79,617 research outputs found
Failure Filtrations for Fenced Sensor Networks
In this paper we consider the question of sensor network coverage for a
2-dimensional domain. We seek to compute the probability that a set of sensors
fails to cover given only non-metric, local (who is talking to whom)
information and a probability distribution of failure of each node. This builds
on the work of de Silva and Ghrist who analyzed this problem in the
deterministic situation. We first show that a it is part of a slightly larger
class of problems which is #P-complete, and thus fast algorithms likely do not
exist unless PNP. We then give a deterministic algorithm which is feasible
in the case of a small set of sensors, and give a dynamic algorithm for an
arbitrary set of sensors failing over time which utilizes a new criterion for
coverage based on the one proposed by de Silva and Ghrist. These algorithms
build on the theory of topological persistence
Dynamic Approximate All-Pairs Shortest Paths: Breaking the O(mn) Barrier and Derandomization
We study dynamic -approximation algorithms for the all-pairs
shortest paths problem in unweighted undirected -node -edge graphs under
edge deletions. The fastest algorithm for this problem is a randomized
algorithm with a total update time of and constant
query time by Roditty and Zwick [FOCS 2004]. The fastest deterministic
algorithm is from a 1981 paper by Even and Shiloach [JACM 1981]; it has a total
update time of and constant query time. We improve these results as
follows: (1) We present an algorithm with a total update time of and constant query time that has an additive error of
in addition to the multiplicative error. This beats the previous
time when . Note that the additive
error is unavoidable since, even in the static case, an -time
(a so-called truly subcubic) combinatorial algorithm with
multiplicative error cannot have an additive error less than ,
unless we make a major breakthrough for Boolean matrix multiplication [Dor et
al. FOCS 1996] and many other long-standing problems [Vassilevska Williams and
Williams FOCS 2010]. The algorithm can also be turned into a
-approximation algorithm (without an additive error) with the
same time guarantees, improving the recent -approximation
algorithm with running
time of Bernstein and Roditty [SODA 2011] in terms of both approximation and
time guarantees. (2) We present a deterministic algorithm with a total update
time of and a query time of . The
algorithm has a multiplicative error of and gives the first
improved deterministic algorithm since 1981. It also answers an open question
raised by Bernstein [STOC 2013].Comment: A preliminary version was presented at the 2013 IEEE 54th Annual
Symposium on Foundations of Computer Science (FOCS 2013
Feedback Generation for Performance Problems in Introductory Programming Assignments
Providing feedback on programming assignments manually is a tedious, error
prone, and time-consuming task. In this paper, we motivate and address the
problem of generating feedback on performance aspects in introductory
programming assignments. We studied a large number of functionally correct
student solutions to introductory programming assignments and observed: (1)
There are different algorithmic strategies, with varying levels of efficiency,
for solving a given problem. These different strategies merit different
feedback. (2) The same algorithmic strategy can be implemented in countless
different ways, which are not relevant for reporting feedback on the student
program.
We propose a light-weight programming language extension that allows a
teacher to define an algorithmic strategy by specifying certain key values that
should occur during the execution of an implementation. We describe a dynamic
analysis based approach to test whether a student's program matches a teacher's
specification. Our experimental results illustrate the effectiveness of both
our specification language and our dynamic analysis. On one of our benchmarks
consisting of 2316 functionally correct implementations to 3 programming
problems, we identified 16 strategies that we were able to describe using our
specification language (in 95 minutes after inspecting 66, i.e., around 3%,
implementations). Our dynamic analysis correctly matched each implementation
with its corresponding specification, thereby automatically producing the
intended feedback.Comment: Tech report/extended version of FSE 2014 pape
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