Open accessBook Chapter

# All-pairs nearly 2-approximate shortest-paths in O ( n 2 polylog n ) time

24 Feb 2005-Vol. 3404, pp 666-679
Abstract: Let G(V,E) be an unweighted undirected graph on |V | = n vertices. Let δ(u,v) denote the shortest distance between vertices u,v ∈ V. An algorithm is said to compute all-pairs t-approximate shortest-paths/distances, for some t ≥ 1, if for each pair of vertices u,v ∈ V, the path/distance reported by the algorithm is not longer/greater than t · δ(u,v). This paper presents two randomized algorithms for computing all-pairs nearly 2-approximate distances. The first algorithm takes expected O(m2/3n log n + n2) time, and for any u,v ∈ V reports distance no greater than 2δ(u,v) + 1. Our second algorithm requires expected O(n2 log3/2) time, and for any u,v ∈ V reports distance bounded by 2δ(u,v)+3. This paper also presents the first expected O(n2) time algorithm to compute all-pairs 3-approximate distances.

Topics: Shortest-path tree (55%)
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Open accessProceedings Article
01 Jun 2013-
Abstract: The diameter and the radius of a graph are fundamental topological parameters that have many important practical applications in real world networks. The fastest combinatorial algorithm for both parameters works by solving the all-pairs shortest paths problem (APSP) and has a running time of ~O(mn) in m-edge, n-node graphs. In a seminal paper, Aingworth, Chekuri, Indyk and Motwani [SODA'96 and SICOMP'99] presented an algorithm that computes in ~O(m√ n + n2) time an estimate D for the diameter D, such that ⌊ 2/3 D ⌋ ≤ ^D ≤ D. Their paper spawned a long line of research on approximate APSP. For the specific problem of diameter approximation, however, no improvement has been achieved in over 15 years.Our paper presents the first improvement over the diameter approximation algorithm of Aingworth et. al, producing an algorithm with the same estimate but with an expected running time of ~O(m√ n). We thus show that for all sparse enough graphs, the diameter can be 3/2-approximated in o(n2) time. Our algorithm is obtained using a surprisingly simple method of neighborhood depth estimation that is strong enough to also approximate, in the same running time, the radius and more generally, all of the eccentricities, i.e. for every node the distance to its furthest node.We also provide strong evidence that our diameter approximation result may be hard to improve. We show that if for some constant e>0 there is an O(m2-e) time (3/2-e)-approximation algorithm for the diameter of undirected unweighted graphs, then there is an O*( (2-δ)n) time algorithm for CNF-SAT on n variables for constant δ>0, and the strong exponential time hypothesis of [Impagliazzo, Paturi, Zane JCSS'01] is false.Motivated by this negative result, we give several improved diameter approximation algorithms for special cases. We show for instance that for unweighted graphs of constant diameter D not divisible by 3, there is an O(m2-e) time algorithm that gives a (3/2-e) approximation for constant e>0. This is interesting since the diameter approximation problem is hardest to solve for small D.

Topics: , , 3SUM (53%) ...read more

236 Citations

Journal Issue
Surender Baswana1, Sandeep Sen2Institutions (2)
Abstract: Let G = (V,E) be an undirected weighted graph on |V | = n vertices and |E| = m edges. A t-spanner of the graph G, for any t ≥ 1, is a subgraph (V,ES), ES ⊆ E, such that the distance between any pair of vertices in the subgraph is at most t times the distance between them in the graph G. Computing a t-spanner of minimum size (number of edges) has been a widely studied and well-motivated problem in computer science. In this paper we present the first linear time randomized algorithm that computes a t-spanner of a given weighted graph. Moreover, the size of the t-spanner computed essentially matches the worst case lower bound implied by a 43-year old girth lower bound conjecture made independently by Erdos, Bollobas, and Bondy & Simonovits. Our algorithm uses a novel clustering approach that avoids any distance computation altogether. This feature is somewhat surprising since all the previously existing algorithms employ computation of some sort of local or global distance information, which involves growing either breadth first search trees up to t(t)-levels or full shortest path trees on a large fraction of vertices. The truly local approach of our algorithm also leads to equally simple and efficient algorithms for computing spanners in other important computational environments like distributed, parallel, and external memory. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Random Struct. Alg., 2007 Preliminary version of this work appeared in the 30th International Colloquium on Automata, Languages and Programming, pages 384–396, 2003.

Topics: Distance (67%), Pseudoforest (65%), Path graph (64%) ...read more

138 Citations

Open accessProceedings Article
Shiri Chechik1, Daniel H. Larkin2, Liam Roditty3, Grant Schoenebeck4  +2 moreInstitutions (5)
05 Jan 2014-
Abstract: The diameter is a fundamental graph parameter and its computation is necessary in many applications. The fastest known way to compute the diameter exactly is to solve the All-Pairs Shortest Paths (APSP) problem.In the absence of fast algorithms, attempts were made to seek fast algorithms that approximate the diameter. In a seminal result Aingworth, Chekuri, Indyk and Motwani [SODA'96 and SICOMP'99] designed an algorithm that computes in O (n2 + m√n) time an estimate D for the diameter D in directed graphs with nonnegative edge weights, such that [EQUATION], where M is the maximum edge weight in the graph. In recent work, Roditty and Vassilevska W. [STOC 13] gave a Las Vegas algorithm that has the same approximation guarantee but improves the (expected) runtime to O (m√n). Roditty and Vassilevska W. also showed that unless the Strong Exponential Time Hypothesis fails, no O (n2-e) time algorithm for sparse unweighted undirected graphs can achieve an approximation ratio better than 3/2. Thus their algorithm is essentially tight for sparse unweighted graphs. For weighted graphs however, the approximation guarantee can be meaningless, as M can be arbitrarily large.In this paper we exhibit two algorithms that achieve a genuine 3/2-approximation for the diameter, one running in O (m3/2) time, and one running in O (mn2/3). time. Furthermore, our algorithms are deterministic, and thus we present the first deterministic (2 -- e)-approximation algorithm for the diameter that takes subquadratic time in sparse graphs.In addition, we address the question of obtaining an additive c-approximation for the diameter, i.e. an estimate D such that D -- c ≤ D ≤ D. An extremely simple O (mn1-e) time algorithm achieves an additive ne-approximation; no better results are known. We show that for any e > 0, getting an additive ne-approximation algorithm for the diameter running in O (n2-e) time for any δ > 2e would falsify the Strong Exponential Time Hypothesis. Thus the simple algorithm is probably essentially tight for sparse graphs, and moreover, obtaining a subquadratic time additive c-approximation for any constant c is unlikely.Finally, we consider the problem of computing the eccentricities of all vertices in an undirected graph, i.e. the largest distance from each vertex. Roditty and Vassilevska W. [STOC 13] show that in O (m√n) time, one can compute for each v e V in an undirected graph, an estimate e(v) for the eccentricity e (v) such that max{R, 2/3 · e(v)} ≤ e (v) ≤ min {D, 3/2 · e(v)} where R = minv e (v) is the radius of the graph. Here we improve the approximation guarantee by showing that a variant of the same algorithm can achieve estimates e' (v) with 3/5 · e (v) ≤ e' (v) ≤ e (v).

Topics: , Distance (54%), Las Vegas algorithm (53%) ...read more

104 Citations

Journal Article
Surender Baswana1, Sandeep Sen2Institutions (2)
Abstract: Let G = (V, E) be an undirected graph on n vertices, and let δ(u, v) denote the distance in G between two vertices u and v. Thorup and Zwick showed that for any positive integer t, the graph G can be preprocessed to build a data structure that can efficiently report t-approximate distance between any pair of vertices. That is, for any u, v ∈ V, the distance reported is at least δ(u, v) and at most tδ(u, v). The remarkable feature of this data structure is that, for t≥3, it occupies subquadratic space, that is, it does not store all-pairs distances explicitly, and still it can answer any t-approximate distance query in constant time. They named the data structure “approximate distance oracle” because of this feature. Furthermore, the trade-off between the stretch t and the size of the data structure is essentially optimal.In this article, we show that we can actually construct approximate distance oracles in expected O(n2) time if the graph is unweighted. One of the new ideas used in the improved algorithm also leads to the first expected linear-time algorithm for computing an optimal size (2, 1)-spanner of an unweighted graph. A (2, 1) spanner of an undirected unweighted graph G = (V, E) is a subgraph (V, E), E ⊆ E, such that for any two vertices u and v in the graph, their distance in the subgraph is at most 2δ(u, v) p 1.

Topics: Bound graph (69%), Graph power (67%),  ...read more

93 Citations

Proceedings Article
21 Oct 2006-
Abstract: Let G = (V,E) be a weighted undirected graph with |V | = n and |E| = m. An estimate \hat \delta \left( {u,v} \right) of the distance \delta \left( {u,v} \right) in G between u, v \in V is said to be of stretch t iff \delta \left( {u,v} \right) \leqslant \hat \delta \left( {u,v} \right) \leqslant t ? \delta \left( {u,v} \right). The most efficient algorithms known for computing small stretch distances in G are the approximate distance oracles of [16] and the three algorithms in [9] to compute all-pairs stretch t distances for t = 2, 7/3, and 3. We present faster algorithms for these problems. For any integer k \geqslant 1, Thorup and Zwick in [16] gave an O(kmn^{1/k}) algorithm to construct a data structure of size O(kn^{1+1/k}) which, given a query (u, v) \in V ? V , returns in O(k) time, a 2k - 1 stretch estimate of \delta \left( {u,v} \right). But for small values of k, the time to construct the oracle is rather high. Here we present an O(n^2 log n) algorithm to construct such a data structure of size O(kn^{1+1/k}) for all integers k \geqslant 2. Our query answering time is O(k) for k \ge 2 and \Theta (log n) for k = 2. We use a new generic scheme for all-pairs approximate shortest paths for these results. This scheme also enables us to design faster algorithms for allpairs t-stretch distances for t = 2 and 7/3, and compute all-pairs almost stretch 2 distances in O(n^2 log n) time.

87 Citations

##### References
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Open accessJournal Article
Abstract: We present a new method for accelerating matrix multiplication asymptotically. Thiswork builds on recent ideas of Volker Strassen, by using a basic trilinear form which is not a matrix product. We make novel use of the Salem-Spencer Theorem, which gives a fairly dense set of integers with no three-term arithmetic progression. Our resulting matrix exponent is 2.376.

Topics: Strassen algorithm (66%), Block matrix (63%),  ...read more

2,404 Citations

Journal Article
Volker Strassen1Institutions (1)
Abstract: t. Below we will give an algorithm which computes the coefficients of the product of two square matrices A and B of order n from the coefficients of A and B with tess than 4 . 7 n l°g7 arithmetical operations (all logarithms in this paper are for base 2, thus tog 7 ~ 2.8; the usual method requires approximately 2n 3 arithmetical operations). The algorithm induces algorithms for invert ing a matr ix of order n, solving a system of n linear equations in n unknowns, comput ing a determinant of order n etc. all requiring less than const n l°g 7 arithmetical operations. This fact should be compared with the result of KLYUYEV and KOKOVKINSHCHERBAK [1 ] tha t Gaussian elimination for solving a system of l inearequations is optimal if one restricts oneself to operations upon rows and columns as a whole. We also note tha t WlNOGRAD [21 modifies the usual algorithms for matr ix multiplication and inversion and for solving systems of linear equations, trading roughly half of the multiplications for additions and subtractions. I t is a pleasure to thank D. BRILLINGER for inspiring discussions about the present subject and ST. COOK and B. PARLETT for encouraging me to write this paper. 2. We define algorithms e~, ~ which mult iply matrices of order m2 ~, by induction on k: ~ , 0 is the usual algorithm, for matr ix multiplication (requiring m a multiplications and m 2 ( m t) additions), e~,k already being known, define ~ , ~ +t as follows: If A, B are matrices of order m 2 k ~ to be multiplied, write

Topics: , , Gaussian function (62%) ...read more

2,366 Citations

Journal ArticleDOI: 10.1145/828.1884
26 Jun 1984-Journal of the ACM
Abstract: A data structure for representing a set of n items from a umverse of m items, which uses space n + o(n) and accommodates membership queries m constant time is described. Both the data structure and the query algorithm are easy to ~mplement.

Topics: , Data structure (52%)

905 Citations

Open accessJournal Article
Mikkel Thorup1, Uri Zwick2Institutions (2)
01 Jan 2005-Journal of the ACM
Abstract: Let G = (V,E) be an undirected weighted graph with vVv = n and vEv = m. Let k ≥ 1 be an integer. We show that G = (V,E) can be preprocessed in O(kmn1/k) expected time, constructing a data structure of size O(kn1p1/k), such that any subsequent distance query can be answered, approximately, in O(k) time. The approximate distance returned is of stretch at most 2k−1, that is, the quotient obtained by dividing the estimated distance by the actual distance lies between 1 and 2k−1. A 1963 girth conjecture of Erdos, implies that Ω(n1p1/k) space is needed in the worst case for any real stretch strictly smaller than 2kp1. The space requirement of our algorithm is, therefore, essentially optimal. The most impressive feature of our data structure is its constant query time, hence the name "oracle". Previously, data structures that used only O(n1p1/k) space had a query time of Ω(n1/k).Our algorithms are extremely simple and easy to implement efficiently. They also provide faster constructions of sparse spanners of weighted graphs, and improved tree covers and distance labelings of weighted or unweighted graphs.

Topics: Dense graph (53%), Tree (graph theory) (52%), Girth (graph theory) (50%)

579 Citations

Proceedings Article
Mikkel Thorup1, Uri Zwick2Institutions (2)
03 Jul 2001-
Abstract: We describe several compact routing schemes for general weighted undirected networks. Our schemes are simple and easy to implement. The routing tables stored at the nodes of the network are all very small. The headers attached to the routed messages, including the name of the destination, are extremely short. The routing decision at each node takes constant time. Yet, the stretch of these routing schemes, i.e., the worst ratio between the cost of the path on which a packet is routed and the cost of the cheapest path from source to destination, is a small constant. Our schemes achieve a near-optimal tradeoff between the size of the routing tables used and the resulting stretch. More specifically, we obtain: A routing scheme that uses only O (n 1/2) bits of memory at each node of an n-node network that has stretch 3. The space is optimal, up to logarithmic factors, in the sense that every routing scheme with stretch n2), and every routing scheme with stretch n3/2). The headers used are only (1 + O(1)) log2> n-bits long and each routing decision takes constant time. A variant of this scheme with [log2 n] -bit headers makes routing decisions in O(log log n) time. Also, for every integer k > 2, a general handshaking based routing scheme that uses O (n1/k) bits of memory at each node that has stretch 2k - 1. A conjecture of Erdos from 1963, settled for k = 3, 5, implies that the routing tables are of near-optimal size relative to the stretch. The handshaking is similar in spirit to a DNS lookup in TCP/IP. Headers are O(log2 n) bits long and each routing decision takes constant time. Without handshaking, the stretch of the scheme increases to 4k - 5. One ingredient used to obtain the routing schemes mentioned above, may be of independent practical and theoretical interest: A shortest path routing scheme for trees of arbitrary degree and diameter that assigns each vertex of an n-node tree a (1 + O(1)) log2 n-bit label. Given the label of a source node and the label of a destination it is possible to compute, in constant time, the port number of the edge from the source that heads in the direction of the destination. The general scheme for k > 2 also uses a clustering technique introduced recently by the authors. The clusters obtained using this technique induce a sparse and low stretch tree cover of the network. This essentially reduces routing in general networks into routing problems in trees that could be solved using the above technique.

Topics: Static routing (72%), ,  ...read more

553 Citations

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