arXiv subjects

Amin Coja-Oghlan

Publications and source records attributed to Amin Coja-Oghlan.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2020

The cut metric for probability distributions

Guided by the theory of graph limits, we investigate a variant of the cut metric for limit objects of sequences of discrete probability distributions. Apart from establishing basic results, we introduce a natural operation called {\em pinning} on the space of limit objects and show how this operation yields a canonical cut metric approximation to a given probability distribution akin to the weak regularity lemma for graphons. We also establish the cut metric continuity of basic operations such as taking product measures.

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arXiv2020

Belief Propagation on the random $k$-SAT model

Corroborating a prediction from statistical physics, we prove that the Belief Propagation message passing algorithm approximates the partition function of the random $k$-SAT model well for all clause/variable densities and all inverse temperatures for which a modest absence of long-range correlations condition is satisfied. This condition is known as "replica symmetry" in physics language. From this result we deduce that a replica symmetry breaking phase transition occurs in the random $k$-SAT model at low temperature for clause/variable densities below but close to the satisfiability threshold.

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arXiv2020

The Ising antiferromagnet and max cut on random regular graphs

The Ising antiferromagnet is an important statistical physics model with close connections to the {\sc Max Cut} problem. Combining spatial mixing arguments with the method of moments and the interpolation method, we pinpoint the replica symmetry breaking phase transition predicted by physicists. Additionally, we rigorously establish upper bounds on the {\sc Max Cut} of random regular graphs predicted by Zdeborová and Boettcher [Journal of Statistical Mechanics 2010]. As an application we prove that the information-theoretic threshold of the disassortative stochastic block model on random regular graphs coincides with the Kesten-Stigum bound.

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arXiv2020

Information-theoretic and algorithmic thresholds for group testing

In the group testing problem we aim to identify a small number of infected individuals within a large population. We avail ourselves to a procedure that can test a group of multiple individuals, with the test result coming out positive iff at least one individual in the group is infected. With all tests conducted in parallel, what is the least number of tests required to identify the status of all individuals? In a recent test design [Aldridge et al.\ 2016] the individuals are assigned to test groups randomly, with every individual joining an equal number of groups. We pinpoint the sharp threshold for the number of tests required in this randomised design so that it is information-theoretically possible to infer the infection status of every individual. Moreover, we analyse two efficient inference algorithms. These results settle conjectures from [Aldridge et al.\ 2014, Johnson et al.\ 2019].

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arXiv2020

Inference and mutual information on random factor graphs

Random factor graphs provide a powerful framework for the study of inference problems such as decoding problems or the stochastic block model. Information-theoretically the key quantity of interest is the mutual information between the observed factor graph and the underlying ground truth around which the factor graph was created; in the stochastic block model, this would be the planted partition. The mutual information gauges whether and how well the ground truth can be inferred from the observable data. For a very general model of random factor graphs we verify a formula for the mutual information predicted by physics techniques. As an application we prove a conjecture about low-density generator matrix codes from [Montanari: IEEE Transactions on Information Theory 2005]. Further applications include phase transitions of the stochastic block model and the mixed $k$-spin model from physics.

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arXiv2020

Optimal group testing

In the group testing problem the aim is to identify a small set of $k\sim n^θ$ infected individuals out of a population size $n$, $0<θ<1$. We avail ourselves of a test procedure capable of testing groups of individuals, with the test returning a positive result iff at least one individual in the group is infected. The aim is to devise a test design with as few tests as possible so that the set of infected individuals can be identified correctly with high probability. We establish an explicit sharp information-theoretic/algorithmic phase transition $\minf$ for non-adaptive group testing, where all tests are conducted in parallel. Thus, with more than $\minf$ tests the infected individuals can be identified in polynomial time \whp, while learning the set of infected individuals is information-theoretically impossible with fewer tests. In addition, we develop an optimal adaptive scheme where the tests are conducted in two stages.

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arXiv2020

The random 2-SAT partition function

We show that throughout the satisfiable phase the normalised number of satisfying assignments of a random $2$-SAT formula converges in probability to an expression predicted by the cavity method from statistical physics. The proof is based on showing that the Belief Propagation algorithm renders the correct marginal probability that a variable is set to `true' under a uniformly random satisfying assignment.

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arXiv2019

Bethe states of random factor graphs

We verify a key component of the replica symmetry breaking hypothesis put forward in the physics literature [Mézard and Montanari 2009] on random factor graph models. For a broad class of these models we verify that the Gibbs measure can be decomposed into a moderate number of Bethe states, subsets of the state space in which both short and long range correlations of the measure take a simple form. Moreover, we show that the marginals of these Bethe states can be obtained from fixed points of the Belief Propagation operator. We derive these results from a new result on the approximation of general probability measures on discrete cubes by convex combinations of product measures.

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arXiv2018

The asymptotic $k$-SAT threshold

Since the early 2000s physicists have developed an ingenious but non-rigorous formalism called the cavity method to put forward precise conjectures on phase transitions in random problems [Mezard, Parisi, Zecchina: Science 2002]. The cavity method predicts that the satisfiability threshold in the random $k$-SAT problem is $2^k\ln2-\frac12(1+\ln 2)+ε_k$, with $\lim_{k\rightarrow\infty}ε_k=0$ [Mertens, Mezard, Zecchina: Random Structures and Algorithms 2006]. This paper contains a proof of that conjecture.

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arXiv2018

The rank of random matrices over finite fields

We determine the rank of a random matrix A over a finite field with prescribed numbers of non-zero entries in each row and column. As an application we obtain a formula for the rate of low-density parity check codes. This formula verifies a conjecture of Lelarge [Proc. IEEE Information Theory Workshop 2013]. The proofs are based on coupling arguments and the interpolation method from mathematical physics.

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arXiv2018

Spin systems on Bethe lattices

In an extremely influential paper Mezard and Parisi put forward an analytic but non-rigorous approach called the cavity method for studying spin systems on the Bethe lattice, i.e., the random $d$-regular graph [Eur. Phys. J. B 20 (2001) 217--233]. Their technique was based on certain hypotheses; most importantly, that the phase space decomposes into a number of Bethe states that are free from long-range correlations and whose marginals are given by a recurrence called Belief Propagation. In this paper we establish this decomposition rigorously for a very general family of spin systems. In addition, we show that the free energy can be computed from this decomposition. We also derive a variational formula for the free energy. The general results have interesting ramifications on several special cases.

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arXiv2018

Information-theoretic thresholds from the cavity method

Vindicating a sophisticated but non-rigorous physics approach called the cavity method, we establish a formula for the mutual information in statistical inference problems induced by random graphs and we show that the mutual information holds the key to understanding certain important phase transitions in random graph models. We work out several concrete applications of these general results. For instance, we pinpoint the exact condensation phase transition in the Potts antiferromagnet on the random graph, thereby improving prior approximate results [Contucci et al.: Communications in Mathematical Physics 2013]. Further, we prove the conjecture from [Krzakala et al.: PNAS 2007] about the condensation phase transition in the random graph coloring problem for any number $q\geq3$ of colors. Moreover, we prove the conjecture on the information-theoretic threshold in the disassortative stochastic block model [Decelle et al.: Phys. Rev. E 2011]. Additionally, our general result implies the conjectured formula for the mutual information in Low-Density Generator Matrix codes [Montanari: IEEE Transactions on Information Theory 2005].

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arXiv2018

Hypergraph coloring up to condensation

Improving a result of Dyer, Frieze and Greenhill [Journal of Combinatorial Theory, Series B, 2015], we determine the $q$-colorability threshold in random $k$-uniform hypergraphs up to an additive error of $\ln 2+\varepsilon_q$, where $\lim_{q\to\infty}\varepsilon_q=0$. The new lower bound on the threshold matches the "condensation phase transition" predicted by statistical physics considerations [Krzakala et al., PNAS 2007].

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arXiv2018

The replica symmetric phase of random constraint satisfaction problems

Random constraint satisfaction problems play an important role in computer science and combinatorics. For example, they provide challenging benchmark instances for algorithms and they have been harnessed in probabilistic constructions of combinatorial structures with peculiar features. In an important contribution [Krzakala et al., PNAS 2007] physicists made several predictions on the precise location and nature of phase transitions in random constraint satisfaction problems. Specifically, they predicted that their satisfiability thresholds are quite generally preceded by several other thresholds that have a substantial impact both combinatorially and computationally. These include the condensation phase transition, where long-range correlations between variables emerge, and the reconstruction threshold. In this paper we prove these physics predictions for a broad class of random constraint satisfaction problems. Additionally, we obtain contiguity results that have implications on Bayesian inference tasks, a subject that has received a great deal of interest recently (e.g., [Banks et al., COLT 2016]).

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arXiv2017

Core forging and local limit theorems for the k-core of random graphs

We establish a multivariate local limit theorem for the order and size as well as several other parameters of the k-core of the Erdos-Renyi graph. The proof is based on a novel approach to the k-core problem that replaces the meticulous analysis of the peeling process by a generative model of graphs with a core of a given order and size. The generative model, which is inspired by the Warning Propagation message passing algorithm, facilitates the direct study of properties of the core and its connections with the mantle and should therefore be of interest in its own right.

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arXiv2017

Charting the replica symmetric phase

Diluted mean-field models are spin systems whose geometry of interactions is induced by a sparse random graph or hypergraph. Such models play an eminent role in the statistical mechanics of disordered systems as well as in combinatorics and computer science. In a path-breaking paper based on the non-rigorous `cavity method', physicists predicted not only the existence of a replica symmetry breaking phase transition in such models but also sketched a detailed picture of the evolution of the Gibbs measure within the replica symmetric phase and its impact on important problems in combinatorics, computer science and physics [Krzakala et al.: PNAS 2007]. In this paper we rigorise this picture completely for a broad class of models, encompassing the Potts antiferromagnet on the random graph, the $k$-XORSAT model and the diluted $k$-spin model for even $k$. We also prove a conjecture about the detection problem in the stochastic block model that has received considerable attention [Decelle et al.: Phys. Rev. E 2011].

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arXiv2016

The number of satisfying assignments of random regular k-SAT formulas

Let $Φ$ be a random $k$-SAT formula in which every variable occurs precisely $d$ times positively and $d$ times negatively. Assuming that $k$ is sufficiently large and that $d$ is slightly below the critical degree where the formula becomes unsatisfiable with high probability, we determine the limiting distribution of the logarithm of the number of satisfying assignments.

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arXiv2016

Walksat stalls well below the satisfiability threshold

Partly on the basis of heuristic arguments from physics it has been suggested that the performance of certain types of algorithms on random $k$-SAT formulas is linked to phase transitions that affect the geometry of the set of satisfying assignments. But beyond intuition there has been scant rigorous evidence that "practical" algorithms are affected by these phase transitions. In this paper we prove that \walksat, a popular randomised satisfiability algorithm, fails on random $k$-SAT formulas not very far above clause/variable density where the set of satisfying assignments shatters into tiny, well-separated clusters. Specifically, we prove \walksat\ is ineffective with high probability if $m/n>c2^k\ln^2k/k$, where $m$ is the number of clauses, $n$ is the number of variables and $c>0$ is an absolute constant. By comparison, \walksat\ is known to find satisfying assignments in linear time \whp\ if $m/n 0$ [Coja-Oghlan and Frieze, SIAM J.\ Computing 2014].

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