2,034 research outputs found
Faster generation of random spanning trees
In this paper, we set forth a new algorithm for generating approximately
uniformly random spanning trees in undirected graphs. We show how to sample
from a distribution that is within a multiplicative of uniform in
expected time \TO(m\sqrt{n}\log 1/\delta). This improves the sparse graph
case of the best previously known worst-case bound of , which has stood for twenty years.
To achieve this goal, we exploit the connection between random walks on
graphs and electrical networks, and we use this to introduce a new approach to
the problem that integrates discrete random walk-based techniques with
continuous linear algebraic methods. We believe that our use of electrical
networks and sparse linear system solvers in conjunction with random walks and
combinatorial partitioning techniques is a useful paradigm that will find
further applications in algorithmic graph theory
Topology Discovery of Sparse Random Graphs With Few Participants
We consider the task of topology discovery of sparse random graphs using
end-to-end random measurements (e.g., delay) between a subset of nodes,
referred to as the participants. The rest of the nodes are hidden, and do not
provide any information for topology discovery. We consider topology discovery
under two routing models: (a) the participants exchange messages along the
shortest paths and obtain end-to-end measurements, and (b) additionally, the
participants exchange messages along the second shortest path. For scenario
(a), our proposed algorithm results in a sub-linear edit-distance guarantee
using a sub-linear number of uniformly selected participants. For scenario (b),
we obtain a much stronger result, and show that we can achieve consistent
reconstruction when a sub-linear number of uniformly selected nodes
participate. This implies that accurate discovery of sparse random graphs is
tractable using an extremely small number of participants. We finally obtain a
lower bound on the number of participants required by any algorithm to
reconstruct the original random graph up to a given edit distance. We also
demonstrate that while consistent discovery is tractable for sparse random
graphs using a small number of participants, in general, there are graphs which
cannot be discovered by any algorithm even with a significant number of
participants, and with the availability of end-to-end information along all the
paths between the participants.Comment: A shorter version appears in ACM SIGMETRICS 2011. This version is
scheduled to appear in J. on Random Structures and Algorithm
Rounding Sum-of-Squares Relaxations
We present a general approach to rounding semidefinite programming
relaxations obtained by the Sum-of-Squares method (Lasserre hierarchy). Our
approach is based on using the connection between these relaxations and the
Sum-of-Squares proof system to transform a *combining algorithm* -- an
algorithm that maps a distribution over solutions into a (possibly weaker)
solution -- into a *rounding algorithm* that maps a solution of the relaxation
to a solution of the original problem.
Using this approach, we obtain algorithms that yield improved results for
natural variants of three well-known problems:
1) We give a quasipolynomial-time algorithm that approximates the maximum of
a low degree multivariate polynomial with non-negative coefficients over the
Euclidean unit sphere. Beyond being of interest in its own right, this is
related to an open question in quantum information theory, and our techniques
have already led to improved results in this area (Brand\~{a}o and Harrow, STOC
'13).
2) We give a polynomial-time algorithm that, given a d dimensional subspace
of R^n that (almost) contains the characteristic function of a set of size n/k,
finds a vector in the subspace satisfying ,
where . Aside from being a natural relaxation, this
is also motivated by a connection to the Small Set Expansion problem shown by
Barak et al. (STOC 2012) and our results yield a certain improvement for that
problem.
3) We use this notion of L_4 vs. L_2 sparsity to obtain a polynomial-time
algorithm with substantially improved guarantees for recovering a planted
-sparse vector v in a random d-dimensional subspace of R^n. If v has mu n
nonzero coordinates, we can recover it with high probability whenever , improving for prior methods which
intrinsically required
Energy spectra of gamma-rays, electrons and neutrinos produced at interactions of relativistic protons with low energy radiation
We derived simple analytical parametrizations for energy distributions of
photons, electrons, and neutrinos produced in interactions of relativistic
protons with an isotropic monochromatic radiation field. The results on
photomeson processes are obtained using numerical simulations of proton-photon
interactions based on the public available Monte-Carlo code SOPHIA. For
calculations of energy spectra of electrons and positrons from the pair
production (Bethe-Heitler) process we suggest a simple formalism based on the
well-known differential cross-section of the process in the rest frame of the
proton. The analytical presentations of energy distributions of photons and
leptons provide a simple but accurate approach for calculations of broad-band
energy spectra of gamma-rays and neutrinos in cosmic proton accelerators
located in radiation dominated environments.Comment: 17 pages, 21 figures, published in Phys.Rev.D. We have corrected two
misprints in the text. We note that the correct expressions were used for
calculations in the previous versions of the paper, thus the misprints did
not have an impact on the figure
Faster Approximate Multicommodity Flow Using Quadratically Coupled Flows
The maximum multicommodity flow problem is a natural generalization of the
maximum flow problem to route multiple distinct flows. Obtaining a
approximation to the multicommodity flow problem on graphs is a well-studied
problem. In this paper we present an adaptation of recent advances in
single-commodity flow algorithms to this problem. As the underlying linear
systems in the electrical problems of multicommodity flow problems are no
longer Laplacians, our approach is tailored to generate specialized systems
which can be preconditioned and solved efficiently using Laplacians. Given an
undirected graph with m edges and k commodities, we give algorithms that find
approximate solutions to the maximum concurrent flow problem and
the maximum weighted multicommodity flow problem in time
\tilde{O}(m^{4/3}\poly(k,\epsilon^{-1}))
Television sport in the age of screens and content
The death of television has been long predicated in the digital age, yet it remains a powerful mediator of live sports. This article focuses on football and examines the implications for the sport of the move to an age of screens and content. These may be large screens in public places or in our homes or those at work or smaller screens carried in the palm of our hands, but what we use them for, how content gets onto those screens, and the implications for sports and sports fans remain compelling questions in the digital age. The article argues that through reflecting on major media sport events such as the FIFA World Cup, we see patterns of continuity in the role played by television as well as evidence of change
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