1,720,969 research outputs found
Equivalence classes and conditional hardness in massively parallel computations
Full text linkThe Massively Parallel Computation (MPC) model serves as a common abstraction of many modern large-scale data processing frameworks, and has been receiving increasingly more attention over the past few years, especially in the context of classical graph problems. So far, the only way to argue lower bounds for this model is to condition on conjectures about the hardness of some specific problems, such as graph connectivity on promise graphs that are either one cycle or two cycles, usually called the one cycle versus two cycles problem. This is unlike the traditional arguments based on conjectures about complexity classes (e.g., P≠ NP), which are often more robust in the sense that refuting them would lead to groundbreaking algorithms for a whole bunch of problems. In this paper we present connections between problems and classes of problems that allow the latter type of arguments. These connections concern the class of problems solvable in a sublogarithmic amount of rounds in the MPC model, denoted by MPC(o(log N)) , and the standard space complexity classes L and NL, and suggest conjectures that are robust in the sense that refuting them would lead to many surprisingly fast new algorithms in the MPC model. We also obtain new conditional lower bounds, and prove new reductions and equivalences between problems in the MPC model. Specifically, our main results are as follows.Lower bounds conditioned on the one cycle versus two cycles conjecture can be instead argued under the L⊈ MPC(o(log N)) conjecture: these two assumptions are equivalent, and refuting either of them would lead to o(log N) -round MPC algorithms for a large number of challenging problems, including list ranking, minimum cut, and planarity testing. In fact, we show that these problems and many others require asymptotically the same number of rounds as the seemingly much easier problem of distinguishing between a graph being one cycle or two cycles.Many lower bounds previously argued under the one cycle versus two cycles conjecture can be argued under an even more robust (thus harder to refute) conjecture, namely NL⊈ MPC(o(log N)). Refuting this conjecture would lead to o(log N) -round MPC algorithms for an even larger set of problems, including all-pairs shortest paths, betweenness centrality, and all aforementioned ones. Lower bounds under this conjecture hold for problems such as perfect matching and network flow
On the distributed complexity of large-scale graph computations
No full textMotivated by the increasing need to understand the distributed algorithmic foundations of large-scale graph computations, we study some fundamental graph problems in a message-passing model for distributed computing where k ≥ 2 machines jointly perform computations on graphs with n nodes (typically, n ≫ k). The input graph is assumed to be initially randomly partitioned among the k machines, a common implementation in many real-world systems. Communication is point-to-point, and the goal is to minimize the number of communication rounds of the computation. Our main contribution is the General Lower Bound Theorem, a theorem that can be used to show non-trivial lower bounds on the round complexity of distributed large-scale data computations. This result is established via an information-theoretic approach that relates the round complexity to the minimal amount of information required by machines to solve the problem. Our approach is generic, and this theorem can be used in a “cookbook” fashion to show distributed lower bounds for several problems, including non-graph problems. We present two applications by showing (almost) tight lower bounds on the round complexity of two fundamental graph problems, namely, PageRank computation and triangle enumeration. These applications show that our approach can yield lower bounds for problems where the application of communication complexity techniques seems not obvious or gives weak bounds, including and especially under a stochastic partition of the input. We then present distributed algorithms for PageRank and triangle enumeration with a round complexity that (almost) matches the respective lower bounds; these algorithms exhibit a round complexity that scales superlinearly in k, improving significantly over previous results [Klauck et al., SODA 2015]. Specifically, we show the following results: • PageRank: We show a lower bound of Ω (n/k2 ) rounds and present a distributed algorithm that computes an approximation of the PageRank of all the nodes of a graph in Õ (n/k2 ) rounds. • Triangle enumeration: We show that there exist graphs with m edges where any distributed algorithm requires Ω (m/k5/3 ) rounds. This result also implies the first non-trivial lower bound of Ω (n1/3 ) rounds for the congested clique model, which is tight up to logarithmic factors. We then present a distributed algorithm that enumerates all the triangles of a graph in Õ (m/k5/3 + n/k4/3 ) rounds
Equivalence Classes and Conditional Hardness in Massively Parallel Computations
Full text linkThe Massively Parallel Computation (MPC) model serves as a common abstraction of many modern large-scale data processing frameworks, and has been receiving increasingly more attention over the past few years, especially in the context of classical graph problems. So far, the only way to argue lower bounds for this model is to condition on conjectures about the hardness of some specific problems, such as graph connectivity on promise graphs that are either one cycle or two cycles, usually called the one cycle vs. two cycles problem. This is unlike the traditional arguments based on conjectures about complexity classes (e.g., P ≠ NP), which are often more robust in the sense that refuting them would lead to groundbreaking algorithms for a whole bunch of problems.
In this paper we present connections between problems and classes of problems that allow the latter type of arguments. These connections concern the class of problems solvable in a sublogarithmic amount of rounds in the MPC model, denoted by MPC(o(log N)), and some standard classes concerning space complexity, namely L and NL, and suggest conjectures that are robust in the sense that refuting them would lead to many surprisingly fast new algorithms in the MPC model. We also obtain new conditional lower bounds, and prove new reductions and equivalences between problems in the MPC model
Matching on the line admits no o(√log n)-competitive algorithm
Full text linkWe present a simple proof that the competitive ratio of any randomized online matching algorithm for the line exceeds √log2(n+1)/15 for all n = 2i-1 : i ∈ N, settling a 25-year-old open question
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Complexity-theoretic obstacles to achieving energy savings with near-threshold computing
No full textVariations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
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