Unstructured meshes are used in many large-scale scientific and engineering problems, including finite-volume methods for computational fluid dynamics and finite-element methods for structural analysis. If unstructured problems such as these are to be solved on distributed-memory parallel computers, their data structures must be partitioned and distributed across processors; if they are to be solved efficiently, the partitioning must maximize load balance and minimize interprocessor communication. Recently the recursive spectral bisection method (RSB) has been shown to be very effective for such partitioning problems compared to alternative methods. Unfortunately, RSB in its simplest form is rather expensive. In this report we shall describe a multilevel implementation of RSB that can attain about an order-of-magnitude improvement in run time on typical examples. Keywords: graph partitioning, domain decomposition, MIMD machines, multilevel algorithm, spectral bisection, sp...

We give algorithms for finding the k shortest paths (not required to be simple) connecting a pair of vertices in a digraph. Our algorithms output an implicit representation of these paths in a digraph with n vertices and m edges, in time O(m + n log n + k). We can also find the k shortest paths from a given source s to each vertex in the graph, in total time O(m + n log n +kn). We describe applications to dynamic programming problems including the knapsack problem, sequence alignment, maximum inscribed polygons, and genealogical relationship discovery. 1 Introduction We consider a long-studied generalization of the shortest path problem, in which not one but several short paths must be produced. The k shortest paths problem is to list the k paths connecting a given source-destination pair in the digraph with minimum total length. Our techniques also apply to the problem of listing all paths shorter than some given threshhold length. In the version of these problems studi...

We survey results in geometric network design theory, including algorithms for constructing minimum spanning trees and low-dilation graphs. 1 Introduction This survey covers topics in geometric network design theory. The problem is easy to state: connect a collection of sites by a "good" network. For instance, one may wish to connect components of a VLSI circuit by networks of wires, in a way that uses little surface area on the chip, draws little power, and propagates signals quickly. Similar problems come up in other applications such as telecommunications, road network design, and medical imaging [1]. One network design problem, the Traveling Salesman problem, is sufficiently important to have whole books devoted to it [79]. Problems involving some form of geometric minimum or maximum spanning tree also arise in the solution of other geometric problems such as clustering [12], mesh generation [56], and robot motion planning [93]. One can vary the network design problem in many w...

Deterministic fully dynamic graph algorithms are presented for connectivity and minimum spanning forest. For connectivity, starting with no edges, the amortized cost for maintaining a spanning forest is O(log² n) per update, i.e. per edge insertion or deletion. Deciding connectivity between any two given vertices is done in O(log n= log log n) time. This matches the previous best randomized bounds. The previous best deterministic bound was O( 3 p n log n) amortized time per update but constant time for connectivity queries. For minimum spanning trees, first a deletions-only algorithm is presented supporting deletes in amortized time O(log² n). Applying a general reduction from Henzinger and King, we then get a fully dynamic algorithm such that starting with no edges, the amortized cost for maintaining a minimum spanning forest is O(log^4 n) per update. The previous best deterministic bound was O( 3 p n log n) amortized time per update, and no better randomized bounds were ...

. Ambivalent data structures are presented for several problems on undirected graphs. These data structures are used in finding the k smallest spanning trees of a weighted undirected graph in O(m log #(m, n) + min{k 3/2 ,km 1/2 }) time, where m is the number of edges and n the number of vertices in the graph. The techniques are extended to find the k smallest spanning trees in an embedded planar graph in O(n + k(log n) 3 ) time. Ambivalent data structures are also used to dynamically maintain 2-edge-connectivity information. Edges and vertices can be inserted or deleted in O(m 1/2 ) time, and a query as to whether two vertices are in the same 2-edge-connected component can be answered in O(log n) time, where m and n are understood to be the current number of edges and vertices, respectively. Key words. analysis of algorithms, data structures, embedded planar graph, fully persistent data structures, k smallest spanning trees, minimum spanning tree, on-line updating, topology tr...

We use random sampling as a tool for solving undirected graph problems. We show that the sparse graph, or skeleton, that arises when we randomly sample a graph’s edges will accurately approximate the value of all cuts in the original graph with high probability. This makes sampling effective for problems involving cuts in graphs. We present fast randomized (Monte Carlo and Las Vegas) algorithms for approximating and exactly finding minimum cuts and maximum flows in unweighted, undirected graphs. Our cut-approximation algorithms extend unchanged to weighted graphs while our weighted-graph flow algorithms are somewhat slower. Our approach gives a general paradigm with potential applications to any packing problem. It has since been used in a near-linear time algorithm for finding minimum cuts, as well as faster cut and flow algorithms. Our sampling theorems also yield faster algorithms for several other cut-based problems, including approximating the best balanced cut of a graph, finding a k-connected orientation of a 2k-connected graph, and finding integral multicommodity flows in graphs with a great deal of excess capacity. Our methods also improve the efficiency of some parallel cut and flow algorithms. Our methods also apply to the network design problem, where we wish to build a network satisfying certain connectivity requirements between vertices. We can purchase edges of various costs and wish to satisfy the requirements at minimum total cost. Since our sampling theorems apply even when the sampling probabilities are different for different edges, we can apply randomized rounding to solve network design problems. This gives approximation algorithms that guarantee much better approximations than previous algorithms whenever the minimum connectivity requirement is large. As a particular example, we improve the best approximation bound for the minimum k-connected subgraph problem from 1.85 to 1 � O(�log n)/k).

Introduction In many applications of graph algorithms, including communication networks, graphics, assembly planning, and VLSI design, graphs are subject to discrete changes, such as additions or deletions of edges or vertices. In the last decade there has been a growing interest in such dynamically changing graphs, and a whole body of algorithms and data structures for dynamic graphs has been discovered. This chapter is intended as an overview of this field. In a typical dynamic graph problem one would like to answer queries on graphs that are undergoing a sequence of updates, for instance, insertions and deletions of edges and vertices. The goal of a dynamic graph algorithm is to update efficiently the solution of a problem after dynamic changes, rather than having to recompute it from scratch each time. Given their powerful versatility, it is not surprising that dynamic algorithms and dynamic data structures are often more difficult to design and analyze than their static c

Traditionally, computational complexity has considered only static problems. Classical Complexity Classes such as NC, P, and NP are defined in terms of the complexity of checking -- upon presentation of an entire input -- whether the input satisfies a certain property. For many applications of computers it is more appropriate to model the process as a dynamic one. There is a fairly large object being worked on over a period of time. The object is repeatedly modified by users and computations are performed. We develop a theory of Dynamic Complexity. We study the new complexity class, Dynamic First-Order Logic (Dyn-FO). This is the set of properties that can be maintained and queried in first-order logic, i.e. relational calculus, on a relational database. We show that many interesting properties are in Dyn-FO including multiplication, graph connectivity, bipartiteness, and the computation of minimum spanning trees. Note that none of these problems is in static FO, and this f...

Let F be a collection of n bivariate algebraic functions of constant maximum degree. We show that the combinatorial complexity of the vertical decomposition of the k-level of the arrangement A(F) is O(k 3+" /(n=k)), for any " ? 0, where /(r) is the maximum complexity of the lower envelope of a subset of at most r functions of F . This bound is nearly optimal in the worst case, and implies the existence of shallow cuttings, in the sense of [51], of small size in arrangements of bivariate algebraic functions. We also present numerous applications of these results, including: (i) data structures for several generalized three-dimensional range searching problems; (ii) dynamic data structures for planar nearest and farthest neighbor searching under various fairly general distance functions; (iii) an improved (near-quadratic) algorithm for minimum-weight bipartite Euclidean matching in the plane; and (iv) efficient algorithms for certain geometric optimization problems in static...

This paper solves a longstanding open problem in fully dynamic algorithms: We present the first fully dynamic algorithms that maintain connectivity, bipartiteness, and approximate minimum spanning trees in polylogarithmic time per edge insertion or deletion. The algorithms are designed using a new dynamic technique which combines a novel graph decomposition with randomization. They are Las-Vegas type randomized algorithms which use simple data structures and have a small constant factor. Let n denote the number of nodes in the graph. For a sequence of \Omega\Gamma m 0 ) operations, where m 0 is the number of edges in the initial graph, the expected time for p updates is O(p log 3 n) 1 for connectivity and bipartiteness. The worst-case time for one query is O(log n= log log n). For the k-edge witness problem ("Does the removal of k given edges disconnect the graph?") the expected time for p updates is O(p log 3 n) and expected time for q queries is O(qk log 3 n). Given a grap...