Network functional compression

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2010.Includes bibliographical references (p. 97-99).In this thesis, we consider different aspects of the functional compression problem. In functional compression, the computation of a function (or, some functions) of sources is desired at the receiver(s). The rate region of this problem has been considered in the literature under certain restrictive assumptions. In Chapter 2 of this Thesis, we consider this problem for an arbitrary tree network and asymptotically lossless computations. In particular, for one-stage tree networks, we compute a rate-region and for an arbitrary tree network, we derive a rate lower bound based on the graph entropy. We introduce a new condition on colorings of source random variables' characteristic graphs called the coloring connectivity condition (C.C.C.). We show that unlike the condition mentioned in Doshi et al., this condition is necessary and sufficient for any achievable coding scheme based on colorings. We also show that, unlike entropy, graph entropy does not satisfy the chain rule. For one stage trees with correlated sources, and general trees with independent sources, we propose a modularized coding scheme based on graph colorings to perform arbitrarily closely to the derived rate lower bound. We show that in a general tree network case with independent sources, to achieve the rate lower bound, intermediate nodes should perform some computations. However, for a family of functions and random variables called chain rule proper sets, it is sufficient to have intermediate nodes act like relays to perform arbitrarily closely to the rate lower bound. In Chapter 3 of this Thesis, we consider a multi-functional version of this problem with side information, where the receiver wants to compute several functions with different side information random variables and zero distortion. Our results are applicable to the case with several receivers computing different desired functions. We define a new concept named multi-functional graph entropy which is an extension of graph entropy defined by K6rner. We show that the minimum achievable rate for this problem is equal to conditional multi-functional graph entropy of the source random variable given the side information. We also propose a coding scheme based on graph colorings to achieve this rate. In these proposed coding schemes, one needs to compute the minimum entropy coloring (a coloring random variable which minimizes the entropy) of a characteristic graph. In general, finding this coloring is an NP-hard problem. However, in Chapter 4, we show that depending on the characteristic graph's structure, there are some interesting cases where finding the minimum entropy coloring is not NP-hard, but tractable and practical. In one of these cases, we show that, by having a non-zero joint probability condition on random variables' distributions, for any desired function, finding the minimum entropy coloring can be solved in polynomial time. In another case, we show that if the desired function is a quantization function, this problem is also tractable. We also consider this problem in a general case. By using Huffman or Lempel-Ziv coding notions, we show that finding the minimum entropy coloring is heuristically equivalent to finding the maximum independent set of a graph. While the minimum-entropy coloring problem is a recently studied problem, there are some heuristic algorithms to approximately solve the maximum independent set problem. Next, in Chapter 5, we consider the effect of having feedback on the rate-region of the functional compression problem . If the function at the receiver is the identity function, this problem reduces to the Slepian-Wolf compression with feedback. For this case, having feedback does not make any benefits in terms of the rate. However, it is not the case when we have a general function at the receiver. By having feedback, one may outperform rate bounds of the case without feedback. We finally consider the problem of distributed functional compression with distortion. The objective is to compress correlated discrete sources such that an arbitrary deterministic function of those sources can be computed up to a distortion level at the receiver. In this case, we compute a rate-distortion region and then, propose a simple coding scheme with a non-trivial performance guarantee.by Soheil Feizi.S.M

Polynomial iterative algorithms for coloring and analyzing random graphs

We study the graph coloring problem over random graphs of finite average connectivity $c$. Given a number $q$ of available colors, we find that graphs with low connectivity admit almost always a proper coloring whereas graphs with high connectivity are uncolorable. Depending on $q$, we find the precise value of the critical average connectivity $c_q$. Moreover, we show that below $c_q$ there exist a clustering phase $c\in [c_d,c_q]$ in which ground states spontaneously divide into an exponential number of clusters. Furthermore, we extended our considerations to the case of single instances showing consistent results. This lead us to propose a new algorithm able to color in polynomial time random graphs in the hard but colorable region, i.e when $c\in [c_d,c_q]$.Comment: 23 pages, 10 eps figure

The Phase Diagram of 1-in-3 Satisfiability Problem

We study the typical case properties of the 1-in-3 satisfiability problem, the boolean satisfaction problem where a clause is satisfied by exactly one literal, in an enlarged random ensemble parametrized by average connectivity and probability of negation of a variable in a clause. Random 1-in-3 Satisfiability and Exact 3-Cover are special cases of this ensemble. We interpolate between these cases from a region where satisfiability can be typically decided for all connectivities in polynomial time to a region where deciding satisfiability is hard, in some interval of connectivities. We derive several rigorous results in the first region, and develop the one-step--replica-symmetry-breaking cavity analysis in the second one. We discuss the prediction for the transition between the almost surely satisfiable and the almost surely unsatisfiable phase, and other structural properties of the phase diagram, in light of cavity method results.Comment: 30 pages, 12 figure

The Quantum Adiabatic Algorithm applied to random optimization problems: the quantum spin glass perspective

Among various algorithms designed to exploit the specific properties of quantum computers with respect to classical ones, the quantum adiabatic algorithm is a versatile proposition to find the minimal value of an arbitrary cost function (ground state energy). Random optimization problems provide a natural testbed to compare its efficiency with that of classical algorithms. These problems correspond to mean field spin glasses that have been extensively studied in the classical case. This paper reviews recent analytical works that extended these studies to incorporate the effect of quantum fluctuations, and presents also some original results in this direction.Comment: 151 pages, 21 figure

Network conduciveness with application to the graph-coloring and independent-set optimization transitions

We introduce the notion of a network's conduciveness, a probabilistically interpretable measure of how the network's structure allows it to be conducive to roaming agents, in certain conditions, from one portion of the network to another. We exemplify its use through an application to the two problems in combinatorial optimization that, given an undirected graph, ask that its so-called chromatic and independence numbers be found. Though NP-hard, when solved on sequences of expanding random graphs there appear marked transitions at which optimal solutions can be obtained substantially more easily than right before them. We demonstrate that these phenomena can be understood by resorting to the network that represents the solution space of the problems for each graph and examining its conduciveness between the non-optimal solutions and the optimal ones. At the said transitions, this network becomes strikingly more conducive in the direction of the optimal solutions than it was just before them, while at the same time becoming less conducive in the opposite direction. We believe that, besides becoming useful also in other areas in which network theory has a role to play, network conduciveness may become instrumental in helping clarify further issues related to NP-hardness that remain poorly understood

Power law violation of the area law in quantum spin chains

The sub-volume scaling of the entanglement entropy with the system's size, $n$, has been a subject of vigorous study in the last decade [1]. The area law provably holds for gapped one dimensional systems [2] and it was believed to be violated by at most a factor of $\log\left(n\right)$ in physically reasonable models such as critical systems. In this paper, we generalize the spin$-1$ model of Bravyi et al [3] to all integer spin-$s$ chains, whereby we introduce a class of exactly solvable models that are physical and exhibit signatures of criticality, yet violate the area law by a power law. The proposed Hamiltonian is local and translationally invariant in the bulk. We prove that it is frustration free and has a unique ground state. Moreover, we prove that the energy gap scales as $n^{-c}$, where using the theory of Brownian excursions, we prove $c\ge2$. This rules out the possibility of these models being described by a conformal field theory. We analytically show that the Schmidt rank grows exponentially with $n$ and that the half-chain entanglement entropy to the leading order scales as $\sqrt{n}$ (Eq. 16). Geometrically, the ground state is seen as a uniform superposition of all $s-$colored Motzkin walks. Lastly, we introduce an external field which allows us to remove the boundary terms yet retain the desired properties of the model. Our techniques for obtaining the asymptotic form of the entanglement entropy, the gap upper bound and the self-contained expositions of the combinatorial techniques, more akin to lattice paths, may be of independent interest.Comment: v3: 10+33 pages. In the PNAS publication, the abstract was rewritten and title changed to "Supercritical entanglement in local systems: Counterexample to the area law for quantum matter". The content is same otherwise. v2: a section was added with an external field to include a model with no boundary terms (open and closed chain). Asymptotic technique is improved. v1:37 pages, 10 figures. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, (Nov. 2016