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Super-Fast 3-Ruling Sets
A -ruling set of a graph is a vertex-subset
that is independent and satisfies the property that every vertex is
at a distance of at most from some vertex in . A \textit{maximal
independent set (MIS)} is a 1-ruling set. The problem of computing an MIS on a
network is a fundamental problem in distributed algorithms and the fastest
algorithm for this problem is the -round algorithm due to Luby
(SICOMP 1986) and Alon et al. (J. Algorithms 1986) from more than 25 years ago.
Since then the problem has resisted all efforts to yield to a sub-logarithmic
algorithm. There has been recent progress on this problem, most importantly an
-round algorithm on graphs with
vertices and maximum degree , due to Barenboim et al. (Barenboim,
Elkin, Pettie, and Schneider, April 2012, arxiv 1202.1983; to appear FOCS
2012).
We approach the MIS problem from a different angle and ask if O(1)-ruling
sets can be computed much more efficiently than an MIS? As an answer to this
question, we show how to compute a 2-ruling set of an -vertex graph in
rounds. We also show that the above result can be improved
for special classes of graphs such as graphs with high girth, trees, and graphs
of bounded arboricity.
Our main technique involves randomized sparsification that rapidly reduces
the graph degree while ensuring that every deleted vertex is close to some
vertex that remains. This technique may have further applications in other
contexts, e.g., in designing sub-logarithmic distributed approximation
algorithms. Our results raise intriguing questions about how quickly an MIS (or
1-ruling sets) can be computed, given that 2-ruling sets can be computed in
sub-logarithmic rounds
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