Related papers: How many queries are needed to distinguish a trunc…
We study approximation algorithms for variants of the \emph{median string} problem, which asks for a string that minimizes the sum of edit distances from a given set of $m$ strings of length $n$. Only the straightforward $2$-approximation…
Quantum span program algorithms for function evaluation commonly have reduced query complexity when promised that the input has a certain structure. We design a modified span program algorithm to show these speed-ups persist even without…
The algorithmic tasks of computing the Hamming distance between a given pattern of length $m$ and each location in a text of length $n$ is one of the most fundamental algorithmic tasks in string algorithms. Unfortunately, there is evidence…
The CFG recognition problem is: given a context-free grammar $\mathcal{G}$ and a string $w$ of length $n$, decide if $w$ can be obtained from $\mathcal{G}$. This is the most basic parsing question and is a core computer science problem.…
Permutation $\sigma$ appears in permutation $\pi$ if there exists a subsequence of $\pi$ that is order-isomorphic to $\sigma$. The natural question is to check if $\sigma$ appears in $\pi$, and if so count the number of occurrences. We know…
We consider the problem of counting the copies of a length-$k$ pattern $\sigma$ in a sequence $f \colon [n] \to \mathbb{R}$, where a copy is a subset of indices $i_1 < \ldots < i_k \in [n]$ such that $f(i_j) < f(i_\ell)$ if and only if…
This paper considers the quantum query complexity of {\it $\eps$-biased oracles} that return the correct value with probability only $1/2 + \eps$. In particular, we show a quantum algorithm to compute $N$-bit OR functions with…
Our problem is to evaluate a multi-valued Boolean function $F$ through oracle calls. If $F$ is one-to-one and the size of its domain and range is the same, then our problem can be formulated as follows: Given an oracle $f(a,x):…
We provide an efficient algorithm for the classical problem, going back to Galton, Pearson, and Fisher, of estimating, with arbitrary accuracy the parameters of a multivariate normal distribution from truncated samples. Truncated samples…
Consider an $m$-bit query $q$ to a bitwise trie $T$. A wildcard $*$ is an unspecified bit in $q$ for which the query asks the membership for both cases $*=0$ and $*=1$. It is common that such partial-match queries with wildcards are issued…
Quantum algorithms are typically understood in terms of the evolution of a multi-qubit quantum system under a prescribed sequence of unitary transformations. The input to the algorithm prescribes some of the unitary transformations in the…
Selecting N random points in a unit square corresponds to selecting a random permutation. By putting 5 types of symmetry restrictions on the points, we obtain subsets of permutations : involutions, signed permutations and signed…
We consider the problem of factoring permutations as a product of special types of transpositions, namely, those transpositions involving two positions with bounded distances. In particular, we investigate the minimum number, $\delta$, such…
Let $s$ denote West's stack-sorting map. A permutation is called $t-\textit{sorted}$ if it is of the form $s^t(\mu)$ for some permutation $\mu$. We prove that the maximum number of descents that a $t$-sorted permutation of length $n$ can…
We investigate the problem of determining a set S of k indistinguishable integers in the range [1,n]. The algorithm is allowed to query an integer $q\in [1,n]$, and receive a response comparing this integer to an integer randomly chosen…
We show how an algorithm for the problem of inverting a permutation may be used to design one for the problem of unordered search (with a unique solution). Since there is a straightforward reduction in the reverse direction, the problems…
Given a DNF formula on n variables, the two natural size measures are the number of terms or size s(f), and the maximum width of a term w(f). It is folklore that short DNF formulas can be made narrow. We prove a converse, showing that…
We consider approximation of functions of $s$ variables, where $s$ is very large or infinite, that belong to weighted anchored spaces. We study when such functions can be approximated by algorithms designed for functions with only very…
We study the following problem: with the power of postselection (classically or quantumly), what is your ability to answer adaptive queries to certain languages? More specifically, for what kind of computational classes $\mathcal{C}$, we…
The Feistel construction is a fundamental technique for building pseudorandom permutations and block ciphers. This paper shows that a simple adaptation of the construction is resistant, even to algorithm substitution attacks -- that is,…