72 research outputs found
Factorised Representations of Query Results
Query tractability has been traditionally defined as a function of input
database and query sizes, or of both input and output sizes, where the query
result is represented as a bag of tuples. In this report, we introduce a
framework that allows to investigate tractability beyond this setting. The key
insight is that, although the cardinality of a query result can be exponential,
its structure can be very regular and thus factorisable into a nested
representation whose size is only polynomial in the size of both the input
database and query.
For a given query result, there may be several equivalent representations,
and we quantify the regularity of the result by its readability, which is the
minimum over all its representations of the maximum number of occurrences of
any tuple in that representation. We give a characterisation of
select-project-join queries based on the bounds on readability of their results
for any input database. We complement it with an algorithm that can find
asymptotically optimal upper bounds and corresponding factorised
representations.Comment: 44 pages, 13 figure
The Discrete–Continuous Correspondence for Frequency-Limited Arma Models and the Hazards of Oversampling
Discrete-time ARMA processes can be placed in a one-to-one correspondence with a set of continuous-time processes that are bounded in frequency by the Nyquist value of ? radians per sample period. It is well known that, if data are sampled from a continuous process of which the maximum frequency exceeds the Nyquist value, then there will be a problem of aliasing. However, if the sampling is too rapid, then other problems will arise that will cause the ARMA estimates to be severely biased. The paper reveals the nature of these problems and it shows how they may be overcome. It is argued that the estimation of macroeconomic processes may be compromised by a failure to take account of their limits in frequency.Stochastic Differential Equations; Band-Limited Stochastic Processes; Oversampling
A kilobit hidden SNFS discrete logarithm computation
We perform a special number field sieve discrete logarithm computation in a
1024-bit prime field. To our knowledge, this is the first kilobit-sized
discrete logarithm computation ever reported for prime fields. This computation
took a little over two months of calendar time on an academic cluster using the
open-source CADO-NFS software. Our chosen prime looks random, and
has a 160-bit prime factor, in line with recommended parameters for the Digital
Signature Algorithm. However, our p has been trapdoored in such a way that the
special number field sieve can be used to compute discrete logarithms in
, yet detecting that p has this trapdoor seems out of reach.
Twenty-five years ago, there was considerable controversy around the
possibility of back-doored parameters for DSA. Our computations show that
trapdoored primes are entirely feasible with current computing technology. We
also describe special number field sieve discrete log computations carried out
for multiple weak primes found in use in the wild. As can be expected from a
trapdoor mechanism which we say is hard to detect, our research did not reveal
any trapdoored prime in wide use. The only way for a user to defend against a
hypothetical trapdoor of this kind is to require verifiably random primes
Equivalence-Invariant Algebraic Provenance for Hyperplane Update Queries
The algebraic approach for provenance tracking, originating in the semiring
model of Green et. al, has proven useful as an abstract way of handling
metadata. Commutative Semirings were shown to be the "correct" algebraic
structure for Union of Conjunctive Queries, in the sense that its use allows
provenance to be invariant under certain expected query equivalence axioms.
In this paper we present the first (to our knowledge) algebraic provenance
model, for a fragment of update queries, that is invariant under set
equivalence. The fragment that we focus on is that of hyperplane queries,
previously studied in multiple lines of work. Our algebraic provenance
structure and corresponding provenance-aware semantics are based on the sound
and complete axiomatization of Karabeg and Vianu. We demonstrate that our
construction can guide the design of concrete provenance model instances for
different applications. We further study the efficient generation and storage
of provenance for hyperplane update queries. We show that a naive algorithm can
lead to an exponentially large provenance expression, but remedy this by
presenting a normal form which we show may be efficiently computed alongside
query evaluation. We experimentally study the performance of our solution and
demonstrate its scalability and usefulness, and in particular the effectiveness
of our normal form representation
Interacting Hopf Algebras: the theory of linear systems
Scientists in diverse fields use diagrammatic formalisms to reason about various kinds
of networks, or compound systems. Examples include electrical circuits, signal flow graphs,
Penrose and Feynman diagrams, Bayesian networks, Petri nets, Kahn process networks, proof
nets, UML specifications, amongst many others. Graphical languages provide a convenient
abstraction of some underlying mathematical formalism, which gives meaning to diagrams.
For instance, signal flow graphs, foundational structures in control theory, are traditionally
translated into systems of linear equations. This is typical: diagrammatic languages are used
as an interface for more traditional mathematics, but rarely studied per se.
Recent trends in computer science analyse diagrams as first-class objects using formal
methods from programming language semantics. In many such approaches, diagrams are generated
as the arrows of a PROP — a special kind of monoidal category — by a two-dimensional
syntax and equations. The domain of interpretation of diagrams is also formalised as a PROP
and the (compositional) semantics is expressed as a functor preserving the PROP structure.
The first main contribution of this thesis is the characterisation of SVk, the PROP of
linear subspaces over a field k. This is an important domain of interpretation for diagrams
appearing in diverse research areas, like the signal flow graphs mentioned above. We present by
generators and equations the PROP IH of string diagrams whose free model is SVk. The name
IH stands for interacting Hopf algebras: indeed, the equations of IH arise by distributive laws
between Hopf algebras, which we obtain using Lack’s technique for composing PROPs. The
significance of the result is two-fold. On the one hand, it offers a canonical string diagrammatic
syntax for linear algebra: linear maps, kernels, subspaces and the standard linear algebraic
transformations are all faithfully represented in the graphical language. On the other hand,
the equations of IH describe familiar algebraic structures — Hopf algebras and Frobenius
algebras — which are at the heart of graphical formalisms as seemingly diverse as quantum
circuits, signal flow graphs, simple electrical circuits and Petri nets. Our characterisation
enlightens the provenance of these axioms and reveals their linear algebraic nature.
Our second main contribution is an application of IH to the semantics of signal processing
circuits. We develop a formal theory of signal flow graphs, featuring a string diagrammatic
syntax for circuits, a structural operational semantics and a denotational semantics. We
prove soundness and completeness of the equations of IH for denotational equivalence. Also,
we study the full abstraction question: it turns out that the purely operational picture is
too concrete — two graphs that are denotationally equal may exhibit different operational
behaviour. We classify the ways in which this can occur and show that any graph can be
realised — rewritten, using the equations of IH, into an executable form where the operational
behaviour and the denotation coincide. This realisability theorem — which is the culmination
of our developments — suggests a reflection about the role of causality in the semantics of
signal flow graphs and, more generally, of computing devices
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