1,760 research outputs found
Marathon: An open source software library for the analysis of Markov-Chain Monte Carlo algorithms
In this paper, we consider the Markov-Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) approach for
random sampling of combinatorial objects. The running time of such an algorithm
depends on the total mixing time of the underlying Markov chain and is unknown
in general. For some Markov chains, upper bounds on this total mixing time
exist but are too large to be applicable in practice. We try to answer the
question, whether the total mixing time is close to its upper bounds, or if
there is a significant gap between them. In doing so, we present the software
library marathon which is designed to support the analysis of MCMC based
sampling algorithms. The main application of this library is to compute
properties of so-called state graphs which represent the structure of Markov
chains. We use marathon to investigate the quality of several bounding methods
on four well-known Markov chains for sampling perfect matchings and bipartite
graph realizations. In a set of experiments, we compute the total mixing time
and several of its bounds for a large number of input instances. We find that
the upper bound gained by the famous canonical path method is several
magnitudes larger than the total mixing time and deteriorates with growing
input size. In contrast, the spectral bound is found to be a precise
approximation of the total mixing time
Proof of the 1-factorization and Hamilton decomposition conjectures III: approximate decompositions
In a sequence of four papers, we prove the following results (via a unified
approach) for all sufficiently large :
(i) [1-factorization conjecture] Suppose that is even and . Then every -regular graph on vertices has a
decomposition into perfect matchings. Equivalently, .
(ii) [Hamilton decomposition conjecture] Suppose that . Then every -regular graph on vertices has a decomposition
into Hamilton cycles and at most one perfect matching.
(iii) We prove an optimal result on the number of edge-disjoint Hamilton
cycles in a graph of given minimum degree.
According to Dirac, (i) was first raised in the 1950s. (ii) and (iii) answer
questions of Nash-Williams from 1970. The above bounds are best possible. In
the current paper, we show the following: suppose that is close to a
complete balanced bipartite graph or to the union of two cliques of equal size.
If we are given a suitable set of path systems which cover a set of
`exceptional' vertices and edges of , then we can extend these path systems
into an approximate decomposition of into Hamilton cycles (or perfect
matchings if appropriate).Comment: We originally split the proof into four papers, of which this was the
third paper. We have now combined this series into a single publication
[arXiv:1401.4159v2], which will appear in the Memoirs of the AMS. 29 pages, 2
figure
Embedding large subgraphs into dense graphs
What conditions ensure that a graph G contains some given spanning subgraph
H? The most famous examples of results of this kind are probably Dirac's
theorem on Hamilton cycles and Tutte's theorem on perfect matchings. Perfect
matchings are generalized by perfect F-packings, where instead of covering all
the vertices of G by disjoint edges, we want to cover G by disjoint copies of a
(small) graph F. It is unlikely that there is a characterization of all graphs
G which contain a perfect F-packing, so as in the case of Dirac's theorem it
makes sense to study conditions on the minimum degree of G which guarantee a
perfect F-packing.
The Regularity lemma of Szemeredi and the Blow-up lemma of Komlos, Sarkozy
and Szemeredi have proved to be powerful tools in attacking such problems and
quite recently, several long-standing problems and conjectures in the area have
been solved using these. In this survey, we give an outline of recent progress
(with our main emphasis on F-packings, Hamiltonicity problems and tree
embeddings) and describe some of the methods involved
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