10,305 research outputs found
Hollow Heaps
We introduce the hollow heap, a very simple data structure with the same
amortized efficiency as the classical Fibonacci heap. All heap operations
except delete and delete-min take time, worst case as well as amortized;
delete and delete-min take amortized time on a heap of items.
Hollow heaps are by far the simplest structure to achieve this. Hollow heaps
combine two novel ideas: the use of lazy deletion and re-insertion to do
decrease-key operations, and the use of a dag (directed acyclic graph) instead
of a tree or set of trees to represent a heap. Lazy deletion produces hollow
nodes (nodes without items), giving the data structure its name.Comment: 27 pages, 7 figures, preliminary version appeared in ICALP 201
Fifteenth century earth science
The earth science content of two late medieval encyclopedias, the Mirrour of the World and Higden's Polychronicon, both printed by William Caxton in the 1480's, is examined in relation to fifteenth century ideas about the physical nature of the earth and the universe. Such topics as the four elements, the earth and the spheres, location of Hell and Paradise, the arrangement of , continents and oceans, the unity of waters, earthquakes and volcanoes, erosion, fossils and mountain building, climatic zones and weather phenomena are summarized and reference made to the Biblical and Classical Greek sources of these ideas
Smooth heaps and a dual view of self-adjusting data structures
We present a new connection between self-adjusting binary search trees (BSTs)
and heaps, two fundamental, extensively studied, and practically relevant
families of data structures. Roughly speaking, we map an arbitrary heap
algorithm within a natural model, to a corresponding BST algorithm with the
same cost on a dual sequence of operations (i.e. the same sequence with the
roles of time and key-space switched). This is the first general transformation
between the two families of data structures.
There is a rich theory of dynamic optimality for BSTs (i.e. the theory of
competitiveness between BST algorithms). The lack of an analogous theory for
heaps has been noted in the literature. Through our connection, we transfer all
instance-specific lower bounds known for BSTs to a general model of heaps,
initiating a theory of dynamic optimality for heaps.
On the algorithmic side, we obtain a new, simple and efficient heap
algorithm, which we call the smooth heap. We show the smooth heap to be the
heap-counterpart of Greedy, the BST algorithm with the strongest proven and
conjectured properties from the literature, widely believed to be
instance-optimal. Assuming the optimality of Greedy, the smooth heap is also
optimal within our model of heap algorithms. As corollaries of results known
for Greedy, we obtain instance-specific upper bounds for the smooth heap, with
applications in adaptive sorting.
Intriguingly, the smooth heap, although derived from a non-practical BST
algorithm, is simple and easy to implement (e.g. it stores no auxiliary data
besides the keys and tree pointers). It can be seen as a variation on the
popular pairing heap data structure, extending it with a "power-of-two-choices"
type of heuristic.Comment: Presented at STOC 2018, light revision, additional figure
Agroeca dentigera and Entelecara omissa (Araneae: Liocranidae, Linyphiidae) found in Sweden
The rare spider species Agroeca dentigera KulczyĆski, 1913 (Liocranidae) and Entelecara omissa O. P.-Cambridge, 1902 (Linyphiidae), have been found in a small coastal freshwater fen in Lomma (55°42'N 13°4'E), north of Malmö in Scania in southernmost Sweden. A. dentigera was also found on a salt water meadow south of Malmö. Both species have been found only in a few wet localities in Europe. Entelecara depilata Tullgren, 1955, is a junior synonym of Entelecara omissa O. P.-Cambridge, 1902, new synonymy
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Excavations and survey at Coats Hill, near Moffat, 1990-1
This report describes the results of the survey and sample excavations of small cairns,
annular structures and other remains on Coats Hill, near Moffat. The difficulties of assessing
the dates and functions of certain of the structures are discussed. The project formed
part of the archaeological studies for the North Western Ethylene Pipeline (NWEP) Project
for Shell Chemicals UK Ltd, which wholly funded the archaeological work and the publication
of this report
The Mathematical Relationship between Zipf's Law and the Hierarchical Scaling Law
The empirical studies of city-size distribution show that Zipf's law and the
hierarchical scaling law are linked in many ways. The rank-size scaling and
hierarchical scaling seem to be two different sides of the same coin, but their
relationship has never been revealed by strict mathematical proof. In this
paper, the Zipf's distribution of cities is abstracted as a q-sequence. Based
on this sequence, a self-similar hierarchy consisting of many levels is defined
and the numbers of cities in different levels form a geometric sequence. An
exponential distribution of the average size of cities is derived from the
hierarchy. Thus we have two exponential functions, from which follows a
hierarchical scaling equation. The results can be statistically verified by
simple mathematical experiments and observational data of cities. A theoretical
foundation is then laid for the conversion from Zipf's law to the hierarchical
scaling law, and the latter can show more information about city development
than the former. Moreover, the self-similar hierarchy provides a new
perspective for studying networks of cities as complex systems. A series of
mathematical rules applied to cities such as the allometric growth law, the 2^n
principle and Pareto's law can be associated with one another by the
hierarchical organization.Comment: 30 pages, 5 figures, 5 tables, Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and
its Applications, 201
Gypsum dissolution geohazards at Ripon, North Yorkshire, UK
This guide is for a one-day field excursion to examine gypsum dissolution geohazards at Ripon in North Yorkshire. Gypsum is a highly soluble rock and under suitable groundwater flow conditions it can dissolve forming caves and karstic features including collapse and suffosion dolines. These have the capability of causing subsidence damage of the type that affects much of the Ripon area. The guide details the processes involved, the localities visited and some of the remedial measures undertaken
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