8 research outputs found
Edit Distance in Near-Linear Time: it's a Constant Factor
We present an algorithm for approximating the edit distance between two
strings of length in time , for any , up to a
constant factor. Our result completes the research direction set forth in the
recent breakthrough paper [Chakraborty-Das-Goldenberg-Koucky-Saks, FOCS'18],
which showed the first constant-factor approximation algorithm with a
(strongly) sub-quadratic running time. Several recent results have shown
near-linear complexity under different restrictions on the inputs (eg, when the
edit distance is close to maximal, or when one of the inputs is pseudo-random).
In contrast, our algorithm obtains a constant-factor approximation in
near-linear running time for any input strings