Information based complexity for high dimensional sparse functions

We investigate optimal algorithms for optimizing and approximating a general high dimensional smooth and sparse function from the perspective of information based complexity. Our algorithms and analyses reveal several interesting characteristics for these tasks. In particular, somewhat surprisingly, we show that the optimal sample complexity for optimization or high precision approximation is independent of the ambient dimension. In addition, we show that the benefit of randomization could be substantial for these problems.     

A decentralized flow redistribution algorithm for avoiding cascaded failures in complex networks

A decentralized random algorithm for flow distribution in complex networks is proposed. The aim is to maintain the maximum flow while satisfying the flow limits of the nodes and links in the network. The algorithm is also used for flow redistribution after a failure in (or attack on) a complex network to avoid a cascaded failure while maintaining the maximum flow in the network. The proposed algorithm is based only on the information about the closest neighbours of each node. A mathematically rigorous proof of convergence with probability 1 of the proposed algorithm is provided.     

求解一个整数方程的新解法

ni=1aixi =p是一个由实验数据问题抽象而出的整数方程求非负整数解的数学模型 .为了使该问题实现计算机求解的可能 ,本文首先将原问题转化为讨论一类整数规划最优解问题 .从对应松弛规划问题的目标函数值为 0的最优解出发 ,根据舍入凑整法原则 ,再次将问题转化为另一简化后的整数方程 ,这样大大缩小了解的范围 ,及进一步迅速降低了方程右端的 p值 ,使其在计算机上求解的运算量大大降低而能得以实现     

Cooperative facility location games

The location of facilities in order to provide service for customers is a well-studied problem in the operations research literature. In the basic model, there is a predefined cost for opening a facility and also for connecting a customer to a facility, the goal being to minimize the total cost. Often, both in the case of public facilities (such as libraries, municipal swimming pools, fire stations, … ) and private facilities (such as distribution centers, switching stations, … ), we may want to find a ‘fair’ allocation of the total cost to the customers—this is known as the cost allocation problem. A central question in cooperative game theory is whether the total cost can be allocated to the customers such that no coalition of customers has any incentive to build their own facility or to ask a competitor to service them. We establish strong connections between fair cost allocations and linear programming relaxations for several variants of the facility location problem. In particular, we show that a fair cost allocation exists if and only if there is no integrality gap for a corresponding linear programming relaxation; this was only known for the simplest unconstrained variant of the facility location problem. Moreover, we introduce a subtle variant of randomized rounding and derive new proofs for the existence of fair cost allocations for several classes of instances. We also show that it is in general NP-complete to decide whether a fair cost allocation exists and whether a given allocation is fair.     

Randomized and quantum algorithms yield a speed-up for initial-value problems

Quantum algorithms and complexity have recently been studied not only for discrete, but also for some numerical problems. Most attention has been paid so far to the integration and approximation problems, for which a speed-up is shown in many important cases by quantum computers with respect to deterministic and randomized algorithms on a classical computer. In this paper, we deal with the randomized and quantum complexity of initial-value problems. For this nonlinear problem, we show that both randomized and quantum algorithms yield a speed-up over deterministic algorithms. Upper bounds on the complexity in the randomized and quantum settings are shown by constructing algorithms with a suitable cost, where the construction is based on integral information. Lower bounds result from the respective bounds for the integration problem.     

A combinatorial strongly subexponential strategy improvement algorithm for mean payoff games

We suggest the first strongly subexponential and purely combinatorial algorithm for solving the mean payoff games problem. It is based on iteratively improving the longest shortest distances to a sink in a possibly cyclic directed graph.We identify a new “controlled” version of the shortest paths problem. By selecting exactly one outgoing edge in each of the controlled vertices we want to make the shortest distances from all vertices to the unique sink as long as possible. The decision version of the problem (whether the shortest distance from a given vertex can be made bigger than a given bound?) belongs to the complexity class NP∩CONP. Mean payoff games are easily reducible to this problem. We suggest an algorithm for computing longest shortest paths. Player MAX selects a strategy (one edge from each controlled vertex) and player MIN responds by evaluating shortest paths to the sink in the remaining graph. Then MAX locally changes choices in controlled vertices looking at attractive switches that seem to increase shortest paths lengths (under the current evaluation). We show that this is a monotonic strategy improvement, and every locally optimal strategy is globally optimal. This allows us to construct a randomized algorithm of complexity , which is simultaneously pseudopolynomial (W is the maximal absolute edge weight) and subexponential in the number of vertices n. All previous algorithms for mean payoff games were either exponential or pseudopolynomial (which is purely exponential for exponentially large edge weights).     

Nonsingularity,positive definiteness,and positive invertibility under fixed-point data rounding

For a real square matrix A and an integer d ? 0, let A _(d) denote the matrix formed from A by rounding off all its coefficients to d decimal places. The main problem handled in this paper is the following: assuming that A _(d) has some property, under what additional condition(s) can we be sure that the original matrix A possesses the same property? Three properties are investigated: nonsingularity, positive definiteness, and positive invertibility. In all three cases it is shown that there exists a real number α(d), computed solely from A _(d) (not from A), such that the following alternative holdsif d > α(d), then nonsingularity (positive definiteness, positive invertibility) of A _(d) implies the same property for A if d < α(d) and A _(d) is nonsingular (positive definite, positive invertible), then there exists a matrix A′ with A′_(d) = A _(d) which does not have the respective property.For nonsingularity and positive definiteness the formula for α(d) is the same and involves computation of the NP-hard norm ‖ · ‖_∞,1; for positive invertibility α(d) is given by an easily computable formula.     

Surface roughness effects in a short porous journal bearing with a couple stress fluid

In this paper, a theoretical study of the effect of surface roughness in hydrodynamic lubrication of a porous journal bearing with couplestress fluid as lubricant is made. The modified Reynolds equations accounting for the couple stresses and randomized surface roughness structure are mathematically derived. The Christensen stochastic theory of hydrodynamic lubrication of rough surfaces is used to study the effects of surface roughness on the static characteristics of a short porous journal bearing with couplestress fluid as lubricant. Further, it is assumed that, the roughness asperity heights are small compared to the film thickness. It is observed that, the effects of surface roughness on the bearing characteristics are more pronounced for couplestress fluids as compared to the Newtonian fluids.     

Vector and matrix apportionment problems and separable convex integer optimization

The problems of (bi-)proportional rounding of a nonnegative vector or matrix, resp., are written as particular separable convex integer minimization problems. Allowing any convex (separable) objective function we use the notions of vector and matrix apportionment problems. As a broader class of problems we consider separable convex integer minimization under linear equality restrictions Ax = b with any totally unimodular coefficient matrix A. By the total unimodularity Fenchel duality applies, despite the integer restrictions of the variables. The biproportional algorithm of Balinski and Demange (Math Program 45:193–210, 1989) is generalized and derives from the dual optimization problem. Also, a primal augmentation algorithm is stated. Finally, for the smaller class of matrix apportionment problems we discuss the alternating scaling algorithm, which is a discrete variant of the well-known Iterative Proportional Fitting procedure.