arXiv subjects

Pan Peng

Publications and source records attributed to Pan Peng.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2021

On Testability of First-Order Properties in Bounded-Degree Graphs

We study property testing of properties that are definable in first-order logic (FO) in the bounded-degree graph and relational structure models. We show that any FO property that is defined by a formula with quantifier prefix $\exists^*\forall^*$ is testable (i.e., testable with constant query complexity), while there exists an FO property that is expressible by a formula with quantifier prefix $\forall^*\exists^*$ that is not testable. In the dense graph model, a similar picture is long known (Alon, Fischer, Krivelevich, Szegedy, Combinatorica 2000), despite the very different nature of the two models. In particular, we obtain our lower bound by a first-order formula that defines a class of bounded-degree expanders, based on zig-zag products of graphs. We expect this to be of independent interest. We then prove testability of some first-order properties that speak about isomorphism types of neighbourhoods, including testability of $1$-neighbourhood-freeness, and $r$-neighbourhood-freeness under a mild assumption on the degrees.

cs.LO↗

arXiv2020

Augmenting the Algebraic Connectivity of Graphs

For any undirected graph $G=(V,E)$ and a set $E_W$ of candidate edges with $E\cap E_W=\emptyset$, the $(k,γ)$-spectral augmentability problem is to find a set $F$ of $k$ edges from $E_W$ with appropriate weighting, such that the algebraic connectivity of the resulting graph $H=(V,E\cup F)$ is least $γ$. Because of a tight connection between the algebraic connectivity and many other graph parameters, including the graph's conductance and the mixing time of random walks in a graph, maximising the resulting graph's algebraic connectivity by adding a small number of edges has been studied over the past 15 years. In this work we present an approximate and efficient algorithm for the $(k,γ)$-spectral augmentability problem, and our algorithm runs in almost-linear time under a wide regime of parameters. Our main algorithm is based on the following two novel techniques developed in the paper, which might have applications beyond the $(k,γ)$-spectral augmentability problem. (1) We present a fast algorithm for solving a feasibility version of an SDP for the algebraic connectivity maximisation problem from [GB06]. Our algorithm is based on the classic primal-dual framework for solving SDP, which in turn uses the multiplicative weight update algorithm. We present a novel approach of unifying SDP constraints of different matrix and vector variables and give a good separation oracle accordingly. (2) We present an efficient algorithm for the subgraph sparsification problem, and for a wide range of parameters our algorithm runs in almost-linear time, in contrast to the previously best known algorithm running in at least $Ω(n^2mk)$ time [KMST10]. Our analysis shows how the randomised BSS framework can be generalised in the setting of subgraph sparsification, and how the potential functions can be applied to approximately keep track of different subspaces.

cs.DS↗

arXiv2020

Average Sensitivity of Spectral Clustering

Spectral clustering is one of the most popular clustering methods for finding clusters in a graph, which has found many applications in data mining. However, the input graph in those applications may have many missing edges due to error in measurement, withholding for a privacy reason, or arbitrariness in data conversion. To make reliable and efficient decisions based on spectral clustering, we assess the stability of spectral clustering against edge perturbations in the input graph using the notion of average sensitivity, which is the expected size of the symmetric difference of the output clusters before and after we randomly remove edges. We first prove that the average sensitivity of spectral clustering is proportional to $λ_2/λ_3^2$, where $λ_i$ is the $i$-th smallest eigenvalue of the (normalized) Laplacian. We also prove an analogous bound for $k$-way spectral clustering, which partitions the graph into $k$ clusters. Then, we empirically confirm our theoretical bounds by conducting experiments on synthetic and real networks. Our results suggest that spectral clustering is stable against edge perturbations when there is a cluster structure in the input graph.

cs.DS↗

arXiv2020

More Effective Randomized Search Heuristics for Graph Coloring Through Dynamic Optimization

Dynamic optimization problems have gained significant attention in evolutionary computation as evolutionary algorithms (EAs) can easily adapt to changing environments. We show that EAs can solve the graph coloring problem for bipartite graphs more efficiently by using dynamic optimization. In our approach the graph instance is given incrementally such that the EA can reoptimize its coloring when a new edge introduces a conflict. We show that, when edges are inserted in a way that preserves graph connectivity, Randomized Local Search (RLS) efficiently finds a proper 2-coloring for all bipartite graphs. This includes graphs for which RLS and other EAs need exponential expected time in a static optimization scenario. We investigate different ways of building up the graph by popular graph traversals such as breadth-first-search and depth-first-search and analyse the resulting runtime behavior. We further show that offspring populations (e. g. a (1+$λ$) RLS) lead to an exponential speedup in $λ$. Finally, an island model using 3 islands succeeds in an optimal time of $Θ(m)$ on every $m$-edge bipartite graph, outperforming offspring populations. This is the first example where an island model guarantees a speedup that is not bounded in the number of islands.

cs.NE↗

arXiv2019

Constant-Time Dynamic $(Δ+1)$-Coloring and Weight Approximation for Minimum Spanning Forest: Dynamic Algorithms Meet Property Testing

With few exceptions (namely, algorithms for maximal matching, $2$-approximate vertex cover, and certain constant-stretch spanners), all known fully dynamic algorithms in general graphs require (amortized) $Ω(\log n)$ update/query time. Showing for the first time that techniques from property testing can lead to constant-time fully dynamic graph algorithms we prove the following results: (1) We give a fully dynamic (Las-Vegas style) algorithm with constant expected amortized time per update that maintains a proper $(Δ+1)$-vertex coloring of a graph with maximum degree at most $Δ$. This improves upon the previous $O(\log Δ)$-time algorithm by Bhattacharya et al. (SODA 2018). We show that our result does not only have optimal running time, but is also optimal in the sense that already deciding whether a $Δ$-coloring exists in a dynamically changing graph with maximum degree at most $Δ$ takes $Ω(\log n)$ time per operation. (2) We give two fully dynamic algorithms that maintain a $(1+\varepsilon)$-approximation of the weight $M$ of the minimum spanning forest of a graph $G$ with edges weights in $[1,W]$. Our deterministic algorithm takes $O({W^2 \log W}/{\varepsilon^3})$ worst-case time, which is constant if both $W$ and $\varepsilon$ are constant. This is somewhat surprising as a lower bound by Patrascu and Demaine (SIAM J. Comput. 2006) shows that it takes $Ω(\log n)$ time per operation to maintain the exact weight of the MSF that holds even for $W=1$. Our randomized (Monte-Carlo style) algorithm works with high probability and runs in worst-case $O(\frac{1}{\varepsilon^4}\log^2(\frac{1}{\varepsilon}))$ time if $W= O({(m^*)^{1/3}}/{\log^3 n})$, where $m^*$ is the minimum number of edges in the graph throughout all the updates. It works even against an adaptive adversary.

cs.DS↗

arXiv2019

Testable Properties in General Graphs and Random Order Streaming

We present a novel framework closely linking the areas of property testing and data streaming algorithms in the setting of general graphs. It has been recently shown (Monemizadeh et al. 2017) that for bounded-degree graphs, any constant-query tester can be emulated in the random order streaming model by a streaming algorithm that uses only space required to store a constant number of words. However, in a more natural setting of general graphs, with no restriction on the maximum degree, no such results were known because of our lack of understanding of constant-query testers in general graphs and lack of techniques to appropriately emulate in the streaming setting off-line algorithms allowing many high-degree vertices. In this work we advance our understanding on both of these challenges. First, we provide canonical testers for all constant-query testers for general graphs, both, for one-sided and two-sided errors. Such canonizations were only known before (in the adjacency matrix model) for dense graphs (Goldreich and Trevisan 2003) and (in the adjacency list model) for bounded degree (di-)graphs (Goldreich and Ron 2011, Czumaj et al. 2016). Using the concept of canonical testers, we then prove that every property of general graphs that is constant-query testable with one-sided error can also be tested in constant-space with one-sided error in the random order streaming model. Our results imply, among others, that properties like $(s,t)$ disconnectivity, $k$-path-freeness, etc. are constant-space testable in random order streams.

cs.DS↗

arXiv2019

Robust Clustering Oracle and Local Reconstructor of Cluster Structure of Graphs

Due to the massive size of modern network data, local algorithms that run in sublinear time for analyzing the cluster structure of the graph are receiving growing interest. Two typical examples are local graph clustering algorithms that find a cluster from a seed node with running time proportional to the size of the output set, and clusterability testing algorithms that decide if a graph can be partitioned into a few clusters in the framework of property testing. In this work, we develop sublinear time algorithms for analyzing the cluster structure of graphs with noisy partial information. By using conductance based definitions for measuring the quality of clusters and the cluster structure, we formalize a definition of noisy clusterable graphs with bounded maximum degree. The algorithm is given query access to the adjacency list to such a graph. We then formalize the notion of robust clustering oracle for a noisy clusterable graph, and give an algorithm that builds such an oracle in sublinear time, which can be further used to support typical queries (e.g., IsOutlier($s$), SameCluster($s,t$)) regarding the cluster structure of the graph in sublinear time. All the answers are consistent with a partition of $G$ in which all but a small fraction of vertices belong to some good cluster. We also give a local reconstructor for a noisy clusterable graph that provides query access to a reconstructed graph that is guaranteed to be clusterable in sublinear time. All the query answers are consistent with a clusterable graph which is guaranteed to be close to the original graph.

cs.DS↗

arXiv2018

Mixed-Order Spectral Clustering for Networks

Clustering is fundamental for gaining insights from complex networks, and spectral clustering (SC) is a popular approach. Conventional SC focuses on second-order structures (e.g., edges connecting two nodes) without direct consideration of higher-order structures (e.g., triangles and cliques). This has motivated SC extensions that directly consider higher-order structures. However, both approaches are limited to considering a single order. This paper proposes a new Mixed-Order Spectral Clustering (MOSC) approach to model both second-order and third-order structures simultaneously, with two MOSC methods developed based on Graph Laplacian (GL) and Random Walks (RW). MOSC-GL combines edge and triangle adjacency matrices, with theoretical performance guarantee. MOSC-RW combines first-order and second-order random walks for a probabilistic interpretation. We automatically determine the mixing parameter based on cut criteria or triangle density, and construct new structure-aware error metrics for performance evaluation. Experiments on real-world networks show 1) the superior performance of two MOSC methods over existing SC methods, 2) the effectiveness of the mixing parameter determination strategy, and 3) insights offered by the structure-aware error metrics.

cs.LG↗

arXiv2018

Every Testable (Infinite) Property of Bounded-Degree Graphs Contains an Infinite Hyperfinite Subproperty

One of the most fundamental questions in graph property testing is to characterize the combinatorial structure of properties that are testable with a constant number of queries. We work towards an answer to this question for the bounded-degree graph model introduced in [Goldreich, Ron, 2002], where the input graphs have maximum degree bounded by a constant $d$. In this model, it is known (among other results) that every \emph{hyperfinite} property is constant-query testable [Newman, Sohler, 2013], where, informally, a graph property is hyperfinite, if for every $δ>0$ every graph in the property can be partitioned into small connected components by removing $δn$ edges. In this paper we show that hyperfiniteness plays a role in \emph{every} testable property, i.e. we show that every testable property is either finite (which trivially implies hyperfiniteness and testability) or contains an infinite hyperfinite subproperty. A simple consequence of our result is that no infinite graph property that only consists of expander graphs is constant-query testable. Based on the above findings, one could ask if every infinite testable non-hyperfinite property might contain an infinite family of expander (or near-expander) graphs. We show that this is not true. Motivated by our counter-example we develop a theorem that shows that we can partition the set of vertices of every bounded degree graph into a constant number of subsets and a separator set, such that the separator set is small and the distribution of $k$-disks on every subset of a partition class, is roughly the same as that of the partition class if the subset has small expansion.

cs.DS↗

arXiv2018

Spectral concentration and greedy k-clustering

A popular graph clustering method is to consider the embedding of an input graph into R^k induced by the first k eigenvectors of its Laplacian, and to partition the graph via geometric manipulations on the resulting metric space. Despite the practical success of this methodology, there is limited understanding of several heuristics that follow this framework. We provide theoretical justification for one such natural and computationally efficient variant. Our result can be summarized as follows. A partition of a graph is called strong if each cluster has small external conductance, and large internal conductance. We present a simple greedy spectral clustering algorithm which returns a partition that is provably close to a suitably strong partition, provided that such a partition exists. A recent result shows that strong partitions exist for graphs with a sufficiently large spectral gap between the k-th and (k+1)-st eigenvalues. Taking this together with our main theorem gives a spectral algorithm which finds a partition close to a strong one for graphs with large enough spectral gap. We also show how this simple greedy algorithm can be implemented in near-linear time for any fixed k and error guarantee. Finally, we evaluate our algorithm on some real-world and synthetic inputs.

cs.DS↗

arXiv2018

Dynamic Effective Resistances and Approximate Schur Complement on Separable Graphs

We consider the problem of dynamically maintaining (approximate) all-pairs effective resistances in separable graphs, which are those that admit an $n^{c}$-separator theorem for some $c<1$. We give a fully dynamic algorithm that maintains $(1+\varepsilon)$-approximations of the all-pairs effective resistances of an $n$-vertex graph $G$ undergoing edge insertions and deletions with $\tilde{O}(\sqrt{n}/\varepsilon^2)$ worst-case update time and $\tilde{O}(\sqrt{n}/\varepsilon^2)$ worst-case query time, if $G$ is guaranteed to be $\sqrt{n}$-separable (i.e., it is taken from a class satisfying a $\sqrt{n}$-separator theorem) and its separator can be computed in $\tilde{O}(n)$ time. Our algorithm is built upon a dynamic algorithm for maintaining \emph{approximate Schur complement} that approximately preserves pairwise effective resistances among a set of terminals for separable graphs, which might be of independent interest. We complement our result by proving that for any two fixed vertices $s$ and $t$, no incremental or decremental algorithm can maintain the $s-t$ effective resistance for $\sqrt{n}$-separable graphs with worst-case update time $O(n^{1/2-δ})$ and query time $O(n^{1-δ})$ for any $δ>0$, unless the Online Matrix Vector Multiplication (OMv) conjecture is false. We further show that for \emph{general} graphs, no incremental or decremental algorithm can maintain the $s-t$ effective resistance problem with worst-case update time $O(n^{1-δ})$ and query-time $O(n^{2-δ})$ for any $δ>0$, unless the OMv conjecture is false.

cs.DS↗

arXiv2017

Improved Guarantees for Vertex Sparsification in Planar Graphs

Graph Sparsification aims at compressing large graphs into smaller ones while preserving important characteristics of the input graph. In this work we study Vertex Sparsifiers, i.e., sparsifiers whose goal is to reduce the number of vertices. We focus on the following notions: (1) Given a digraph $G=(V,E)$ and terminal vertices $K \subset V$ with $|K| = k$, a (vertex) reachability sparsifier of $G$ is a digraph $H=(V_H,E_H)$, $K \subset V_H$ that preserves all reachability information among terminal pairs. In this work we introduce the notion of reachability-preserving minors (RPMs) , i.e., we require $H$ to be a minor of $G$. We show any directed graph $G$ admits a RPM $H$ of size $O(k^3)$, and if $G$ is planar, then the size of $H$ improves to $O(k^{2} \log k)$. We complement our upper-bound by showing that there exists an infinite family of grids such that any RPM must have $Ω(k^{2})$ vertices. (2) Given a weighted undirected graph $G=(V,E)$ and terminal vertices $K$ with $|K|=k$, an exact (vertex) cut sparsifier of $G$ is a graph $H$ with $K \subset V_H$ that preserves the value of minimum-cuts separating any bipartition of $K$. We show that planar graphs with all the $k$ terminals lying on the same face admit exact cut sparsifiers of size $O(k^{2})$ that are also planar. Our result extends to flow and distance sparsifiers. It improves the previous best-known bound of $O(k^22^{2k})$ for cut and flow sparsifiers by an exponential factor, and matches an $Ω(k^2)$ lower-bound for this class of graphs.

cs.DS↗

arXiv2017

The Power of Vertex Sparsifiers in Dynamic Graph Algorithms

We introduce a new algorithmic framework for designing dynamic graph algorithms in minor-free graphs, by exploiting the structure of such graphs and a tool called vertex sparsification, which is a way to compress large graphs into small ones that well preserve relevant properties among a subset of vertices and has previously mainly been used in the design of approximation algorithms. Using this framework, we obtain a Monte Carlo randomized fully dynamic algorithm for $(1+\varepsilon)$-approximating the energy of electrical flows in $n$-vertex planar graphs with $\tilde{O}(r\varepsilon^{-2})$ worst-case update time and $\tilde{O}((r+\frac{n}{\sqrt{r}})\varepsilon^{-2})$ worst-case query time, for any $r$ larger than some constant. For $r=n^{2/3}$, this gives $\tilde{O}(n^{2/3}\varepsilon^{-2})$ update time and $\tilde{O}(n^{2/3}\varepsilon^{-2})$ query time. We also extend this algorithm to work for minor-free graphs with similar approximation and running time guarantees. Furthermore, we illustrate our framework on the all-pairs max flow and shortest path problems by giving corresponding dynamic algorithms in minor-free graphs with both sublinear update and query times. To the best of our knowledge, our results are the first to systematically establish such a connection between dynamic graph algorithms and vertex sparsification. We also present both upper bound and lower bound for maintaining the energy of electrical flows in the incremental subgraph model, where updates consist of only vertex activations, which might be of independent interest.

cs.DS↗

arXiv2017

Estimating Graph Parameters from Random Order Streams

We develop a new algorithmic technique that allows to transfer some constant time approximation algorithms for general graphs into random order streaming algorithms. We illustrate our technique by proving that in random order streams with probability at least $2/3$, $\bullet$ the number of connected components of $G$ can be approximated up to an additive error of $\varepsilon n$ using $(\frac{1}{\varepsilon})^{O(1/\varepsilon^3)}$ space, $\bullet$ the weight of a minimum spanning tree of a connected input graph with integer edges weights from $\{1,\dots,W\}$ can be approximated within a multiplicative factor of $1+\varepsilon$ using $\big(\frac{1}{\varepsilon}\big)^{\tilde O(W^3/\varepsilon^3)}$ space, $\bullet$ the size of a maximum independent set in planar graphs can be approximated within a multiplicative factor of $1+\varepsilon$ using space $2^{(1/\varepsilon)^{(1/\varepsilon)^{\log^{O(1)} (1/\varepsilon)}}}$.

cs.DS↗

arXiv2017

Testable Bounded Degree Graph Properties Are Random Order Streamable

We study which property testing and sublinear time algorithms can be transformed into graph streaming algorithms for random order streams. Our main result is that for bounded degree graphs, any property that is constant-query testable in the adjacency list model can be tested with constant space in a single-pass in random order streams. Our result is obtained by estimating the distribution of local neighborhoods of the vertices on a random order graph stream using constant space. We then show that our approach can also be applied to constant time approximation algorithms for bounded degree graphs in the adjacency list model: As an example, we obtain a constant-space single-pass random order streaming algorithms for approximating the size of a maximum matching with additive error $εn$ ($n$ is the number of nodes). Our result establishes for the first time that a large class of sublinear algorithms can be simulated in random order streams, while $Ω(n)$ space is needed for many graph streaming problems for adversarial orders.

cs.DS↗

arXiv2016

Dynamic Graph Stream Algorithms in $o(n)$ Space

In this paper we study graph problems in dynamic streaming model, where the input is defined by a sequence of edge insertions and deletions. As many natural problems require $Ω(n)$ space, where $n$ is the number of vertices, existing works mainly focused on designing $\tilde{O}(n)$ space algorithms. Although sublinear in the number of edges for dense graphs, it could still be too large for many applications (e.g. $n$ is huge or the graph is sparse). In this work, we give single-pass algorithms beating this space barrier for two classes of problems. We present $o(n)$ space algorithms for estimating the number of connected components with additive error $\varepsilon n$ and $(1+\varepsilon)$-approximating the weight of minimum spanning tree, for any small constant $\varepsilon>0$. The latter improves previous $\tilde{O}(n)$ space algorithm given by Ahn et al. (SODA 2012) for connected graphs with bounded edge weights. We initiate the study of approximate graph property testing in the dynamic streaming model, where we want to distinguish graphs satisfying the property from graphs that are $\varepsilon$-far from having the property. We consider the problem of testing $k$-edge connectivity, $k$-vertex connectivity, cycle-freeness and bipartiteness (of planar graphs), for which, we provide algorithms using roughly $\tilde{O}(n^{1-\varepsilon})$ space, which is $o(n)$ for any constant $\varepsilon$. To complement our algorithms, we present $Ω(n^{1-O(\varepsilon)})$ space lower bounds for these problems, which show that such a dependence on $\varepsilon$ is necessary.

cs.DS↗

arXiv2015

Congruent skein relations for colored HOMFLY-PT invariants and colored Jones polynomials

Colored HOMFLY-PT invariant, the generalization of the colored Jones polynomial, is one of the most important quantum invariants of links. This paper is devoted to investigating the basic structures of the colored HOMFLY-PT invariants of links. By using the HOMFLY-PT skein theory, firstly, we show that the (reformulated) colored HOMFLY-PT invariants actually lie in the ring $\mathbb{Z}[(q-q^{-1})^2,t^{\pm 1}]$. Secondly, we establish some symmetric formulas for colored HOMFLY-PT invariants of links, which include the rank-level duality as an easy consequence. Finally, motivated by the Labastida-Mariño-Ooguri-Vafa conjecture for framed links, we propose congruent skein relations for (reformulated) colored HOMFLY-PT invariants which are the generalizations of the skein relation for classical HOMFLY-PT polynomials. Then we study the congruent skein relation for colored Jones polynomials. In fact, we obtain a succinct formula for the case of knot. As an application, we prove a vanishing result for Reshetikhin-Turaev invariants of a family of 3-manifolds. Finally we study the congruent skein relations for $SU(n)$ quantum invariants.

math.GT↗

arXiv2015

Testing Cluster Structure of Graphs

We study the problem of recognizing the cluster structure of a graph in the framework of property testing in the bounded degree model. Given a parameter $\varepsilon$, a $d$-bounded degree graph is defined to be $(k, ϕ)$-clusterable, if it can be partitioned into no more than $k$ parts, such that the (inner) conductance of the induced subgraph on each part is at least $ϕ$ and the (outer) conductance of each part is at most $c_{d,k}\varepsilon^4ϕ^2$, where $c_{d,k}$ depends only on $d,k$. Our main result is a sublinear algorithm with the running time $\widetilde{O}(\sqrt{n}\cdot\mathrm{poly}(ϕ,k,1/\varepsilon))$ that takes as input a graph with maximum degree bounded by $d$, parameters $k$, $ϕ$, $\varepsilon$, and with probability at least $\frac23$, accepts the graph if it is $(k,ϕ)$-clusterable and rejects the graph if it is $\varepsilon$-far from $(k, ϕ^*)$-clusterable for $ϕ^* = c'_{d,k}\frac{ϕ^2 \varepsilon^4}{\log n}$, where $c'_{d,k}$ depends only on $d,k$. By the lower bound of $Ω(\sqrt{n})$ on the number of queries needed for testing graph expansion, which corresponds to $k=1$ in our problem, our algorithm is asymptotically optimal up to polylogarithmic factors.

cs.DS↗