Concentration of Measure for the Analysis of Randomized Algorithms

ISBN-13: 9780521884273 / Angielski / Twarda / 2009 / 214 str.

Devdatt P Dubhashi

Opis

Randomized algorithms have become a central part of the algorithms curriculum based on their increasingly widespread use in modern applications. This book presents a coherent and unified treatment of probabilistic techniques for obtaining high- probability estimates on the performance of randomized algorithms. It covers the basic tool kit from the Chernoff-Hoeffding (CH) bounds to more sophisticated techniques like Martingales and isoperimetric inequalities, as well as some recent developments like Talagrand's inequality, transportation cost inequalities, and log-Sobolev inequalities. Along the way, variations on the basic theme are examined, such as CH bounds in dependent settings. The authors emphasize comparative study of the different methods, highlighting respective strengths and weaknesses in concrete example applications. The exposition is tailored to discrete settings sufficient for the analysis of algorithms, avoiding unnecessary measure-theoretic details, thus making the book accessible to computer scientists as well as probabilists and discrete mathematicians.

Recenzje

Reviews of the hardback: 'This timely book brings together in a comprehensive and accessible form a sophisticated toolkit of powerful techniques for the analysis of randomized algorithms, illustrating their use with a wide array of insightful examples. This book is an invaluable resource for people venturing into this exciting field of contemporary computer science research.' Prabhakar Ragahavan, Yahoo Research

Spis treści

1. Chernoff–Hoeffding bounds; 2. Applying the CH-bounds; 3. CH-bounds with dependencies; 4. Interlude: probabilistic recurrences; 5. Martingales and the MOBD; 6. The MOBD in action; 7. Averaged bounded difference; 8. The method of bounded variances; 9. Interlude: the infamous upper tail; 10. Isoperimetric inequalities and concentration; 11. Talagrand inequality; 12. Transportation cost and concentration; 13. Transportation cost and Talagrand's inequality; 14. Log–Sobolev inequalities; Appendix A. Summary of the most useful bounds.