The Gaussian Surface Area and Noise Sensitivity of Degree-d Polynomial Threshold Functions

We prove asymptotically optimal bounds on the Gaussian noise sensitivity and Gaussian surface area of degree-d polynomial threshold functions. In particular, we show that for f a degree-d polynomial threshold function that the Gaussian noise sensitivity of f with parameter e{\epsilon} is at most \fracdarcsin(?{2e-e²})p{\frac{d\arcsin\left(\sqrt{2\epsilon-\epsilon^2}\right)}{\pi}} . This bound translates into an optimal bound on the Gaussian surface area of such functions, namely that the Gaussian surface area is at most \fracd?{2p}{\frac{d}{\sqrt{2\pi}}} . Finally, we note that the later result implies bounds on the runtime of agnostic learning algorithms for polynomial threshold functions.     

Distributed discovery of large near-cliques

Given an undirected graph and 0 ￡ e ￡ 1{0\le\epsilon\le1}, a set of nodes is called an e{\epsilon}-near clique if all but an e{\epsilon} fraction of the pairs of nodes in the set have a link between them. In this paper we present a fast synchronous network algorithm that uses small messages and finds a near-clique. Specifically, we present a constant-time algorithm that finds, with constant probability of success, a linear size e{\epsilon}-near clique if there exists an e³{\epsilon^3}-near clique of linear size in the graph. The algorithm uses messages of O(log n) bits. The failure probability can be reduced to n ^−Ω(1) by increasing the time complexity by a logarithmic factor, and the algorithm also works if the graph contains a clique of size Ω(n/(log log n) ^α ) for some a ? (0,1){\alpha \in (0,1)}. Our approach is based on a new idea of adapting property testing algorithms to the distributed setting.     

Computing Diameter in the Streaming and Sliding-Window Models

We investigate the diameter problem in the streaming and sliding-window models. We show that, for a stream of nn points or a sliding window of size nn, any exact algorithm for diameter requires W(n)\Omega(n) bits of space. We present a simple e\epsilon-approximation algorithm for computing the diameter in the streaming model. Our main result is an e\epsilon-approximation algorithm that maintains the diameter in two dimensions in the sliding-window model using O((1/e^3/2) log³n(logR+loglogn + log(1/e)))O(({1}/{\epsilon^{3/2}}) \log^{3}n(\log R+\log\log n + \log ({1}/{\epsilon}))) bits of space, where RR is the maximum, over all windows, of the ratio of the diameter to the minimum non-zero distance between any two points in the window.     

Complexity of Hard-Core Set Proofs

We study a fundamental result of Impagliazzo (FOCS’95) known as the hard-core set lemma. Consider any function f:{0,1}ⁿ?{0,1}{f:\{0,1\}^n\to\{0,1\}} which is “mildly hard”, in the sense that any circuit of size s must disagree with f on at least a δ fraction of inputs. Then, the hard-core set lemma says that f must have a hard-core set H of density δ on which it is “extremely hard”, in the sense that any circuit of size s￠=O(s/(\frac1e²log(\frac1ed))){s'=O(s/(\frac{1}{\epsilon^2}\log(\frac{1}{\epsilon\delta})))} must disagree with f on at least (1-e)/2{(1-\epsilon)/2} fraction of inputs from H.     

Interpolation of Shifted-Lacunary Polynomials

Given a “black box” function to evaluate an unknown rational polynomial f ? \mathbbQ[x]f \in {\mathbb{Q}}[x] at points modulo a prime p, we exhibit algorithms to compute the representation of the polynomial in the sparsest shifted power basis. That is, we determine the sparsity $t \in {\mathbb{Z}}_{>0}$t \in {\mathbb{Z}}_{>0}, the shift a ? \mathbbQ\alpha \in {\mathbb{Q}}, the exponents 0 ￡ e₁ < e₂ < ? < e_t{0 \leq e_{1} < e_{2} < \cdots < e_{t}}, and the coefficients c₁, ?, c_t ? \mathbbQ \{0}c_{1}, \ldots , c_{t} \in {\mathbb{Q}} \setminus \{0\} such that

When Does Eddy Viscosity Damp Subfilter Scales Sufficiently?

Large eddy simulation (LES) seeks to predict the dynamics of spatially filtered turbulent flows. The very essence is that the LES-solution contains only scales of size ≥Δ, where Δ denotes some user-chosen length scale. This property enables us to perform a LES when it is not feasible to compute the full, turbulent solution of the Navier-Stokes equations. Therefore, in case the large eddy simulation is based on an eddy viscosity model we determine the eddy viscosity such that any scales of size <Δ are dynamically insignificant. In this paper, we address the following two questions: how much eddy diffusion is needed to (a) balance the production of scales of size smaller than Δ; and (b) damp any disturbances having a scale of size smaller than Δ initially. From this we deduce that the eddy viscosity ν _e has to depend on the invariants q = \frac12tr(S²)q = \frac{1}{2}\mathrm{tr}(S^{2}) and r = -\frac13tr(S³)r= -\frac{1}{3}\mathrm{tr}(S^{3}) of the (filtered) strain rate tensor S. The simplest model is then given by n_e = \frac32(D/p)² |r|/q\nu_{e} = \frac{3}{2}(\Delta/\pi)^{2} |r|/q. This model is successfully tested for a turbulent channel flow (Re  _τ =590).     

On the efficiency of quantum algorithms for Hamiltonian simulation

We study algorithms simulating a system evolving with Hamiltonian H = ?_j=1^m H_j{H = \sum_{j=1}^m H_j} , where each of the H _j , j = 1, . . . ,m, can be simulated efficiently. We are interested in the cost for approximating e^-iHt, t ? \mathbbR{e^{-iHt}, t \in \mathbb{R}} , with error e{\varepsilon} . We consider algorithms based on high order splitting formulas that play an important role in quantum Hamiltonian simulation. These formulas approximate e ^−iHt by a product of exponentials involving the H _j , j = 1, . . . ,m. We obtain an upper bound for the number of required exponentials. Moreover, we derive the order of the optimal splitting method that minimizes our upper bound. We show significant speedups relative to previously known results.     

Sub-Constant Error Probabilistically Checkable Proof of Almost-Linear Size

We show a construction of a PCP with both sub-constant error and almost-linear size. Specifically, for some constant 0 < α < 1, we construct a PCP verifier for checking satisfiability of Boolean formulas that on input of size n uses log n+O((log n)^1-a)\log\, n+O((\log\, n)^{1-\alpha}) random bits to make 7 queries to a proof of size n·2^{O((log n)1-a)}n·2^{O((\log\, n)^{1-\alpha})}, where each query is answered by O((log n)^1-a)O((\log\, n)^{1-\alpha}) bit long string, and the verifier has perfect completeness and error 2^{-W((log n)a)}2^{-\Omega((\log\, n)^{\alpha})}.     

Lower Bounds for Agnostic Learning via Approximate Rank

We prove that the concept class of disjunctions cannot be pointwise approximated by linear combinations of any small set of arbitrary real-valued functions. That is, suppose that there exist functions f₁, ?, f_r\phi_{1}, \ldots , \phi_{r} : {− 1, 1}ⁿ → \mathbbR{\mathbb{R}} with the property that every disjunction f on n variables has $\|f - \sum\nolimits_{i=1}^{r} \alpha_{i}\phi _{i}\|_{\infty}\leq 1/3$\|f - \sum\nolimits_{i=1}^{r} \alpha_{i}\phi _{i}\|_{\infty}\leq 1/3 for some reals a₁, ?, a_r\alpha_{1}, \ldots , \alpha_{r}. We prove that then $r \geq exp \{\Omega(\sqrt{n})\}$r \geq exp \{\Omega(\sqrt{n})\}, which is tight. We prove an incomparable lower bound for the concept class of decision lists. For the concept class of majority functions, we obtain a lower bound of W(2ⁿ/n)\Omega(2^{n}/n) , which almost meets the trivial upper bound of 2ⁿ for any concept class. These lower bounds substantially strengthen and generalize the polynomial approximation lower bounds of Paturi (1992) and show that the regression-based agnostic learning algorithm of Kalai et al. (2005) is optimal.     

Spreading of Messages in Random Graphs

Consider the following model on the spreading of messages. A message initially convinces a set of vertices, called the seeds, of the Erdős-Rényi random graph G(n,p). Whenever more than a ρ∈(0,1) fraction of a vertex v’s neighbors are convinced of the message, v will be convinced. The spreading proceeds asynchronously until no more vertices can be convinced. This paper derives lower bounds on the minimum number of initial seeds, min-seed(n,p,d,r)\mathrm{min\hbox{-}seed}(n,p,\delta,\rho), needed to convince a δ∈{1/n,…,n/n} fraction of vertices at the end. In particular, we show that (1) there is a constant β>0 such that min-seed(n,p,d,r)=W(min{d,r}n)\mathrm{min\hbox{-}seed}(n,p,\delta,\rho)=\Omega(\min\{\delta,\rho\}n) with probability 1−n ^−Ω(1) for p≥β (ln (e/min {δ,ρ}))/(ρ n) and (2) min-seed(n,p,d,1/2)=W(dn/ln(e/d))\mathrm{min\hbox{-}seed}(n,p,\delta,1/2)=\Omega(\delta n/\ln(e/\delta)) with probability 1−exp (−Ω(δ n))−n ^−Ω(1) for all p∈[ 0,1 ]. The hidden constants in the Ω notations are independent of p.     

Quantum search in a possible three-dimensional complex subspace

Suppose we are given an unsorted database with N items and N is sufficiently large. By using a simpler approximate method, we re-derive the approximate formula cos² Φ, which represents the maximum success probability of Grover’s algorithm corresponding to the case of identical rotation angles f = q{\phi=\theta} for any fixed deflection angle F ? [0,p/2){\Phi \in\left[0,\pi/2\right)}. We further show that for any fixed F ? [0,p/2){\Phi \in\left[0,\pi/2\right)}, the case of identical rotation angles f = q{\phi=\theta} is energetically favorable compared to the case |q- f| >> 0{\left|{\theta - \phi}\right|\gg 0} for enhancing the probability of measuring a unique desired state.     

Accuracy of the difference scheme of solving the eigenvalue problem for the Laplacian

The finite-difference approximation of the eigenvalue problem with the Dirichlet boundary conditions for the Laplacian in a two-dimensional domain of complex form is analyzed for accuracy and the error of eigenfunctions from the class W₂²( W) W_2^2\left( \Omega \right) in the mesh norm of W₂¹( w) W_2^1\left( \omega \right) is estimated.     

Error Analysis for hp-FEM Semi-Lagrangian Second Order BDF Method for Convection-Dominated Diffusion Problems

We present in this paper an analysis of a semi-Lagrangian second order Backward Difference Formula combined with hp-finite element method to calculate the numerical solution of convection diffusion equations in ℝ². Using mesh dependent norms, we prove that the a priori error estimate has two components: one corresponds to the approximation of the exact solution along the characteristic curves, which is O(Dt²+h^m+1(1+\frac\mathopen|logh|Dt))O(\Delta t^{2}+h^{m+1}(1+\frac{\mathopen{|}\log h|}{\Delta t})); and the second, which is O(Dt^p+|| [(u)\vec]-[(u)\vec]_h||_L^￥)O(\Delta t^{p}+\| \vec{u}-\vec{u}_{h}\|_{L^{\infty}}), represents the error committed in the calculation of the characteristic curves. Here, m is the degree of the polynomials in the finite element space, [(u)\vec]\vec{u} is the velocity vector, [(u)\vec]_h\vec{u}_{h} is the finite element approximation of [(u)\vec]\vec{u} and p denotes the order of the method employed to calculate the characteristics curves. Numerical examples support the validity of our estimates.     

A desired state can not be found with certainty for Grover��s algorithm in a possible three-dimensional complex subspace

Using an accurate method, we prove that no matter what the initial superposition may be, neither a superposition of desired states nor a unique desired state can be found with certainty in a possible three-dimensional complex subspace, provided that the deflection angle Φ is not exactly equal to zero. By this method, we derive such a result that, if N is sufficiently large (where N denotes the total number of the desired and undesired states in an unsorted database), then corresponding to the case of identical rotation angles, the maximum success probability of finding a unique desired state is approximately equal to cos² Φ for any given F ? [0,p/2){\Phi\in\left[0,\pi/2\right)}.     

Tile Complexity of Approximate Squares

The standard Tile Assembly Model (TAM) of Winfree (Algorithmic self-assembly of DNA, Ph.D. thesis, 1998) is a mathematical theory of crystal aggregations via monomer additions with applications to the emerging science of DNA self-assembly. Self-assembly under the rules of this model is programmable and can perform Turing universal computation. Many variations of this model have been proposed and the canonical problem of assembling squares has been studied extensively. We consider the problem of building approximate squares in TAM. Given any $\varepsilon \in (0,\frac{1}{4}]$ we show how to construct squares whose sides are within (1±ε)N of any given positive integer N using $O( \frac{\log \frac{1}{\varepsilon}}{\log \log\frac{1}{\varepsilon}} + \frac{\log \log \varepsilon N}{\log \log \log \varepsilon N} )$ tile types. We prove a matching lower bound by showing that $\varOmega( \frac{\log \frac{1}{\varepsilon}}{\log \log\frac{1}{\varepsilon}} + \frac{\log \log \varepsilon N}{\log \log \log \varepsilon N} )$ tile types are necessary almost always to build squares of required approximate dimensions. In comparison, the optimal construction for a square of side exactly N in TAM uses $O(\frac{\log N}{\log \log N})$ tile types. The question of constructing approximate squares has been recently studied in a modified tile assembly model involving concentration programming. All our results are trivially translated into the concentration programming model by assuming arbitrary (non-zero) concentrations for our tile types. Indeed, the non-zero concentrations could be chosen by an adversary and our results would still hold. Our construction can get highly accurate squares using very few tile types and are feasible starting from values of N that are orders of magnitude smaller than the best comparable constructions previously suggested. At an accuracy of ε=0.01, the number of tile types used to achieve a square of size 10⁷ is just 58 and our constructions are proven to work for all N≥13130. If the concentrations of the tile types are carefully chosen, we prove that our construction assembles an L×L square in optimal assembly time O(L) where (1?ε)N≤L≤(1+ε)N.     

Process control using VSI cause selecting control charts

The article considers the variable process control scheme for two dependent process steps with incorrect adjustment. Incorrect adjustment of a process may result in shifts in process mean, process variance, or both, ultimately affecting the quality of products. We construct the variable sampling interval (VSI) Z_{[`(X)]</sub>-Z<sub>SX<sup>2</sup></sub>{Z_{\overline{X}}-Z_{S_X^2}} and Z<sub>[`(e)]}-Z_Se²{Z_{\bar{{e}}}-Z_{S_e^2}} control charts to effectively monitor the quality variable produced by the first process step with incorrect adjustment and the quality variable produced by the second process step with incorrect adjustment, respectively. The performance of the proposed VSI control charts is measured by the adjusted average time to signal derived using a Markov chain approach. An example of the cotton yarn producing system shows the application and performance of the proposed joint VSI Z_{[`(X)]</sub> -Z<sub>SX<sup>2</sup></sub> {Z_{\overline{X}} -Z_{S_X^2 }} and Z<sub>[`(e)]} -Z_Se² {Z_{\bar{{e}}} -Z_{S_e^2 }} control charts in detecting shifts in mean and variance for the two dependent process steps with incorrect adjustment. Furthermore, the performance of the VSI Z_{[`(X)]</sub>-Z<sub>SX<sup>2</sup></sub> {Z_{\overline{X}}-Z_{S_X^2 }} and Z<sub>[`(e)]} -Z_Se² {Z_{\bar{{e}}} -Z_{S_e^2 }} control charts and the fixed sampling interval Z_{[`(X)]</sub> -Z<sub>SX<sup>2</sup></sub> {Z_{\overline{X}} -Z_{S_X^2 }} and Z<sub>[`(e)]} -Z_Se² {Z_{\bar{{e}}} -Z_{S_e^2 }} control charts are compared by numerical analysis results. These demonstrate that the former is much faster in detecting small and median shifts in mean and variance. When quality engineers cannot specify the values of variable sampling intervals, the optimum VSI Z_{[`(X)]</sub>-Z<sub>SX<sup>2</sup></sub> {Z_{\overline{X}}-Z_{S_X^2 }} and Z<sub>[`(e)]} -Z_Se² {Z_{\bar{{e}}} -Z_{S_e^2 }} control charts are also proposed by using the Quasi-Newton optimization technique.     

Soft set theory applied to p-ideals of BCI-algebras related to fuzzy points

The notions of $(\overline{\in}, \overline{\in} \vee \overline{\hbox{q}})The notions of ([`( ? )],[`( ? )] ú[`q])(\overline{\in}, \overline{\in} \vee \overline{\hbox{q}})-fuzzy p-ideals and fuzzy p-ideals with thresholds related to soft set theory are discussed. Relations between ([`( ? )],[`( ? )] ú[`q])(\overline{\in}, \overline{\in} \vee \overline{\hbox{q}})-fuzzy ideals and ([`( ? )],[`( ? )] ú[`q])(\overline{\in}, \overline{\in} \vee \overline{\hbox{q}})-fuzzy p-ideals are investigated. Characterizations of an ([`( ? )],[`( ? )] ú[`q])(\overline{\in}, \overline{\in} \vee \overline{\hbox{q}})-fuzzy p-ideal and a fuzzy p-ideal with thresholds are displayed. Implication-based fuzzy p-ideals are discussed.     

Communication Complexity Under Product and Nonproduct Distributions

We solve an open problem in communication complexity posed by Kushilevitz and Nisan (1997). Let R_∈(f) and $D^\mu_\in (f)$D^\mu_\in (f) denote the randomized and μ-distributional communication complexities of f, respectively (∈ a small constant). Yao’s well-known minimax principle states that $R_{\in}(f) = max_\mu \{D^\mu_\in(f)\}$R_{\in}(f) = max_\mu \{D^\mu_\in(f)\}. Kushilevitz and Nisan (1997) ask whether this equality is approximately preserved if the maximum is taken over product distributions only, rather than all distributions μ. We give a strong negative answer to this question. Specifically, we prove the existence of a function f : {0, 1}ⁿ ×{0, 1}ⁿ ? {0, 1}f : \{0, 1\}^n \times \{0, 1\}^n \rightarrow \{0, 1\} for which max_{μ product} {D^m _? (f)} = Q(1)  but R _? (f) = Q(n)\{D^\mu_\in (f)\} = \Theta(1) \,{\textrm but}\, R_{\in} (f) = \Theta(n). We also obtain an exponential separation between the statistical query dimension and signrank, solving a problem previously posed by the author (2007).     

An Improved Approximation Algorithm for the Most Points Covering Problem

In this paper we present a polynomial time approximation scheme for the most points covering problem. In the most points covering problem, n points in R ², r>0, and an integer m>0 are given and the goal is to cover the maximum number of points with m disks with radius r. The dual of the most points covering problem is the partial covering problem in which n points in R ² are given, and we try to cover at least p≤n points of these n points with the minimum number of disks. Both these problems are NP-hard. To solve the most points covering problem, we use the solution of the partial covering problem to obtain an upper bound for the problem and then we generate a valid solution for the most points covering problem by a careful modification of the partial covering solution. We first present an improved approximation algorithm for the partial covering problem which has a better running time than the previous algorithm for this problem. Using this algorithm, we attain a \((1 - \frac{{2\varepsilon }}{{1 +\varepsilon }})\)-approximation algorithm for the most points covering problem. The running time of our algorithm is \(O((1+\varepsilon )mn+\epsilon^{-1}n^{4\sqrt{2}\epsilon^{-1}+2}) \) which is polynomial with respect to both m and n, whereas the previously known algorithm for this problem runs in \(O(n \log n +n\epsilon^{-6m+6} \log (\frac{1}{\epsilon}))\) which is exponential regarding m.     

Approximate Pattern Matching with the <Emphasis Type="Italic">L</Emphasis><Subscript>1</Subscript>, <Emphasis Type="Italic">L</Emphasis><Subscript>2</Subscript> and <Emphasis Type="Italic">L</Emphasis><Subscript>∞</Subscript> Metrics

Given an alphabet Σ={1,2,…,|Σ|} text string T∈Σ ⁿ and a pattern string P∈Σ ^m , for each i=1,2,…,n−m+1 define L _p (i) as the p-norm distance when the pattern is aligned below the text and starts at position i of the text. The problem of pattern matching with L _p distance is to compute L _p (i) for every i=1,2,…,n−m+1. We discuss the problem for d=1,2,∞. First, in the case of L ₁ matching (pattern matching with an L ₁ distance) we show a reduction of the string matching with mismatches problem to the L ₁ matching problem and we present an algorithm that approximates the L ₁ matching up to a factor of 1+ε, which has an O(\frac1e²nlogmlog|S|)O(\frac{1}{\varepsilon^{2}}n\log m\log|\Sigma|) run time. Then, the L ₂ matching problem (pattern matching with an L ₂ distance) is solved with a simple O(nlog m) time algorithm. Finally, we provide an algorithm that approximates the L _∞ matching up to a factor of 1+ε with a run time of O(\frac1enlogmlog|S|)O(\frac{1}{\varepsilon}n\log m\log|\Sigma|) . We also generalize the problem of String Matching with mismatches to have weighted mismatches and present an O(nlog ⁴ m) algorithm that approximates the results of this problem up to a factor of O(log m) in the case that the weight function is a metric.