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We give an efficient algorithm to enumerate all elements of a Pareto front in a multi-objective optimization problem in which the space of values is finite for all objectives. Our algorithm uses a feasibility check for a search space…

Data Structures and Algorithms · Computer Science 2015-12-17 Ruediger Ehlers

In a distinguishing problem, the input is a sample drawn from one of two distributions and the algorithm is tasked with identifying the source distribution. The performance of a distinguishing algorithm is measured by its advantage, i.e.,…

Computational Complexity · Computer Science 2025-07-22 Ansh Nagda , Prasad Raghavendra

The time-optimal $k$-server problem minimizes the time spent serving all requests instead of the distances traveled. We give a lower bound of $2k-1$ on the competitive ratio of any deterministic online algorithm for this problem, which…

Data Structures and Algorithms · Computer Science 2025-03-10 Fabian Frei , Dennis Komm , Moritz Stocker , Philip Whittington

We consider ordinal online problems, i.e., tasks that only require pairwise comparisons between elements of the input. A classic example is the secretary problem and the game of googol, as well as its multiple combinatorial extensions such…

Data Structures and Algorithms · Computer Science 2023-10-13 Nick Gravin , Enze Sun , Zhihao Gavin Tang

Consider the problem: we are given $n$ boxes, labeled $\{1,2,\ldots, n\}$ by an adversary, each containing a single number chosen from an unknown distribution; these $n$ distributions are not necessarily identical. We are also given an…

Data Structures and Algorithms · Computer Science 2024-05-13 Mohammad Taghi Hajiaghayi , Dariusz R. Kowalski , Piotr Krysta , Jan Olkowski

We initiate a systematic study of utilizing predictions to improve over approximation guarantees of classic algorithms, without increasing the running time. We propose a systematic method for a wide class of optimization problems that ask…

Data Structures and Algorithms · Computer Science 2024-11-26 Antonios Antoniadis , Marek Eliáš , Adam Polak , Moritz Venzin

We study the House Allocation problem (also known as the Assignment problem), i.e., the problem of allocating a set of objects among a set of agents, where each agent has ordinal preferences (possibly involving ties) over a subset of the…

Computer Science and Game Theory · Computer Science 2019-05-10 Piotr Krysta , David Manlove , Baharak Rastegari , Jinshan Zhang

This paper answers a long-standing open question concerning the $1/e$-strategy for the problem of best choice. $N$ candidates for a job arrive at times independently uniformly distributed in $[0,1]$. The interviewer knows how each candidate…

Probability · Mathematics 2020-12-25 F. Thomas Bruss , L. C. G. Rogers

Whereas there are simple algorithms that are proven to be optimal for the Classical and the Multiple Choice Secretary Problem, the Matroid Secretary Problem is less thoroughly understood. This paper proposes the generalization of some…

Data Structures and Algorithms · Computer Science 2022-11-08 Simon Park

In the ordinal Matroid Secretary Problem (MSP), elements from a weighted matroid are presented in random order to an algorithm that must incrementally select a large weight independent set. However, the algorithm can only compare pairs of…

Data Structures and Algorithms · Computer Science 2018-02-07 José A. Soto , Abner Turkieltaub , Victor Verdugo

In this work we are concerned with the design of efficient mechanisms while eliciting limited information from the agents. First, we study the performance of sampling approximations in facility location games. Our key result is to show that…

Computer Science and Game Theory · Computer Science 2022-08-26 Ioannis Anagnostides , Dimitris Fotakis , Panagiotis Patsilinakos

Topological sorting is an important technique in numerous practical applications, such as information retrieval, recommender systems, optimization, etc. In this paper, we introduce a problem of generalized topological sorting with…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2022-01-21 Jean Ruppert , Marharyta Aleksandrova , Thomas Engel

In this paper we introduce the hiring under uncertainty problem to model the questions faced by hiring committees in large enterprises and universities alike. Given a set of $n$ eligible candidates, the decision maker needs to choose the…

Data Structures and Algorithms · Computer Science 2019-05-08 Manish Raghavan , Manish Purohit , Sreenivas Gollupadi

In this paper, we discuss a stochastic decision problem of optimally selecting the order in which to try $n$ opportunities that may yield an uncertain reward in the future. The motivation came out from pure curiosity, after an informal…

Computer Science and Game Theory · Computer Science 2016-09-27 Giuseppe C. Calafiore

The secretary and the prophet inequality problems are central to the field of Stopping Theory. Recently, there has been a lot of work in generalizing these models to multiple items because of their applications in mechanism design. The most…

Data Structures and Algorithms · Computer Science 2018-03-20 Soheil Ehsani , MohammadTaghi Hajiaghayi , Thomas Kesselheim , Sahil Singla

The problem of identifying a planted assignment given a random $k$-SAT formula consistent with the assignment exhibits a large algorithmic gap: while the planted solution becomes unique and can be identified given a formula with $O(n\log…

Computational Complexity · Computer Science 2018-03-07 Vitaly Feldman , Will Perkins , Santosh Vempala

In this paper we investigate the top-$k$-selection problem, i.e. determine the largest, second largest, ..., and the $k$-th largest elements, in the dynamic data model. In this model the order of elements evolves dynamically over time. In…

Data Structures and Algorithms · Computer Science 2014-12-30 Qin Huang , Xingwu Liu , Xiaoming Sun , Jialin Zhang

We study the diametric problem (i.e., optimal anticodes) in the space of permutations under the Ulam distance. That is, let $S_n$ denote the set of permutations on $n$ symbols, and for each $\sigma, \tau \in S_n$, define their Ulam distance…

Combinatorics · Mathematics 2024-03-05 Pat Devlin , Leo Douhovnikoff

The Assignment problem is a fundamental and well-studied problem in the intersection of Social Choice, Computational Economics and Discrete Allocation. In the Assignment problem, a group of agents expresses preferences over a set of items,…

Data Structures and Algorithms · Computer Science 2021-05-24 Barak Steindl , Meirav Zehavi

In this work, we study the single-choice prophet inequality problem, where a gambler faces a sequence of~$n$ online i.i.d. random variables drawn from an unknown distribution. When a variable reveals its value, the gambler needs to decide…

Data Structures and Algorithms · Computer Science 2023-08-23 Bo Li , Xiaowei Wu , Yutong Wu