On approximation behavior of the greedy triangulation for convex polygons

We prove that the greedy triangulation heuristic for minimum weight triangulation of convex polygons yields solutions within a constant factor from the optimum. For interesting classes of convex polygons, we derive small upper bounds on the constant approximation factor. Our results contrast with Kirkpatrick's Ω(n) bound on the approximation factor of the Delaunay triangulation heuristic for minimum weight triangulation of convexn-vertex polygons. On the other hand, we present a straightforward implementation of the greedy triangulation heuristic for ann-vertex convex point set or a convex polygon takingO(n ²) time andO(n) space. To derive the latter result, we show that given a convex polygonP, one can find for all verticesv ofP a shortest diagonal ofP incident tov in linear time. Finally, we observe that the greedy triangulation for convex polygons having so-called semicircular property can be constructed in timeO(n logn).     

L 1 shortest paths among polygonal obstacles in the plane

We present an algorithm for computingL ₁ shortest paths among polygonal obstacles in the plane. Our algorithm employs the “continuous Dijkstra” technique of propagating a “wavefront” and runs in timeO(E logn) and spaceO(E), wheren is the number of vertices of the obstacles andE is the number of “events.” By using bounds on the density of certain sparse binary matrices, we show thatE =O(n logn), implying that our algorithm is nearly optimal. We conjecture thatE =O(n), which would imply our algorithm to be optimal. Previous bounds for our problem were quadratic in time and space. Our algorithm generalizes to the case of fixed orientation metrics, yielding anO(n?^?1/2 log² n) time andO(n?^?1/2) space approximation algorithm for finding Euclidean shortest paths among obstacles. The algorithm further generalizes to the case of many sources, allowing us to compute anL ₁ Voronoi diagram for source points that lie among a collection of polygonal obstacles.     

Dynamic matrix rank

We consider maintaining information about the rank of a matrix under changes of the entries. For n×n matrices, we show an upper bound of O(n^1.575) arithmetic operations and a lower bound of Ω(n) arithmetic operations per element change. The upper bound is valid when changing up to O(n^0.575) entries in a single column of the matrix. We also give an algorithm that maintains the rank using O(n²) arithmetic operations per rank one update. These bounds appear to be the first nontrivial bounds for the problem. The upper bounds are valid for arbitrary fields, whereas the lower bound is valid for algebraically closed fields. The upper bound for element updates uses fast rectangular matrix multiplication, and the lower bound involves further development of an earlier technique for proving lower bounds for dynamic computation of rational functions.     

Tighter Lower Bounds for Nearest Neighbor Search and Related Problems in the Cell Probe Model

We prove new lower bounds for nearest neighbor search in the Hamming cube. Our lower bounds are for randomized, two-sided error, algorithms in Yao's cell probe model. Our bounds are in the form of a tradeoff among the number of cells, the size of a cell, and the search time. For example, suppose we are searching among n points in the d dimensional cube, we use poly(n,d) cells, each containing poly(d, log n) bits. We get a lower bound of Ω(d/log n) on the search time, a significant improvement over the recent bound of Ω(log d) of Borodin et al. This should be contrasted with the upper bound of O(log log d) for approximate search (and O(1) for a decision version of the problem; our lower bounds hold in that case). By previous results, the bounds for the cube imply similar bounds for nearest neighbor search in high dimensional Euclidean space, and for other geometric problems.     

Covering a set of points in a plane using two parallel rectangles

In this paper we consider the problem of finding two parallel rectangles in arbitrary orientation for covering a given set of n points in a plane, such that the area of the larger rectangle is minimized. We propose an algorithm that solves the problem in O(n³) time using O(n²) space. Without altering the complexity, our approach can be used to solve another optimization problem namely, minimize the sum of the areas of two arbitrarily oriented parallel rectangles covering a given set of points in a plane.     

Dominance made simple

In this note we show that it is extremely easy to answer dominance queries in three dimensions using only range minima routine (and a binary tree). The algorithm after preprocessing takes O(logn+S) time, where S is the size of output (after O(nlogn) time for pre-processing).The algorithm can also be used to answer 5-sided range queries, in same time bounds.     

Dominating set based exact algorithms for 3-coloring

We show that the 3-colorability problem can be solved in O(n^1.296) time on any n-vertex graph with minimum degree at least 15. This algorithm is obtained by constructing a dominating set of the graph greedily, enumerating all possible 3-colorings of the dominating set, and then solving the resulting 2-list coloring instances in polynomial time. We also show that a 3-coloring can be obtained in ²o(n) time for graphs having minimum degree at least ω(n) where ω(n) is any function which goes to ∞. We also show that if the lower bound on minimum degree is replaced by a constant (however large it may be), then neither a ²o(n) time nor a ²o(m) time algorithm is possible (m denotes the number of edges) for 3-colorability unless Exponential Time Hypothesis (ETH) fails. We also describe an algorithm which obtains a 4-coloring of a 3-colorable graph in O(n^1.2535) time.     

Testing the Quality of Manufactured Disks and Balls

We consider the problem of testing the roundness of manufactured disks and balls using the finger probing model of Cole and Yap. The running time of our procedures depends on the quality of the object being considered. Quality is a parameter that is negative when the object is not sufficiently round and positive when it is. Quality values close to zero represent objects that are close to the boundary between sufficiently round and insufficiently round. When the object being tested is a disk and its center is known, we describe a procedure that uses O(n) probes and O(n) computation time. (Here n =| 1/q|, where q is the quality of the object.) When the center of the object is not known, a procedure using O(n) probes and O(n log n) computation time is described. When the object is a ball, we describe a procedure that requires O(n ²) probes and O(n ⁴) computation time. Lower bounds are also given that show that these procedures are optimal in terms of the number of probes used. These results extend previous results in two directions by relaxing some of the assumptions required by previous results and by extending these results for three-dimensional objects.     

Towards optimal range medians

We consider the following problem: Given an unsorted array of n elements, and a sequence of intervals in the array, compute the median in each of the subarrays defined by the intervals. We describe a simple algorithm which needs O(nlogk+klogn) time to answer k such median queries. This improves previous algorithms by a logarithmic factor and matches a comparison lower bound for k=O(n). The space complexity of our simple algorithm is O(nlogn) in the pointer machine model, and O(n) in the RAM model. In the latter model, a more involved O(n) space data structure can be constructed in O(nlogn) time where the time per query is reduced to O(logn/loglogn). We also give efficient dynamic variants of both data structures, achieving O(log²n) query time using O(nlogn) space in the comparison model and O((logn/loglogn)²) query time using O(nlogn/loglogn) space in the RAM model, and show that in the cell-probe model, any data structure which supports updates in O(log^O(1)n) time must have Ω(logn/loglogn) query time.Our approach naturally generalizes to higher-dimensional range median problems, where element positions and query ranges are multidimensional—it reduces a range median query to a logarithmic number of range counting queries.     

Cross-facility management of production and transportation planning problem

This paper studies an integrated production and transportation planning problem in a two-stage supply chain. This supply chain consists of a number of facilities, each capable of producing the final product, and a number of retailers. We assume that retailers’ demands are known deterministically and there are no production or transportation capacity constraints. We formulate the problem as a network flow problem with fixed charge costs. This is an NP  -hard problem. To solve the problem we propose a primal-dual based heuristic that generates upper and lower bounds and runs in O(FRT²)$O({\mathit{FRT}}^2)$. The quality of the upper and lower bounds is tested on a large set of randomly generated problems. The maximum error reported for these problems is 4.36% and the maximum running time is 7.65 cpu seconds.     

Minimizing total weighted flow time under uncertainty using dominance and a stability box

We consider an uncertain single-machine scheduling problem, in which the processing time of a job can take any real value on a given closed interval. The criterion is to minimize the total weighted flow time of the n jobs, where there is a weight associated with a job. We calculate a number of minimal dominant sets of the job permutations (a minimal dominant set contains at least one optimal permutation for each possible scenario). We introduce a new stability measure of a job permutation (a stability box) and derive an exact formula for the stability box, which runs in O(n log n) time. We investigate properties of a stability box. These properties allow us to develop an O(n²)-algorithm for constructing a permutation with the largest volume of a stability box. If several permutations have the largest volume of a stability box, the developed algorithm selects one of them due to a simple heuristic. The efficiency of the constructed permutation is demonstrated on a large set of randomly generated instances with 10≤n≤1000.     

Decremental 2- and 3-connectivity on planar graphs

We study the problem of maintaining the 2-edge-, 2-vertex-, and 3-edge-connected components of a dynamic planar graph subject to edge deletions. The 2-edge-connected components can be maintained in a total ofO(n logn) time under any sequence of at mostO(n) deletions. This givesO(logn) amortized time per deletion. The 2-vertex- and 3-edge-connected components can be maintained in a total ofO(n log² n) time. This givesO(log² n) amortized time per deletion. The space required by all our data structures isO(n). All our time bounds improve previous bounds.This work was partially supported by the ESPRIT II Basic Research Actions Program of the EC under Project ALCOM II (contract No. 7141) and Project ASMICS. A preliminary version of this paper appears in [12].Partially supported by a CNR Fellowship. Work done while the author was visiting Columbia University.On leave from IBM T. J. Watson Research Center, Yorktown Heights, NY 10598, USA.     

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.     

Quasi-optimal upper bounds for simplex range searching and new zone theorems

This paper presents quasi-optimal upper bounds for simplex range searching. The problem is to preprocess a setP ofn points in ?^d so that, given any query simplexq, the points inP ∩q can be counted or reported efficiently. Ifm units of storage are available (n <m <n ^d ), then we show that it is possible to answer any query inO(n ^1+?/m ^1/d ) query time afterO(m ^1+?) preprocessing. This bound, which holds on a RAM or a pointer machine, is almost tight. We also show how to achieveO(logn) query time at the expense ofO(n ^d+?) storage for any fixed ? > 0. To fine-tune our results in the reporting case we also establish new zone theorems for arrangements and merged arrangements of planes in 3-space, which are of independent interest.     

Strong computational lower bounds via parameterized complexity

We develop new techniques for deriving strong computational lower bounds for a class of well-known NP-hard problems. This class includes weighted satisfiability, dominating set, hitting set, set cover, clique, and independent set. For example, although a trivial enumeration can easily test in time O(nk) if a given graph of n vertices has a clique of size k, we prove that unless an unlikely collapse occurs in parameterized complexity theory, the problem is not solvable in time f(k)no(k) for any function f, even if we restrict the parameter values to be bounded by an arbitrarily small function of n. Under the same assumption, we prove that even if we restrict the parameter values k to be of the order Θ(μ(n)) for any reasonable function μ, no algorithm of running time no(k) can test if a graph of n vertices has a clique of size k. Similar strong lower bounds on the computational complexity are also derived for other NP-hard problems in the above class. Our techniques can be further extended to derive computational lower bounds on polynomial time approximation schemes for NP-hard optimization problems. For example, we prove that the NP-hard distinguishing substring selection problem, for which a polynomial time approximation scheme has been recently developed, has no polynomial time approximation schemes of running time f(1/?)no(1/?) for any function f unless an unlikely collapse occurs in parameterized complexity theory.     

Efficient allocation and composition of distributed storage

In this paper, we investigate the composition of cheap network storage resources to meet specific availability and capacity requirements. We show that the problem of finding the optimal composition for availability and price requirements can be reduced to the knapsack problem, and propose three techniques for efficiently finding approximate solutions. The first algorithm uses a dynamic programming approach to find mirrored storage resources for high availability requirements, and runs in the pseudo-polynomial O(n ² c) time where n is the number of sellers’ resources to choose from and c is a capacity function of the requested and minimum availability. The second technique is a heuristic which finds resources to be agglomerated into a larger coherent resource, with complexity of O(nlog?n). The third technique finds a compromise between capacity and availability (which in our phrasing is a complex integer programming problem) using a genetic algorithm. The algorithms can be implemented on a broker that intermediates between buyers and sellers of storage resources. Finally, we show that a broker in an open storage market, using the combination of the three algorithms can more frequently meet user requests and lower the cost of requests that are met compared to a broker that simply matches single resources to requests.     

Approximation algorithm for the weighted flow-time minimization on a single machine with a fixed non-availability interval

In this article, we consider the non-resumable case of the single machine scheduling problem with a fixed non-availability interval. We aim to minimize the weighted sum of completion times. No polynomial 2-approximation algorithm for this problem has been previously known. We propose a 2-approximation algorithm with O(n²) time complexity where n is the number of jobs. We show that this bound is tight. The obtained result outperforms all the previous polynomial approximation algorithms for this problem.     

A new analysis of a self-stabilizing maximum weight matching algorithm with approximation ratio 2

The maximum weight matching problem is a fundamental problem in graph theory with a variety of important applications. Recently Manne and Mjelde presented the first self-stabilizing algorithm computing a 2-approximation of the optimal solution. They established that their algorithm stabilizes after O(2ⁿ) (resp. O(3ⁿ)) moves under a central (resp. distributed) scheduler. This paper contributes a new analysis, improving these bounds considerably. In particular it is shown that the algorithm stabilizes after O(nm) moves under the central scheduler and that a modified version of the algorithm also stabilizes after O(nm) moves under the distributed scheduler. The paper presents a new proof technique based on graph reduction for analyzing the complexity of self-stabilizing algorithms.     

Parallel integer sorting and simulation amongst CRCW models

In this paper a general technique for reducing processors in simulation without any increase in time is described. This results in an O(√logn) time algorithm for simulating one step of PRIORITY on TOLERANT with processor-time product of O(n log logn); the same as that for simulating PRIORITY on ARBITRARY. This is used to obtain anO(logn/log logn + √logn (log logm ? log logn)) time algorithm for sortingn integers from the set {0,...,m ? 1},m ≧n, with a processor-time product ofO(n log logm log logn) on a TOLERANT CRCW PRAM. New upper and lower bounds for ordered chaining problem on an allocated COMMON CRCW model are also obtained. The algorithm for ordered chaining takesO(logn/log logn) time on an allocated PRAM of sizen. It is shown that this result is best possible (upto a constant multiplicative factor) by obtaining a lower bound of Ω(r logn/(logr + log logn)) for finding the first (leftmost one) live processor on an allocated-COMMON PRAM of sizen ofr-slow virtual processors (one processor simulatesr processors of allocated PRAM). As a result, for ordered chaining problem, “processor-time product” has to be at least Ω(n logn/log logn) for any poly-logarithmic time algorithm. Algorithm for ordered-chaining problem results in anO(logN/log logN) time algorithm for (stable) sorting ofn integers from the set {0,...,m ? 1} withn-processors on a COMMON CRCW PRAM; hereN = max(n, m). In particular if,m =n ^O(1), then sorting takes Θ(logn/log logn) time on both TOLERANT and COMMON CRCW PRAMs. Processor-time product for TOLERANT isO(n(log logn)²). Algorithm for COMMON usesn processors.     

Efficient algorithms for finding interleaving relationship between sequences

The longest common subsequence and sequence alignment problems have been studied extensively and they can be regarded as the relationship measurement between sequences. However, most of them treat sequences evenly or consider only two sequences. Recently, with the rise of whole-genome duplication research, the doubly conserved synteny relationship among three sequences should be considered. It is a brand new model to find a merging way for understanding the interleaving relationship of sequences. Here, we define the merged LCS problem for measuring the interleaving relationship among three sequences. An O(n³) algorithm is first proposed for solving the problem, where n is the sequence length. We further discuss the variant version of this problem with the block information. For the blocked merged LCS problem, we propose an algorithm with time complexity O(n²m), where m is the number of blocks. An improved O(n²+nm²) algorithm is further proposed for the same blocked problem.