English

Simple set cardinality estimation through random sampling

Discrete Mathematics 2018-04-13 v3

Abstract

We present a simple algorithm that estimates the cardinality nn of a set VV when allowed to sample elements of VV uniformly and independently at random. Our algorithm with probability (1δ)(1-\delta) returns a (1±ϵ)(1\pm\epsilon)-approximation of nn drawing O(nϵ1log(δ1))O\big(\sqrt{n} \cdot \epsilon^{-1}\sqrt{\log(\delta^{-1})}\big) samples (for ϵ1log(δ1)=O(n)\epsilon^{-1}\sqrt{\log(\delta^{-1})} = O(\sqrt{n})).

Cite

@article{arxiv.1512.07901,
  title  = {Simple set cardinality estimation through random sampling},
  author = {Marco Bressan and Enoch Peserico and Luca Pretto},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1512.07901},
  year   = {2018}
}

Comments

3 pages

R2 v1 2026-06-22T12:17:47.038Z