On the Design, Analysis, and Implementation of Algorithms for Selected Problems in Graphs and Networks

This thesis studies three problems in network optimization, viz., the minimum spanning tree verification (MSTV) problem, the undirected negative cost cycle detection (UNCCD) problem, and the negative cost girth (NCG) problem. These problems find applications in several domains including program verification, proof theory, real-time scheduling, social networking, and operations research.;The MSTV problem is defined as follows: Given an undirected graph G = (V,E) and a spanning tree T, is T a minimum spanning tree of G? We focus on the case where the number of distinct edge weights is bounded. Using a bucketed data structure to organize the edge weights, we present an efficient algorithm for the MSTV problem, which runs in O (| E| + |V| · K) time, where K is the number of distinct edge weights. When K is a fixed constant, this algorithm runs in linear time. We also profile our MSTV algorithm with the current fastest known MSTV implementation. Our results demonstrate the superiority of our algorithm when K ≤ 24.;The UNCCD problem is defined as follows: Given an undirected graph G = (V,E) with arbitrarily weighted edges, does G contain a negative cost cycle? We discuss two polynomial time algorithms for solving the UNCCD problem: the b-matching approach and the T-join approach. We obtain new results for the case where the edge costs are integers in the range {lcub}--K ·· K{rcub}, where K is a positive constant. We also provide the first extensive empirical study that profiles the discussed UNCCD algorithms for various graph types, sizes, and experiments.;The NCG problem is defined as follows: Given a directed graph G = (V,E) with arbitrarily weighted edges, find the length, or number of edges, of the negative cost cycle having the least number of edges. We discuss three strongly polynomial NCG algorithms. The first NCG algorithm is known as the matrix multiplication approach in the literature. We present two new NCG algorithms that are asymptotically and empirically superior to the matrix multiplication approach for sparse graphs. We also provide a parallel implementation of the matrix multiplication approach that runs in polylogarithmic parallel time using a polynomial number of processors. We include an implementation profile to demonstrate the efficiency of the parallel implementation as we increase the graph size and number of processors. We also present an NCG algorithm for planar graphs that is asymptotically faster than the fastest topology-oblivious algorithm when restricted to planar graphs

Analyzing Satisfiability and Refutability in Selected Constraint Systems

This dissertation is concerned with the satisfiability and refutability problems for several constraint systems. We examine both Boolean constraint systems, in which each variable is limited to the values true and false, and polyhedral constraint systems, in which each variable is limited to the set of real numbers R in the case of linear polyhedral systems or the set of integers Z in the case of integer polyhedral systems. An important aspect of our research is that we focus on providing certificates. That is, we provide satisfying assignments or easily checkable proofs of infeasibility depending on whether the instance is feasible or not. Providing easily checkable certificates has become a much sought after feature in algorithms, especially in light of spectacular failures in the implementations of some well-known algorithms. There exist a number of problems in the constraint-solving domain for which efficient algorithms have been proposed, but which lack a certifying counterpart. When examining Boolean constraint systems, we specifically look at systems of 2-CNF clauses and systems of Horn clauses. When examining polyhedral constraint systems, we specifically look at systems of difference constraints, systems of UTVPI constraints, and systems of Horn constraints. For each examined system, we determine several properties of general refutations and determine the complexity of finding restricted refutations. These restricted forms of refutation include read-once refutations, in which each constraint can be used at most once; literal-once refutations, in which for each literal at most one constraint containing that literal can be used; and unit refutations, in which each step of the refutation must use a constraint containing exactly one literal. The advantage of read-once refutations is that they are guaranteed to be short. Thus, while not every constraint system has a read-once refutation, the small size of the refutation guarantees easy checkability