9 Search Results for "Peebles, John"

Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.89
On Solving Asymmetric Diagonally Dominant Linear Systems in Sublinear Time

Authors: Tsz Chiu Kwok, Zhewei Wei, and Mingji Yang

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 362, 17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026)

Abstract
We initiate a study of solving a row/column diagonally dominant (RDD/CDD) linear system 𝐌x = b in sublinear time, with the goal of estimating t^{⊤}x^{∗} for a given vector t ∈ ℝⁿ and a specific solution x^{∗}. This setting naturally generalizes the study of sublinear-time solvers for symmetric diagonally dominant (SDD) systems [Andoni-Krauthgamer-Pogrow, ITCS 2019] to the asymmetric case, which has remained underexplored despite extensive work on nearly-linear-time solvers for RDD/CDD systems. Our first contributions are characterizations of the problem’s mathematical structure. We express a solution x^{∗} via a Neumann series, prove its convergence, and upper bound the truncation error on this series through a novel quantity of 𝐌, termed the maximum p-norm gap. This quantity generalizes the spectral gap of symmetric matrices and captures how the structure of 𝐌 governs the problem’s computational difficulty. For systems with bounded maximum p-norm gap, we develop a collection of algorithmic results for locally approximating t^{⊤}x^{∗} under various scenarios and error measures. We derive these results by adapting the techniques of random-walk sampling, local push, and their bidirectional combination, which have proved powerful for special cases of solving RDD/CDD systems, particularly estimating PageRank and effective resistance on graphs. Our general framework yields deeper insights, extended results, and improved complexity bounds for these problems. Notably, our perspective provides a unified understanding of Forward Push and Backward Push, two fundamental approaches for estimating random-walk probabilities on graphs. Our framework also inherits the hardness results for sublinear-time SDD solvers and local PageRank computation, establishing lower bounds on the maximum p-norm gap or the accuracy parameter. We hope that our work opens the door for further study into sublinear solvers, local graph algorithms, and directed spectral graph theory.
Cite as

Tsz Chiu Kwok, Zhewei Wei, and Mingji Yang. On Solving Asymmetric Diagonally Dominant Linear Systems in Sublinear Time. In 17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 362, pp. 89:1-89:25, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)

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@InProceedings{kwok_et_al:LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.89,
  author =	{Kwok, Tsz Chiu and Wei, Zhewei and Yang, Mingji},
  title =	{{On Solving Asymmetric Diagonally Dominant Linear Systems in Sublinear Time}},
  booktitle =	{17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026)},
  pages =	{89:1--89:25},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-410-9},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2026},
  volume =	{362},
  editor =	{Saraf, Shubhangi},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.89},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-253768},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.89},
  annote =	{Keywords: Spectral Graph Theory, Linear Systems, Sublinear Algorithms}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.54
Testable Algorithms for Approximately Counting Edges and Triangles in Sublinear Time and Space

Authors: Talya Eden, Ronitt Rubinfeld, and Arsen Vasilyan

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 362, 17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026)

Abstract
We consider the fundamental problems of approximately counting the numbers of edges and triangles in a graph in sublinear time. Previous algorithms for these tasks are significantly more efficient under a promise that the arboricity of the graph is bounded by some parameter ̅α. However, when this promise is violated, the estimates given by these algorithms are no longer guaranteed to be correct. For the triangle counting task, we give an algorithm that requires no promise on the input graph G, and computes a (1±ε)-approximation for the number of triangles t in G in time O^*((m⋅ α(G))/t + m/(t^{2/3)}), where α(G) is the arboricity of the graph. The algorithm can be used on any graph G (no prior knowledge of the arboricity α(G) is required), and the algorithm adapts its run-time on the fly based on the graph G. We accomplish this by trying a sequence of candidate values α̃ for α(G) and using a novel algorithm in the framework of testable algorithms. This ensures that wrong candidates α̃ cannot lead to wrong estimates: if the advice is incorrect, the algorithm either succeeds despite this or detects this and continues with a new candidate. Once the algorithm accepts the candidate, its output is guaranteed to be correct with high probability. We prove that this approach preserves - up to an additive overhead - the dramatic efficiency gains obtainable when good arboricity bounds are known in advance, while ensuring robustness against misleading advice. We further complement this result with a lower bound, showing that such an overhead is unavoidable whenever the advice may be faulty. We further demonstrate implications of our results for triangle counting in the streaming model.
Cite as

Talya Eden, Ronitt Rubinfeld, and Arsen Vasilyan. Testable Algorithms for Approximately Counting Edges and Triangles in Sublinear Time and Space. In 17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 362, pp. 54:1-54:24, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)

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@InProceedings{eden_et_al:LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.54,
  author =	{Eden, Talya and Rubinfeld, Ronitt and Vasilyan, Arsen},
  title =	{{Testable Algorithms for Approximately Counting Edges and Triangles in Sublinear Time and Space}},
  booktitle =	{17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026)},
  pages =	{54:1--54:24},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-410-9},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2026},
  volume =	{362},
  editor =	{Saraf, Shubhangi},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.54},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-253417},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.54},
  annote =	{Keywords: Sublinear Algorithms, Triangle Counting, Edge Counting, Arboricity}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.FSCD.2025.33
Solving Guarded Domain Equations in Presheaves over Ordinals and Mechanizing It

Authors: Sergei Stepanenko and Amin Timany

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 337, 10th International Conference on Formal Structures for Computation and Deduction (FSCD 2025)

Abstract
Constructing solutions to recursive domain equations is a well-known, important problem in the study of programs and programming languages. Mathematically speaking, the problem is finding a fixed point (up to isomorphism) of a suitable functor over a suitable category. A particularly useful instance, inspired by the step-indexing technique, is where the functor is over (a subcategory of) the category of presheaves over the ordinal ω and the functors are locally-contractive, also known as guarded functors. This corresponds to step-indexing over natural numbers. However, for certain problems, e.g., when dealing with infinite non-determinism, one needs to employ trans-finite step-indexing, i.e., consider presheaf categories over higher ordinals. Prior work on trans-finite step-indexing either only considers a very narrow class of functors over a particularly restricted subcategory of presheaves over higher ordinals, or treats the problem very generally working with sheaves over an arbitrary complete Heyting algebra with a well-founded basis. In this paper we present a solution to the guarded domain equations problem over all guarded functors over the category of presheaves over ordinal numbers, as well as its mechanization in the Rocq Prover. As the categories of sheaves and presheaves over ordinals are equivalent, our main contribution is simplifying prior work from the setting of the category of sheaves to the setting of the category of presheaves and mechanizing it - presheaves are more amenable to mechanization in a proof assistant.
Cite as

Sergei Stepanenko and Amin Timany. Solving Guarded Domain Equations in Presheaves over Ordinals and Mechanizing It. In 10th International Conference on Formal Structures for Computation and Deduction (FSCD 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 337, pp. 33:1-33:24, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

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@InProceedings{stepanenko_et_al:LIPIcs.FSCD.2025.33,
  author =	{Stepanenko, Sergei and Timany, Amin},
  title =	{{Solving Guarded Domain Equations in Presheaves over Ordinals and Mechanizing It}},
  booktitle =	{10th International Conference on Formal Structures for Computation and Deduction (FSCD 2025)},
  pages =	{33:1--33:24},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-374-4},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{337},
  editor =	{Fern\'{a}ndez, Maribel},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.FSCD.2025.33},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-236486},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.FSCD.2025.33},
  annote =	{Keywords: Domain Equations, Guarded Fixed Points, Fixed Points, Category Theory, Rocq, Presheaves, Ordinals}
}
Document
Track A: Algorithms, Complexity and Games
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2025.92
Fully Dynamic Algorithms for Transitive Reduction

Authors: Gramoz Goranci, Adam Karczmarz, Ali Momeni, and Nikos Parotsidis

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 334, 52nd International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2025)

Abstract
Given a directed graph G, a transitive reduction G^t of G (first studied by Aho, Garey, Ullman [SICOMP `72]) is a minimal subgraph of G that preserves the reachability relation between every two vertices in G. In this paper, we study the computational complexity of transitive reduction in the dynamic setting. We obtain the first fully dynamic algorithms for maintaining a transitive reduction of a general directed graph undergoing updates such as edge insertions or deletions. Our first algorithm achieves O(m+n log n) amortized update time, which is near-optimal for sparse directed graphs, and can even support extended update operations such as inserting a set of edges all incident to the same vertex, or deleting an arbitrary set of edges. Our second algorithm relies on fast matrix multiplication and achieves O(m+ n^{1.585}) worst-case update time.
Cite as

Gramoz Goranci, Adam Karczmarz, Ali Momeni, and Nikos Parotsidis. Fully Dynamic Algorithms for Transitive Reduction. In 52nd International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 334, pp. 92:1-92:20, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

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@InProceedings{goranci_et_al:LIPIcs.ICALP.2025.92,
  author =	{Goranci, Gramoz and Karczmarz, Adam and Momeni, Ali and Parotsidis, Nikos},
  title =	{{Fully Dynamic Algorithms for Transitive Reduction}},
  booktitle =	{52nd International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2025)},
  pages =	{92:1--92:20},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-372-0},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{334},
  editor =	{Censor-Hillel, Keren and Grandoni, Fabrizio and Ouaknine, Jo\"{e}l and Puppis, Gabriele},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2025.92},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-234697},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2025.92},
  annote =	{Keywords: Spectral sparsification, Dynamic algorithms, (Directed) hypergraphs, Data structures}
}
Document
Track A: Algorithms, Complexity and Games
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2025.13
Quantum Speedup for Sampling Random Spanning Trees

Authors: Simon Apers, Minbo Gao, Zhengfeng Ji, and Chenghua Liu

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 334, 52nd International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2025)

Abstract
We present a quantum algorithm for sampling random spanning trees from a weighted graph in Õ(√{mn}) time, where n and m denote the number of vertices and edges, respectively. Our algorithm has sublinear runtime for dense graphs and achieves a quantum speedup over the best-known classical algorithm, which runs in Õ(m) time. The approach carefully combines, on one hand, a classical method based on "large-step" random walks for reduced mixing time and, on the other hand, quantum algorithmic techniques, including quantum graph sparsification and a sampling-without-replacement variant of Hamoudi’s multiple-state preparation. We also establish a matching lower bound, proving the optimality of our algorithm up to polylogarithmic factors. These results highlight the potential of quantum computing in accelerating fundamental graph sampling problems.
Cite as

Simon Apers, Minbo Gao, Zhengfeng Ji, and Chenghua Liu. Quantum Speedup for Sampling Random Spanning Trees. In 52nd International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 334, pp. 13:1-13:21, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

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@InProceedings{apers_et_al:LIPIcs.ICALP.2025.13,
  author =	{Apers, Simon and Gao, Minbo and Ji, Zhengfeng and Liu, Chenghua},
  title =	{{Quantum Speedup for Sampling Random Spanning Trees}},
  booktitle =	{52nd International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2025)},
  pages =	{13:1--13:21},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-372-0},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{334},
  editor =	{Censor-Hillel, Keren and Grandoni, Fabrizio and Ouaknine, Jo\"{e}l and Puppis, Gabriele},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2025.13},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-233907},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2025.13},
  annote =	{Keywords: Quantum Computing, Quantum Algorithms, Random Spanning Trees}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.FORC.2025.6
Near-Universally-Optimal Differentially Private Minimum Spanning Trees

Authors: Richard Hladík and Jakub Tětek

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 329, 6th Symposium on Foundations of Responsible Computing (FORC 2025)

Abstract
Devising mechanisms with good beyond-worst-case input-dependent performance has been an important focus of differential privacy, with techniques such as smooth sensitivity, propose-test-release, or inverse sensitivity mechanism being developed to achieve this goal. This makes it very natural to use the notion of universal optimality in differential privacy. Universal optimality is a strong instance-specific optimality guarantee for problems on weighted graphs, which roughly states that for any fixed underlying (unweighted) graph, the algorithm is optimal in the worst-case sense, with respect to the possible setting of the edge weights. In this paper, we give the first such result in differential privacy. Namely, we prove that a simple differentially private mechanism for approximately releasing the minimum spanning tree is near-optimal in the sense of universal optimality for the 𝓁₁ neighbor relation. Previously, it was only known that this mechanism is nearly optimal in the worst case. We then focus on the 𝓁_∞ neighbor relation, for which the described mechanism is not optimal. We show that one may implement the exponential mechanism for MST in polynomial time, and that this results in universal near-optimality for both the 𝓁₁ and the 𝓁_∞ neighbor relations.
Cite as

Richard Hladík and Jakub Tětek. Near-Universally-Optimal Differentially Private Minimum Spanning Trees. In 6th Symposium on Foundations of Responsible Computing (FORC 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 329, pp. 6:1-6:19, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

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@InProceedings{hladik_et_al:LIPIcs.FORC.2025.6,
  author =	{Hlad{\'\i}k, Richard and T\v{e}tek, Jakub},
  title =	{{Near-Universally-Optimal Differentially Private Minimum Spanning Trees}},
  booktitle =	{6th Symposium on Foundations of Responsible Computing (FORC 2025)},
  pages =	{6:1--6:19},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-367-6},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{329},
  editor =	{Bun, Mark},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.FORC.2025.6},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-231337},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.FORC.2025.6},
  annote =	{Keywords: differential privacy, universal optimality, minimum spanning trees}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2025.40
Derandomized Squaring: An Analytical Insight into Its True Behavior

Authors: Gil Cohen, Itay Cohen, Gal Maor, and Yuval Peled

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 325, 16th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2025)

Abstract
The notion of the derandomized square of two graphs, denoted as G s H, was introduced by Rozenman and Vadhan as they rederived Reingold’s Theorem, SL = 𝐋. This pseudorandom primitive, closely related to the Zig-Zag product, plays a crucial role in recent advancements on space-bounded derandomization. For this and other reasons, understanding the spectral expansion λ(G s H) becomes paramount. Rozenman and Vadhan derived an upper bound for λ(G s H) in terms of the spectral expansions of the individual graphs, λ(G) and λ(H). They also proved their bound is optimal if the only information incorporated to the bound is the spectral expansion of the two graphs. The objective of this work is to gain deeper insights into the behavior of derandomized squaring by taking into account the entire spectrum of H, where we focus on a vertex-transitive c-regular H. Utilizing deep results from analytic combinatorics, we establish a lower bound on λ(G s H) that applies universally to all graphs G. Our work reveals that the bound is the minimum value of the function d⋅ x - d(d-1)χ_x(H)/χ_x'(H) in the domain (c,∞), where χ_x(H) is the characteristic polynomial of the d-vertex graph H. This bound lies far below the known upper bound for λ(G s H) for most reasonable choices for H. Empirical evidence suggests that our lower bound is optimal. We support the tightness of our lower bound by showing that the bound is tight for a class of graphs which exhibit local behavior similar to a derandomized squaring operation with H. To this end, we make use of finite free probability theory. In our second result, we resolve an open question posed by Cohen and Maor (STOC 2023) and establish a lower bound for the spectral expansion of rotating expanders. These graphs are constructed by taking a random walk with vertex permutations occurring after each step. We prove that Cohen and Maor’s construction is essentially optimal. Unlike our results on derandomized squaring, the proof in this instance relies solely on combinatorial methods. The key insight lies in establishing a connection between random walks on graph products and the Fuss-Catalan numbers.
Cite as

Gil Cohen, Itay Cohen, Gal Maor, and Yuval Peled. Derandomized Squaring: An Analytical Insight into Its True Behavior. In 16th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 325, pp. 40:1-40:24, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

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@InProceedings{cohen_et_al:LIPIcs.ITCS.2025.40,
  author =	{Cohen, Gil and Cohen, Itay and Maor, Gal and Peled, Yuval},
  title =	{{Derandomized Squaring: An Analytical Insight into Its True Behavior}},
  booktitle =	{16th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2025)},
  pages =	{40:1--40:24},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-361-4},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{325},
  editor =	{Meka, Raghu},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2025.40},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-226681},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2025.40},
  annote =	{Keywords: Derandomized Squaring, Spectral Graph Theory, Analytic Combinatorics}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2025.26
Settling the Complexity of Testing Grainedness of Distributions, and Application to Uniformity Testing in the Huge Object Model

Authors: Clément L. Canonne, Sayantan Sen, and Joy Qiping Yang

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 325, 16th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2025)

Abstract
In this work, we study the problem of testing m-grainedness of probability distributions over an n-element universe 𝒰, or, equivalently, of whether a probability distribution is induced by a multiset S ⊆ 𝒰 of size |S| = m. Recently, Goldreich and Ron (Computational Complexity, 2023) proved that Ω(n^c) samples are necessary for testing this property, for any c < 1 and m = Θ(n). They also conjectured that Ω(m/(log m)) samples are necessary for testing this property when m = Θ(n). In this work, we positively settle this conjecture. Using a known connection to the Distribution over Huge objects (DoHo) model introduced by Goldreich and Ron (TheoretiCS, 2023), we leverage our results to provide improved bounds for uniformity testing in the DoHo model.
Cite as

Clément L. Canonne, Sayantan Sen, and Joy Qiping Yang. Settling the Complexity of Testing Grainedness of Distributions, and Application to Uniformity Testing in the Huge Object Model. In 16th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 325, pp. 26:1-26:19, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

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@InProceedings{canonne_et_al:LIPIcs.ITCS.2025.26,
  author =	{Canonne, Cl\'{e}ment L. and Sen, Sayantan and Yang, Joy Qiping},
  title =	{{Settling the Complexity of Testing Grainedness of Distributions, and Application to Uniformity Testing in the Huge Object Model}},
  booktitle =	{16th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2025)},
  pages =	{26:1--26:19},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-361-4},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{325},
  editor =	{Meka, Raghu},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2025.26},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-226543},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2025.26},
  annote =	{Keywords: Distribution testing, Uniformity testing, Huge Object Model, Lower bounds}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2018.41
Sample-Optimal Identity Testing with High Probability

Authors: Ilias Diakonikolas, Themis Gouleakis, John Peebles, and Eric Price

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 107, 45th International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2018)

Abstract
We study the problem of testing identity against a given distribution with a focus on the high confidence regime. More precisely, given samples from an unknown distribution p over n elements, an explicitly given distribution q, and parameters 0< epsilon, delta < 1, we wish to distinguish, with probability at least 1-delta, whether the distributions are identical versus epsilon-far in total variation distance. Most prior work focused on the case that delta = Omega(1), for which the sample complexity of identity testing is known to be Theta(sqrt{n}/epsilon^2). Given such an algorithm, one can achieve arbitrarily small values of delta via black-box amplification, which multiplies the required number of samples by Theta(log(1/delta)). We show that black-box amplification is suboptimal for any delta = o(1), and give a new identity tester that achieves the optimal sample complexity. Our new upper and lower bounds show that the optimal sample complexity of identity testing is Theta((1/epsilon^2) (sqrt{n log(1/delta)} + log(1/delta))) for any n, epsilon, and delta. For the special case of uniformity testing, where the given distribution is the uniform distribution U_n over the domain, our new tester is surprisingly simple: to test whether p = U_n versus d_{TV} (p, U_n) >= epsilon, we simply threshold d_{TV}({p^}, U_n), where {p^} is the empirical probability distribution. The fact that this simple "plug-in" estimator is sample-optimal is surprising, even in the constant delta case. Indeed, it was believed that such a tester would not attain sublinear sample complexity even for constant values of epsilon and delta. An important contribution of this work lies in the analysis techniques that we introduce in this context. First, we exploit an underlying strong convexity property to bound from below the expectation gap in the completeness and soundness cases. Second, we give a new, fast method for obtaining provably correct empirical estimates of the true worst-case failure probability for a broad class of uniformity testing statistics over all possible input distributions - including all previously studied statistics for this problem. We believe that our novel analysis techniques will be useful for other distribution testing problems as well.
Cite as

Ilias Diakonikolas, Themis Gouleakis, John Peebles, and Eric Price. Sample-Optimal Identity Testing with High Probability. In 45th International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2018). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 107, pp. 41:1-41:14, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2018)

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@InProceedings{diakonikolas_et_al:LIPIcs.ICALP.2018.41,
  author =	{Diakonikolas, Ilias and Gouleakis, Themis and Peebles, John and Price, Eric},
  title =	{{Sample-Optimal Identity Testing with High Probability}},
  booktitle =	{45th International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2018)},
  pages =	{41:1--41:14},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-076-7},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2018},
  volume =	{107},
  editor =	{Chatzigiannakis, Ioannis and Kaklamanis, Christos and Marx, D\'{a}niel and Sannella, Donald},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2018.41},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-90459},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2018.41},
  annote =	{Keywords: distribution testing, property testing, sample complexity}
}
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