Consider the problem of finding a point in an ultrametric space with the minimum average distance to all points. We give this problem a Monte Carlo $O((\log^2(1/ε))/ε^3)$-time $(1+ε)$-approximation algorithm for all $ε>0$.
Maximizing Diversity in (near-)Median String Selection
National University of Singapore(新加坡国立大学);Indian Statistical Institute Kolkata(印度统计学院加尔各答分部);Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai, India(印度金奈数学研究所);Nanyang Technological University(南洋理工大学)
Given an $n$-point metric space $(M,d)$, {\sc metric $1$-median} asks for a point $p\in M$ minimizing $\sum_{x\in M}\,d(p,x)$. We show that for each computable function $f\colon \mathbb{Z}^+\to\mathbb{Z}^+$ satisfying $f(n)=ω(1)$, {\sc metric $1$-median} has a deterministic, $o(n)$-query, $o(f(n)\cdot\log n)$-approximation and nonadaptive algorithm. Previously, no deterministic $o(n)$-query $o(n)$-approximation algorithms are known for {\sc metric $1$-median}. On the negative side, we prove each deterministic $O(n)$-query algorithm for {\sc metric $1$-median} to be not $(δ\log n)$-approximate …
We study the median slope selection problem in the oblivious RAM model. In this model memory accesses have to be independent of the data processed, i.e., an adversary cannot use observed access patterns to derive additional information about the input. We show how to modify the randomized algorithm of Matoušek (1991) to obtain an oblivious version with $\mathcal{O}(n \log^2 n)$ expected time for $n$ points in $\mathbb{R}^2$. This complexity matches a theoretical upper bound that can be obtained through general oblivious transformation. In addition, results from a proof-of-concept implementatio…
Selection and sorting the Cartesian sum, $X+Y$, are classic and important problems. Here, a new algorithm is presented, which generates the top $k$ values of the form $X_i+Y_j$. The algorithm relies only on median-of-medians and is simple to implement. Furthermore, it uses data structures contiguous in memory, and is fast in practice. The presented algorithm is demonstrated to be theoretically optimal.
In this paper, we present a drone-based delivery system that assumes to deal with two different mixed-areas, i.e., rural and urban. In these mixed-areas, called EM-grids, the distances are measured with two different metrics, and the shortest path between two destinations concatenates the Euclidean and Manhattan metrics. Due to payload constraints, the drone serves a single customer at a time returning back to the dispatching point (DP) after each delivery to load a new parcel for the next customer. In this paper, we present the 1-Median Euclidean-Manhattan grid Problem (MEMP) for EM-grids, wh…