-03251 and Office of Naval Research Contract N00014-80-C-0647.This research was partially supported by the National Science Foundation Grants MCS-83-00630, DCR-8503497, by the Greek Ministry of Research and Technology, and by the ESPRIT Basic Research Actions Project ALCOM.     

Randomized competitive algorithms for the list update problem

We prove upper and lower bounds on the competitiveness of randomized algorithms for the list update problem of Sleator and Tarjan. We give a simple and elegant randomized algorithm that is more competitive than the best previous randomized algorithm due to Irani. Our algorithm uses randomness only during an initialization phase, and from then on runs completely deterministically. It is the first randomized competitive algorithm with this property to beat the deterministic lower bound. We generalize our approach to a model in which access costs are fixed but update costs are scaled by an arbitrary constantd. We prove lower bounds for deterministic list update algorithms and for randomized algorithms against oblivious and adaptive on-line adversaries. In particular, we show that for this problem adaptive on-line and adaptive off-line adversaries are equally powerful.A preliminary version of these results appeared in a joint paper with S. Irani in theProceedings of the 2nd Symposium on Discrete Algorithms, 1991 [17].This research was partially supported by NSF Grants CCR-8808949 and CCR-8958528.This research was partially supported by NSF Grant CCR-9009753.This research was supported in part by the National Science Foundation under Grant CCR-8658139, by DIMACS, a National Science Foundation Science and Technology center, Grant No. NSF-STC88-09648.     

Algorithms for bichromatic line-segment problems and polyhedral terrains

We consider a variety of problems on the interaction between two sets of line segments in two and three dimensions. These problems range from counting the number of intersecting pairs between m blue segments andn red segments in the plane (assuming that two line segments are disjoint if they have the same color) to finding the smallest vertical distance between two nonintersecting polyhedral terrains in three-dimensional space. We solve these problems efficiently by using a variant of the segment tree. For the three-dimensional problems we also apply a variety of recent combinatorial and algorithmic techniques involving arrangements of lines in three-dimensional space, as developed in a companion paper.Work on this paper by the first author has been supported in part by the National Science Foundation under Grant CCR-9002352. Work by the second author was supported in part by the National Science Foundation under Grant CCR-8714565. The fourth author has been supported in part by the Office of Naval Research under Grant N0014-87-K-0129, by the National Science Foundation under Grant NSF-DCR-83-20085, by grants from the Digital Equipment Corporation and the IBM Corporation, and by a grant from the US-Israeli Binational Science Foundation.     

Computational geometry in a curved world

We extend the results of straight-edged computational geometry into the curved world by defining a pair of new geometric objects, thesplinegon and thesplinehedron, as curved generalizations of the polygon and polyhedron. We identify three distinct techniques for extending polygon algorithms to splinegons: the carrier polygon approach, the bounding polygon approach, and the direct approach. By these methods, large groups of algorithms for polygons can be extended as a class to encompass these new objects. In general, if the original polygon algorithm has time complexityO(f(n)), the comparable splinegon algorithm has time complexity at worstO(Kf(n)) whereK represents a constant number of calls to members of a set of primitive procedures on individual curved edges. These techniques also apply to splinehedra. In addition to presenting the general methods, we state and prove a series of specific theorems. Problem areas include convex hull computation, diameter computation, intersection detection and computation, kernel computation, monotonicity testing, and monotone decomposition, among others.This research was partially supported by National Science Foundation Grants MCS 83-03926, DCR85-05517, and CCR87-00917.This author's research was also partially supported by an Exxon Foundation Fellowship, by a Henry Rutgers Research Fellowship, and by National Science Foundation Grant CCR88-03549.     

Efficient parallel algorithms forr-dominating set andp-center problems on trees

We develop efficient parallel algorithms for ther-dominating set and thep-center problems on trees. On a concurrent-read exclusive-write PRAM, our algorithm for ther-dominating set problem runs inO(logn log logn) time withn processors. The algorithm for thep-center problem runs inO(log² n log logn) time withn processors.Xin He was supported in part by an Ohio State University Presidential Fellowship, and by the Office of Research and Graduate Studies of Ohio State University. Yaacov Yesha was supported in part by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. DCR-8606366.     

An efficient algorithm for maxdominance, with applications

Given a planar setS ofn points,maxdominance problems consist of computing, for everyp S, some function of the maxima of the subset ofS that is dominated byp. A number of geometric and graph-theoretic problems can be formulated as maxdominance problems, including the problem of computing a minimum independent dominating set in a permutation graph, the related problem of finding the shortest maximal increasing subsequence, the problem of enumerating restricted empty rectangles, and the related problem of computing the largest empty rectangle. We give an algorithm for optimally solving a class of maxdominance problems. A straightforward application of our algorithm yields improved time bounds for the above-mentioned problems. The techniques used in the algorithm are of independent interest, and include a linear-time tree computation that is likely to arise in other contexts.The research of this author was supported by the Office of Naval Research under Grants N00014-84-K-0502 and N00014-86-K-0689, and the National Science Foundation under Grant DCR-8451393, with matching funds from AT&T.This author's research was supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant DCR-8506361.     

The complexity of induced minors and related problems

The computational complexity of a number of problems concerning induced structures in graphs is studied, and compared with the complexity of corresponding problems concerning non-induced structures. The effect on these problems of restricting the input to planar graphs is also considered. The principal results include: (1) Induced Maximum Matching and Induced Directed Path are NP-complete for planar graphs, (2) for every fixed graphH, InducedH-Minor Testing can be accomplished for planar graphs in time0(n), and (3) there are graphsH for which InducedH-Minor Testing is NP-complete for unrestricted input. Some useful structural theorems concerning induced minors are presented, including a bound on the treewidth of planar graphs that exclude a planar induced minor.The research of the first author was supported by the U.S. Office of Naval Research under Contract N00014-88-K-0456, by the U.S. National Science Foundation under Grant MIP-8603879, and by the National Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada. The second author acknowledges the support of the U.S. Office of Naval Research when visiting the University of Idaho in spring 1990. Some results were also obtained during a visit to the University of Cologne in fall 1990.     

Partitioning trees: Matching,domination, and maximum diameter

A matching and a dominating set in a graph G are related in that they determine diameter-bounded subtree partitions of G. For a maximum matching and a minimum dominating set, the associate partitions have the fewest numbers of trees. The problem of determining a minimum dominating set in an arbitrary graph G is known to be NP-complete. In this paper we present a linear algorithm for partitioning an arbitrary tree into a minimum number of subtrees, each having a diameter at mostk, for a givenk.Research supported in part by the National Science Foundation under Grant ENG 7902960.Research supported in part by the National Science Foundation under Grant STI 7902960.     

A localized method for intersecting plane algebraic curve segments

We present a local method for the computation of the intersections of plane algebraic curve segments. The conventional method of intersection is global, because it must first find all of the intersections between two curves before it can restrict the segments in question; hence, it cannot take advantage of situations dealing with the intersection of short-curve segments on complex curves. Our local method, on the other hand, will directly find only those intersections that lie on the segments, as it is based upon an extension of methods for tracing along a curve.This author's research was supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant IRI-8910366This author's research was supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant CCR-8810568     

A linear algorithm to find a rectangular dual of a planar triangulated graph

We develop anO(n) algorithm to construct a rectangular dual of ann-vertex planar triangulated graph.This research was supported in part by the National Science Foundation under Grant MCS-83-05567.     

A linear-time algorithm for finding an ambitus

We devise a linear-time algorithm for finding an ambitus ín an undirected graph. An ambitus is a cycle in a graph containing two distinguished vertices such that certain different groups of bridges (calledB ^itp-,B ^itQ-, andB ^itPQ-bridges) satisfy the property that a bridge in one group does not interlace with any bridge in the other groups. Thus, an ambitus allows the graph to be cut into pieces, where, in each piece, certain graph properties may be investigated independently and recursively, and then the pieces can be pasted together to yield information about these graph properties in the original graph. In order to achieve a good time-complexity for such an algorithm employing the divide-and-conquer paradigm, it is necessary to find an ambitus quickly. We also show that, using ambitus, linear-time algorithms can be devised for abiding-path-finding and nonseparating-induced-cycle-finding problems.The research of B. Mishra was supported in part by National Science Foundation Grants DMS-8703458 and CCR-9002819. R. E. Tarjan's research at Princeton University was partially supported by DIMACS, a National Science Foundation Science and Technology Center, Grant No. NSF-STC88-09648, and by National Science Foundation Grant CCR-8929505.     

On finding optimal and near-optimal lineal spanning trees

The search for good lineal, or depth-first, spanning trees is an important aspect in the implementation of a wide assortment of graph algorithms. We consider the complexity of findingoptimal lineal spanning trees under various notions of optimality. In particular, we show that several natural problems, such as constructing a shortest or a tallest lineal tree, are NP-hard. We also address the issue of polynomial-time, near-optimization strategies for these difficult problems, showing that efficient absolute approximation algorithms cannot exist unlessP = NP.     

Stable duplicate-key extraction with optimal time and space bounds

Summary We consider the problem of transforming a list L of records sorted on some key into two sublists L ₁ and L ₂ where, for each distinct key in L, L ₁ contains the first record of L that possesses the key and L ₂ contains all records of L with duplicate keys. We desire that our duplicate-key extraction algorithm perform the transformation in place and be stable (that is, records within each sublist must obey the original order given by L). This operation is useful in database and related file processing environments whenever only distinct keys need be considered. Moreover, stability in extraction insures that L can be efficiently restored at a later time with a stable merge of L ₁ and L ₂. Any procedure for performing duplicate-key extraction on a list of size n must require at least O(n) time and O(1) extra space, although the obvious algorithm for achieving either bound alone violates the other bound. We design a stable algorithm, using block-rearrangement techniques, and show that it is optimal in the theoretical sense that it achieves both lower bounds simultaneously. We also prove that its worst-case number of key comparisons and record exchanges sum to no more than 6 n, suggesting that the algorithm has practical application as well.A preliminary version of a portion of this paper [HL1] was presented at the 24th Annual Allerton Conference on Communication, Control and Computing held in Monticello, Illinois, in October, 1986This author's research has been supported in part by the Washington State University Graduate Research Assistantship ProgramThis author's research has been supported in part by the National Science Foundation under grants ECS-8403859 and MIP-8603879, and by the Office of Naval Research under contract N0001488-K-0343     

Processor-time optimal parallel algorithms for digitized images on mesh-connected processor arrays

We present processor-time optimal parallel algorithms for several problems onn ×n digitized image arrays, on a mesh-connected array havingp processors and a memory of sizeO(n ²) words. The number of processorsp can vary over the range [1,n ^3/2] while providing optimal speedup for these problems. The class of image problems considered here includes labeling the connected components of an image; computing the convex hull, the diameter, and a smallest enclosing box of each component; and computing all closest neighbors. Such problems arise in medium-level vision and require global operations on image pixels. To achieve optimal performance, several efficient data-movement and reduction techniques are developed for the proposed organization.This research was supported in part by the National Science Foundation under Grant IRI-8710836 and in part by DARPA under Contract F33615-87-C-1436 monitored by the Wright Patterson Airforce Base.     

Applications of efficient mergeable heaps for optimization problems on trees

Summary It is shown how to use efficient mergeable heaps to improve the running time of two algorithms that solve optimization problems on trees.The work of the author was supported in part by the Israel Commission for Basic Research and National Science Foundation grant MCS78-25301     

On supremal languages of classes of sublanguages that arise in supervisor synthesis problems with partial observation

This paper characterizes the class of closed and (M, N)-recognizable languages in terms of certain structural aspects of relevant automata. This characterization leads to algorithms that effectively compute the supremal (M, N)-recognizable sublanguage of a given language. One of these algorithms is used, in an alternating manner with an algorithm which yields the supremal (∑_u, N)-invariant resulting algorithm is proved. An example illustrates the use of these algorithms. This research was supported in part by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research under Grant No. AFOSR-86-0029, in part by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. ECS-8412100, and in part by the DoD Joint Services Electronics Program through the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFSC) Contract No. F49620-86-C-0045