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We consider the offline sorting buffer problem. The input is a sequence of items of different types. All items must be processed one by one by a server. The server is equipped with a random-access buffer of limited capacity which can be…
The Matroid Secretary Problem (MSP) is one of the most prominent settings for online resource allocation and optimal stopping. A decision-maker is presented with a ground set of elements $E$ revealed sequentially and in random order. Upon…
The sequential allocation protocol is a simple and popular mechanism to allocate indivisible goods, in which the agents take turns to pick the items according to a predefined sequence. While this protocol is not strategy-proof, it has been…
Let $P$ be a $k$-ary predicate over a finite alphabet. Consider a random CSP$(P)$ instance $I$ over $n$ variables with $m$ constraints. When $m \gg n$ the instance $I$ will be unsatisfiable with high probability, and we want to find a…
The main contribution of this paper resides in providing novel algorithmic advances and analytical insights for the sequential hiring problem, a recently introduced dynamic optimization model where a firm adaptively fills a limited number…
Let $X$ be the constrained random walk on ${\mathbb Z}_+^2$ taking the steps $(1,0)$, $(-1,1)$ and $(0,-1)$ with probabilities $\lambda < (\mu_1\neq \mu_2)$; in particular, $X$ is assumed stable. Let $\tau_n$ be the first time $X$ hits…
We give improved separations for the query complexity analogue of the log-approximate-rank conjecture i.e. we show that there are a plethora of total Boolean functions on $n$ input bits, each of which has approximate Fourier sparsity at…
We discuss voting scenarios in which the set of voters (agents) and the set of alternatives are the same; that is, voters select a single representative from among themselves. Such a scenario happens, for instance, when a committee selects…
Given $N$ instances $(X_1,t_1),\ldots,(X_N,t_N)$ of Subset Sum, the AND Subset Sum problem asks to determine whether all of these instances are yes-instances; that is, whether each set of integers $X_i$ has a subset that sums up to the…
We start with a set of n players. With some probability P(n,k), we kill n-k players; the other ones stay alive, and we repeat with them. What is the distribution of the number X_n of phases (or rounds) before getting only one player? We…
Suppose $N$ independent Bernoulli trials are observed sequentially at random times of a mixed binomial process. The task is to maximise, by using a nonanticipating stopping strategy, the probability of stopping at the last success. We focus…
A probabilistic characterization of the dominance partial order on the set of partitions is presented. This extends work in "Symmetric polynomials and symmetric mean inequalities". Electron. J. Combin., 20(3): Paper 34, 2013. Let $n$ be a…
There are $n$ independent Bernoulli random variables with parameters $p_i$ that are observed sequentially. Two players, A and B, act in turns starting with player A. Each player has the possibility on his turn, when $I_k=1$, to choose…
In this paper, we construct and compare algorithmic approaches to solve the Preference Consistency Problem for preference statements based on hierarchical models. Instances of this problem contain a set of preference statements that are…
Applications such as employees sharing office spaces over a workweek can be modeled as problems where agents are matched to resources over multiple rounds. Agents' requirements limit the set of compatible resources and the rounds in which…
We study the space requirements of a sorting algorithm where only items that at the end will be adjacent are kept together. This is equivalent to the following combinatorial problem: Consider a string of fixed length n that starts as a…
We consider the fundamental problem of selecting $k$ out of $n$ random variables in a way that the expected highest or second-highest value is maximized. This question captures several applications where we have uncertainty about the…
We consider the Travelling Salesman Problem with Vertex Requisitions, where for each position of the tour at most two possible vertices are given. It is known that the problem is strongly NP-hard. The proposed algorithm for this problem has…
In this paper, we address the problem of embedded feature selection for ranking on top of the list problems. We pose this problem as a regularized empirical risk minimization with $p$-norm push loss function ($p=\infty$) and sparsity…
Given a sequence $A$ of $n$ numbers and an integer (target) parameter $1\leq i\leq n$, the (exact) selection problem asks to find the $i$-th smallest element in $A$. An element is said to be $(i,j)$-mediocre if it is neither among the top…