Energy-Efficient Algorithms

We initiate the systematic study of the energy complexity of algorithms (in addition to time and space complexity) based on Landauer's Principle in physics, which gives a lower bound on the amount of energy a system must dissipate if it destroys information. We propose energy-aware variations of three standard models of computation: circuit RAM, word RAM, and transdichotomous RAM. On top of these models, we build familiar high-level primitives such as control logic, memory allocation, and garbage collection with zero energy complexity and only constant-factor overheads in space and time complexity, enabling simple expression of energy-efficient algorithms. We analyze several classic algorithms in our models and develop low-energy variations: comparison sort, insertion sort, counting sort, breadth-first search, Bellman-Ford, Floyd-Warshall, matrix all-pairs shortest paths, AVL trees, binary heaps, and dynamic arrays. We explore the time/space/energy trade-off and develop several general techniques for analyzing algorithms and reducing their energy complexity. These results lay a theoretical foundation for a new field of semi-reversible computing and provide a new framework for the investigation of algorithms.Comment: 40 pages, 8 pdf figures, full version of work published in ITCS 201

Efficient pebbling for list traversal synopses

We show how to support efficient back traversal in a unidirectional list, using small memory and with essentially no slowdown in forward steps. Using $O(\log n)$ memory for a list of size $n$, the $i$'th back-step from the farthest point reached so far takes $O(\log i)$ time in the worst case, while the overhead per forward step is at most $\epsilon$ for arbitrary small constant $\epsilon>0$. An arbitrary sequence of forward and back steps is allowed. A full trade-off between memory usage and time per back-step is presented: $k$ vs. $kn^{1/k}$ and vice versa. Our algorithms are based on a novel pebbling technique which moves pebbles on a virtual binary, or $t$-ary, tree that can only be traversed in a pre-order fashion. The compact data structures used by the pebbling algorithms, called list traversal synopses, extend to general directed graphs, and have other interesting applications, including memory efficient hash-chain implementation. Perhaps the most surprising application is in showing that for any program, arbitrary rollback steps can be efficiently supported with small overhead in memory, and marginal overhead in its ordinary execution. More concretely: Let $P$ be a program that runs for at most $T$ steps, using memory of size $M$. Then, at the cost of recording the input used by the program, and increasing the memory by a factor of $O(\log T)$ to $O(M \log T)$, the program $P$ can be extended to support an arbitrary sequence of forward execution and rollback steps: the $i$'th rollback step takes $O(\log i)$ time in the worst case, while forward steps take O(1) time in the worst case, and $1+\epsilon$ amortized time per step.Comment: 27 page

Space-Efficient Biconnected Components and Recognition of Outerplanar Graphs

We present space-efficient algorithms for computing cut vertices in a given graph with $n$ vertices and $m$ edges in linear time using $O(n+\min\{m,n\log \log n\})$ bits. With the same time and using $O(n+m)$ bits, we can compute the biconnected components of a graph. We use this result to show an algorithm for the recognition of (maximal) outerplanar graphs in $O(n\log \log n)$ time using $O(n)$ bits

Linear pattern matching on sparse suffix trees

Packing several characters into one computer word is a simple and natural way to compress the representation of a string and to speed up its processing. Exploiting this idea, we propose an index for a packed string, based on a {\em sparse suffix tree} \cite{KU-96} with appropriately defined suffix links. Assuming, under the standard unit-cost RAM model, that a word can store up to $\log_{\sigma}n$ characters ($\sigma$ the alphabet size), our index takes $O(n/\log_{\sigma}n)$ space, i.e. the same space as the packed string itself. The resulting pattern matching algorithm runs in time $O(m+r^2+r\cdot occ)$, where $m$ is the length of the pattern, $r$ is the actual number of characters stored in a word and $occ$ is the number of pattern occurrences

Space-Efficient DFS and Applications: Simpler, Leaner, Faster

The problem of space-efficient depth-first search (DFS) is reconsidered. A particularly simple and fast algorithm is presented that, on a directed or undirected input graph $G=(V,E)$ with $n$ vertices and $m$ edges, carries out a DFS in $O(n+m)$ time with $n+\sum_{v\in V_{\ge 3}}\lceil{\log_2(d_v-1)}\rceil +O(\log n)\le n+m+O(\log n)$ bits of working memory, where $d_v$ is the (total) degree of $v$, for each $v\in V$, and $V_{\ge 3}=\{v\in V\mid d_v\ge 3\}$. A slightly more complicated variant of the algorithm works in the same time with at most $n+({4/5})m+O(\log n)$ bits. It is also shown that a DFS can be carried out in a graph with $n$ vertices and $m$ edges in $O(n+m\log^*\! n)$ time with $O(n)$ bits or in $O(n+m)$ time with either $O(n\log\log(4+{m/n}))$ bits or, for arbitrary integer $k\ge 1$, $O(n\log^{(k)}\! n)$ bits. These results among them subsume or improve most earlier results on space-efficient DFS. Some of the new time and space bounds are shown to extend to applications of DFS such as the computation of cut vertices, bridges, biconnected components and 2-edge-connected components in undirected graphs

Parallel Weighted Random Sampling

Data structures for efficient sampling from a set of weighted items are an important building block of many applications. However, few parallel solutions are known. We close many of these gaps both for shared-memory and distributed-memory machines. We give efficient, fast, and practicable algorithms for sampling single items, k items with/without replacement, permutations, subsets, and reservoirs. We also give improved sequential algorithms for alias table construction and for sampling with replacement. Experiments on shared-memory parallel machines with up to 158 threads show near linear speedups both for construction and queries

Realizable paths and the NL vs L problem

A celebrated theorem of Savitch [Savitch'70] states that NSPACE(S) is contained in DSPACE(S²). In particular, Savitch gave a deterministic algorithm to solve ST-Connectivity (an NL-complete problem) using O({log}²{n}) space, implying NL (non-deterministic logspace) is contained in DSPACE({log}²{n}). While Savitch's theorem itself has not been improved in the last four decades, several graph connectivity problems are shown to lie between L and NL, providing new insights into the space-bounded complexity classes. All the connectivity problems considered in the literature so far are essentially special cases of ST-Connectivity. In this dissertation, we initiate the study of auxiliary PDAs as graph connectivity problems and define sixteen different "graph realizability problems" and study their relationships. The complexity of these connectivity problems lie between L (logspace) and P (polynomial time). ST-Realizability, the most general graph realizability problem is P-complete. 1DSTREAL(poly), the most specific graph realizability problem is L-complete. As special cases of our graph realizability problems we define two natural problems, Balanced ST-Connectivity and Positive Balanced ST-Connectivity, that lie between L and NL. We study the space complexity of SGSLOGCFL, a graph realizability problem lying between L and LOGCFL. We define generalizations of graph squaring and transitive closure, present efficient parallel algorithms for SGSLOGCFL and use the techniques of Trifonov to show that SGSLOGCFL is contained in DSPACE(lognloglogn). This implies that Balanced ST-Connectivity is contained in DSPACE(lognloglogn). We conclude with several interesting new research directions.PhDCommittee Chair: Richard Lipton; Committee Member: Anna Gal; Committee Member: Maria-Florina Balcan; Committee Member: Merrick Furst; Committee Member: William Coo