The textbook algorithm for single-source shortest paths with real-valued edge weights runs in $O(m n)$ time on a graph with $m$ edges and $n$ vertices. A recent breakthrough algorithm by Fineman [Fin24] takes $\tilde O(m n^{8/9})$ randomized time. We present an $\tilde O(m n^{4/5})$ randomized time algorithm building on ideas from [Fin24].
The approximate single-source shortest-path problem is as follows: given a graph with nonnegative edge weights and a designated source vertex $s$, return estimates of the distances from~$s$ to each other vertex such that the estimate falls between the true distance and $(1+ε)$ times the distance. This paper provides the first nearly work-efficient parallel algorithm with sublinear span (also called depth) for the approximate shortest-path problem on \emph{directed} graphs. Specifically, for constant $ε$ and polynomially-bounded edge weights, our algorithm has work $\tilde{O}(m)$ and span $n^{1…
Hopsets and spanners are fundamental graph structures, playing a key role in shortest path computation, distributed communication, and more. A (near-exact) hopset for a given graph $G$ is a (small) subset of weighted edges $H$ that when added to the graph $G$ reduces the number of hops (edges) of near-exact shortest paths. Spanners and distance preservers, on the other hand, ask for removing many edges from the graph while approximately preserving shortest path distances. We provide a general reduction scheme from graph hopsets to the known metric compression schemes of spanners, emulators and…
The \textit{Multi-Constraint Shortest Path (MCSP)} problem aims to find the shortest path between two nodes in a network subject to a given constraint set. It is typically processed as a \textit{skyline path} problem. However, the number of intermediate skyline paths becomes larger as the network size increases and the constraint number grows, which brings about the dramatical growth of computational cost and further makes the existing index-based methods hardly capable of obtaining the complete exact results. In this paper, we propose a novel high-dimensional skyline path concatenation method…
We present a $(1+\varepsilon)$-approximate parallel algorithm for computing shortest paths in undirected graphs, achieving $\mathrm{poly}(\log n)$ depth and $m\mathrm{poly}(\log n)$ work for $n$-nodes $m$-edges graphs. Although sequential algorithms with (nearly) optimal running time have been known for several decades, near-optimal parallel algorithms have turned out to be a much tougher challenge. For $(1+\varepsilon)$-approximation, all prior algorithms with $\mathrm{poly}(\log n)$ depth perform at least $Ω(mn^{c})$ work for some constant $c>0$. Improving this long-standing upper bound obta…
Consider an undirected weighted graph $G = (V,E,w)$. We study the problem of computing $(1+ε)$-approximate shortest paths for $S \times V$, for a subset $S \subseteq V$ of $|S| = n^r$ sources, for some $0 < r \le 1$. We devise a significantly improved algorithm for this problem in the entire range of parameter $r$, in both the classical centralized and the parallel (PRAM) models of computation, and in a wide range of $r$ in the distributed (Congested Clique) model. Specifically, our centralized algorithm for this problem requires time $\tilde{O}(|E| \cdot n^{o(1)} + n^{ω(r)})$, where $n^{ω(r)}…
This paper is about the problem of finding a shortest $s$-$t$ path using at most $h$ edges in edge-weighted graphs. The Bellman--Ford algorithm solves this problem in $O(hm)$ time, where $m$ is the number of edges. We show that this running time is optimal, up to subpolynomial factors, under popular fine-grained complexity assumptions. More specifically, we show that under the APSP Hypothesis the problem cannot be solved faster already in undirected graphs with non-negative edge weights. This lower bound holds even restricted to graphs of arbitrary density and for arbitrary $h \in O(\sqrt{m})$…
Given a weighted undirected graph $G=(V,E,w)$, a hopset $H$ of hopbound $β$ and stretch $(1+ε)$ is a set of edges such that for any pair of nodes $u, v \in V$, there is a path in $G \cup H$ of at most $β$ hops, whose length is within a $(1+ε)$ factor from the distance between $u$ and $v$ in $G$. We show the first efficient decremental algorithm for maintaining hopsets with a polylogarithmic hopbound. The update time of our algorithm matches the best known static algorithm up to polylogarithmic factors. All the previous decremental hopset constructions had a superpolylogarithmic (but subpolynom…
We present a method for solving the transshipment problem - also known as uncapacitated minimum cost flow - up to a multiplicative error of $1 + \varepsilon$ in undirected graphs with non-negative edge weights using a tailored gradient descent algorithm. Using $\tilde{O}(\cdot)$ to hide polylogarithmic factors in $n$ (the number of nodes in the graph), our gradient descent algorithm takes $\tilde O(\varepsilon^{-2})$ iterations, and in each iteration it solves an instance of the transshipment problem up to a multiplicative error of $\operatorname{polylog} n$. In particular, this allows us to p…
In the decremental single-source shortest paths (SSSP) problem we want to maintain the distances between a given source node $s$ and every other node in an $n$-node $m$-edge graph $G$ undergoing edge deletions. While its static counterpart can be solved in near-linear time, this decremental problem is much more challenging even in the undirected unweighted case. In this case, the classic $O(mn)$ total update time of Even and Shiloach [JACM 1981] has been the fastest known algorithm for three decades. At the cost of a $(1+ε)$-approximation factor, the running time was recently improved to $n^{2…
We give new partially-dynamic algorithms for the all-pairs shortest paths problem in weighted directed graphs. Most importantly, we give a new deterministic incremental algorithm for the problem that handles updates in $\widetilde{O}(mn^{4/3}\log{W}/ε)$ total time (where the edge weights are from $[1,W]$) and explicitly maintains a $(1+ε)$-approximate distance matrix. For a fixed $ε>0$, this is the first deterministic partially dynamic algorithm for all-pairs shortest paths in directed graphs, whose update time is $o(n^2)$ regardless of the number of edges. Furthermore, we also show how to imp…
We present a new pipelined approach to compute all pairs shortest paths (APSP) in a directed graph with nonnegative integer edge weights (including zero weights) in the CONGEST model in the distributed setting. Our deterministic distributed algorithm computes shortest paths of distance at most $Δ$ for all pairs of vertices in at most $2 n \sqrtΔ + 2n$ rounds, and more generally, it computes h-hop shortest paths for k sources in $2\sqrt{nkh} + n + k$ rounds. The algorithm is simple, and it has some novel features and a nontrivial analysis.It uses only the directed edges in the graph for communi…
We design fast deterministic algorithms for distance computation in the congested clique model. Our key contributions include: -- A $(2+ε)$-approximation for all-pairs shortest paths in $O(\log^2{n} / ε)$ rounds on unweighted undirected graphs. With a small additional additive factor, this also applies for weighted graphs. This is the first sub-polynomial constant-factor approximation for APSP in this model. -- A $(1+ε)$-approximation for multi-source shortest paths from $O(\sqrt{n})$ sources in $O(\log^2{n} / ε)$ rounds on weighted undirected graphs. This is the first sub-polynomial algorithm…
We consider the problem of computing all pairs shortest paths (APSP) and shortest paths for k sources in a weighted graph in the distributed CONGEST model. For graphs with non-negative integer edge weights (including zero weights) we build on a recent pipelined algorithm to obtain $\tilde{O}(λ^{1/4}\cdot n^{5/4})$ in graphs with non-negative integer edge-weight at most $λ$, and $\tilde{O}(n \cdot \bigtriangleup^{1/3})$ rounds for shortest path distances at most $\bigtriangleup$. Additionally, we simplify some of the procedures in the earlier APSP algorithms for non-negative edge weights in [HN…
Images conveniently capture the result of physical processes, representing rich source of information for data driven medicine, engineering, and science. The modeling of an image as a graph allows the application of graph-based algorithms for content analysis. Amongst these, one of the most used is the Dijkstra Single Source Shortest Path algorithm (DSSSP), which computes the path with minimal cost from one starting node to all the other nodes of the graph. However, the results of DSSSP remains unknown for nodes until they are explored. Moreover, DSSSP execution is associated to frequent jumps…
We study a $(1+ε)$-approximate single-source shortest paths (henceforth, $(1+ε)$-SSSP) in $n$-vertex undirected, weighted graphs in the parallel (PRAM) model of computation. A randomized algorithm with polylogarithmic time and slightly super-linear work $\tilde{O}(|E|\cdot n^ρ)$, for an arbitrarily small $ρ>0$, was given by Cohen [Coh94] more than $25$ years ago. Exciting progress on this problem was achieved in recent years [ElkinN17,ElkinN19,Li19,AndoniSZ19], culminating in randomized polylogarithmic time and $\tilde{O}(|E|)$ work. However, the question of whether there exists a deterministi…
We present the first $m\,\text{polylog}(n)$ work, $\text{polylog}(n)$ time algorithm in the PRAM model that computes $(1+ε)$-approximate single-source shortest paths on weighted, undirected graphs. This improves upon the breakthrough result of Cohen~[JACM'00] that achieves $O(m^{1+ε_0})$ work and $\text{polylog}(n)$ time. While most previous approaches, including Cohen's, leveraged the power of hopsets, our algorithm builds upon the recent developments in \emph{continuous optimization}, studying the shortest path problem from the lens of the closely-related \emph{minimum transshipment} problem…
Let $G=(V,E,w)$ be a weighted undirected graph with $n$ vertices and $m$ edges, and fix a set of $s$ sources $S\subseteq V$. We study the problem of computing {\em almost shortest paths} (ASP) for all pairs in $S \times V$ in both classical centralized and parallel (PRAM) models of computation. Consider the regime of multiplicative approximation of $1+ε$, for an arbitrarily small constant $ε> 0$ . In this regime existing centralized algorithms require $Ω(\min\{|E|s,n^ω\})$ time, where $ω< 2.372$ is the matrix multiplication exponent. Existing PRAM algorithms with polylogarithmic depth (aka tim…
In this paper we show a deterministic parallel all-pairs shortest paths algorithm for real-weighted directed graphs. The algorithm has $\tilde{O}(nm+(n/d)^3)$ work and $\tilde{O}(d)$ depth for any depth parameter $d\in [1,n]$. To the best of our knowledge, such a trade-off has only been previously described for the real-weighted single-source shortest paths problem using randomization [Bringmann et al., ICALP'17]. Moreover, our result improves upon the parallelism of the state-of-the-art randomized parallel algorithm for computing transitive closure, which has $\tilde{O}(nm+n^3/d^2)$ work and …
Computing approximate shortest paths in the dynamic streaming setting is a fundamental challenge that has been intensively studied during the last decade. Currently existing solutions for this problem either build a sparse multiplicative spanner of the input graph and compute shortest paths in the spanner offline, or compute an exact single source BFS tree. Solutions of the first type are doomed to incur a stretch-space tradeoff of $2κ-1$ versus $n^{1+1/κ}$, for an integer parameter $κ$. (In fact, existing solutions also incur an extra factor of $1+ε$ in the stretch for weighted graphs, and an…
An instance of the NP-hard Quadratic Shortest Path Problem (QSPP) is called linearizable iff it is equivalent to an instance of the classic Shortest Path Problem (SPP) on the same input digraph. The linearization problem for the QSPP (LinQSPP) decides whether a given QSPP instance is linearizable and determines the corresponding SPP instance in the positive case. We provide a novel linear time algorithm for the LinQSPP on acyclic digraphs which runs considerably faster than the previously best algorithm. The algorithm is based on a new insight revealing that the linearizability of the QSPP for…
We present a deterministic $(1+o(1))$-approximation $(n^{1/2+o(1)}+D^{1+o(1)})$-time algorithm for solving the single-source shortest paths problem on distributed weighted networks (the CONGEST model); here $n$ is the number of nodes in the network and $D$ is its (hop) diameter. This is the first non-trivial deterministic algorithm for this problem. It also improves (i) the running time of the randomized $(1+o(1))$-approximation $\tilde O(n^{1/2}D^{1/4}+D)$-time algorithm of Nanongkai [STOC 2014] by a factor of as large as $n^{1/8}$, and (ii) the $O(ε^{-1}\log ε^{-1})$-approximation factor of …
We introduce stronger notions for approximate single-source shortest-path distances, show how to efficiently compute them from weaker standard notions, and demonstrate the algorithmic power of these new notions and transformations. One application is the first work-efficient parallel algorithm for computing exact single-source shortest paths graphs -- resolving a major open problem in parallel computing. Given a source vertex in a directed graph with polynomially-bounded nonnegative integer lengths, the algorithm computes an exact shortest path tree in $m \log^{O(1)} n$ work and $n^{1/2+o(1)}$…
Computing shortest paths is one of the central problems in the theory of distributed computing. For the last few years, substantial progress has been made on the approximate single source shortest paths problem, culminating in an algorithm of Becker et al. [DISC'17] which deterministically computes $(1+o(1))$-approximate shortest paths in $\tilde O(D+\sqrt n)$ time, where $D$ is the hop-diameter of the graph. Up to logarithmic factors, this time complexity is optimal, matching the lower bound of Elkin [STOC'04]. The question of exact shortest paths however saw no algorithmic progress for decad…
It is well known that size-based scheduling policies, which take into account job size (i.e., the time it takes to run them), can perform very desirably in terms of both response time and fairness. Unfortunately, the requirement of knowing a priori the exact job size is a major obstacle which is frequently insurmountable in practice. Often, it is possible to get a coarse estimation of job size, but unfortunately analytical results with inexact job sizes are challenging to obtain, and simulation-based studies show that several size-based algorithm are severely impacted by job estimation errors.…
Our interest is in paths between pairs of vertices that go through at least one of a subset of the vertices known as beer vertices. Such a path is called a beer path, and the beer distance between two vertices is the length of the shortest beer path. We show that we can represent unweighted interval graphs using $2n \log n + O(n) + O(|B|\log n)$ bits where $|B|$ is the number of beer vertices. This data structure answers beer distance queries in $O(\log^\varepsilon n)$ time for any constant $\varepsilon > 0$ and shortest beer path queries in $O(\log^\varepsilon n + d)$ time, where $d$ is the b…
This paper presents near-optimal deterministic parallel and distributed algorithms for computing $(1+\varepsilon)$-approximate single-source shortest paths in any undirected weighted graph. On a high level, we deterministically reduce this and other shortest-path problems to $\tilde{O}(1)$ Minor-Aggregations. A Minor-Aggregation computes an aggregate (e.g., max or sum) of node-values for every connected component of some subgraph. Our reduction immediately implies: Optimal deterministic parallel (PRAM) algorithms with $\tilde{O}(1)$ depth and near-linear work. Universally-optimal deterministic…
Given a directed, weighted graph $G=(V,E)$ undergoing edge insertions, the incremental single-source shortest paths (SSSP) problem asks for the maintenance of approximate distances from a dedicated source $s$ while optimizing the total time required to process the insertion sequence of $m$ edges. Recently, Gutenberg, Williams and Wein [STOC'20] introduced a deterministic $\tilde{O}(n^2)$ algorithm for this problem, achieving near linear time for very dense graphs. For sparse graphs, Chechik and Zhang [SODA'21] recently presented a deterministic $\tilde{O}(m^{5/3})$ algorithm, and an adaptive r…
We give an $\tilde{O}(n^{7/5} \log (nC))$-time algorithm to compute a minimum-cost maximum cardinality matching (optimal matching) in $K_h$-minor free graphs with $h=O(1)$ and integer edge weights having magnitude at most $C$. This improves upon the $\tilde{O}(n^{10/7}\log{C})$ algorithm of Cohen et al. [SODA 2017] and the $O(n^{3/2}\log (nC))$ algorithm of Gabow and Tarjan [SIAM J. Comput. 1989]. For a graph with $m$ edges and $n$ vertices, the well-known Hungarian Algorithm computes a shortest augmenting path in each phase in $O(m)$ time, yielding an optimal matching in $O(mn)$ time. The Hop…
Graph neural networks extrapolate out-of-distribution for shortest paths
Halıcıoğlu Data Science Institute, University of California San Diego（加州大学圣地亚哥分校哈利西奥格鲁数据科学学院）；Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of California San Diego（加州大学圣地亚哥分校计算机科学与工程系）
We present a new deterministic algorithm for distributed weighted all pairs shortest paths (APSP) in both undirected and directed graphs. Our algorithm runs in $\tilde{O}(n^{4/3})$ rounds in the Congest models on graphs with arbitrary edge weights, and it improves on the previous $\tilde{O}(n^{3/2})$ bound of Agarwal et al. [ARKP18]. The main components of our new algorithm are a new faster technique for constructing blocker set deterministically and a new pipelined method for deterministically propagating distance values from source nodes to the blocker set nodes in the network. Both of these…
Shortest path queries over graphs are usually considered as isolated tasks, where the goal is to return the shortest path for each individual query. In practice, however, such queries are typically part of a system (e.g., a road network) and their execution dynamically affects other queries and network parameters, such as the loads on edges, which in turn affects the shortest paths. We study the problem of collectively processing shortest path queries, where the objective is to optimize a collective objective, such as minimizing the overall cost. We define a temporal load-aware network that dy…
