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1 3 BruteForceAlgorithms

A brute force algorithm is a solution that directly applies the problem definition and is often easy to establish correctness for, but produces prohibitively slow algorithms for all but small problems. The document then provides examples of problems and describes brute force algorithms for problems like determining if a graph is bipartite, whether a path exists between two nodes, finding the shortest path or all shortest paths, the clique problem, and the traveling salesman problem. It also categorizes these problems based on whether better than brute force algorithms exist, or if brute force is not sufficient and no algorithm solves the problem, like the post correspondence problem.

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16 views

1 3 BruteForceAlgorithms

A brute force algorithm is a solution that directly applies the problem definition and is often easy to establish correctness for, but produces prohibitively slow algorithms for all but small problems. The document then provides examples of problems and describes brute force algorithms for problems like determining if a graph is bipartite, whether a path exists between two nodes, finding the shortest path or all shortest paths, the clique problem, and the traveling salesman problem. It also categorizes these problems based on whether better than brute force algorithms exist, or if brute force is not sufficient and no algorithm solves the problem, like the post correspondence problem.

Uploaded by

Alvaro
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Brute Force Algorithms

Algorithmic Thinking
Luay Nakhleh
Department of Computer Science
Rice University

Brute Force Algorithms

A brute force algorithm is a solution that is based directly on the


problem definition.

It is often easy to establish the correctness of a brute force algorithm.

This algorithmic strategy applies to almost all problems.

Except for a small class of problems, this algorithmic strategy


produces algorithms that are prohibitively slow.

Bipartite Graphs

A graph G is called bipartite if its node set V can be partitioned into


two disjoint and non-empty sets V1 and V2 such that every edge in the
graph connects a node in V1 and a node in V2. When this condition
holds, we call the pair (V1,V2) a bipartition of the node set V of G.

Are the following graphs bipartite?

Is a Given Graph Bipartite?


A Brute Force Algorithm

Algorithms Demo

Algorithm 1: IsBipartite.
Input: Undirected graph g = (V, E).
Output: True if g is bipartite, and False otherwise.
1 foreach Non-empty subset V1 V do
2
V2
V \ V1 ;
3
bipartite
T rue;
4
foreach Edge {u, v} 2 E do
5
if {u, v} V1 or {u, v} V2 then
6
bipartite
F alse;
7
Break;
8
9
10

if bipartite = T rue then


return True;
return False;
4

Graph Connectivity:
Paths

Let k be a nonnegative integer and G a graph.

A path of length k from node v0 to node vk in G is a sequence of k edges


e1,e2,...,ek of G such that e1={v0,v1}, e2={v1,v2}, ..., ek={vk-1,vk}, where v0,...,vk are all
nodes in V, and e1,...,ek are all edges in E.

We usually denote such a path by its node sequence (v0,v1,...,vk).

A path is simple if it does not contain the same node more than once.

A cycle is a simple path that begins and ends at the same node.

A path (not necessarily simple) that begins and ends at the same node is called a
circuit.
5

Is There a Path Between i and j?


A Brute Force Algorithm
COMP 182: Algorithmic Thinking

Handout: Brute-force Alg

Algorithm 2: IsConnected.
Input: Undirected graph g = (V, E), |V | 2, and two nodes u, v 2 V , such that u 6= v.
Output: T rue if there is a path between u and v in g, and F alse otherwise.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11

12

13

N odes
V {u, v};
for c
0 to |N odes| do
x0
u;
xc+1
v;
foreach subset W N odes of size c do
foreach permutation x1 , . . . , xc of the elements of W do
Connected
T rue;
for i
0 to c do
if {xi , xi+1 } 2
/ E then
Connected
F alse;
Break;
if Connected = T rue then
return True;
return False;
6

The Shortest Path

Given a graph G=(V,E), and two connected nodes i,jV, a shortest


path between i and j is a path P that connects the two nodes and every
other path that connects i and j is either longer than P or of equal
length.

The shortest path between two nodes may not be unique.

The distance between two nodes in the length of a shortest path


between them.

The Shortest Path

How would you modify IsConnected to produce a brute-force


algorithm for finding

the distance between two given nodes i and j?

a shortest path between two given nodes i and j?

all shortest paths between two given nodes i and j?

The Clique Problem

Input: Graph G=(V,E) and positive integer k.

Question: Does G contain a clique of size k, that is, a complete


subgraph of size k?

Describe a brute-force algorithm for the problem.

The Traveling Salesman Problem

Input: Graph G=(V,E).

Output: The shortest Hamiltonian cycle of G, that is, the shortest


cycle that visits all nodes of G exactly once.

Describe a brute-force algorithm for the problem.

10

The Post Correspondence Problem

Input: Two finite lists of words x1,x2,...,xn and y1,y2,...,yn over an


alphabet that has at least two letters.

Output: A sequence of indices i1,i2,...,iM, where M1, all index values


are between 1 and n, and xi1xi2...xiM=yi1yi2...yiM.

11

The Post Correspondence Problem


x1

x2

x3

x4

y1

y2

ab

bbaaba

bb

y3

y4

bbbb ab

12

The Post Correspondence Problem


x1

x2

x3

x4

y1

y2

ab

bbaaba

bb

y3

y4

bbbb ab

Solution: Indices 1,3,2,4,4,3


(to verify: check that x1x3x2x4x4x3=y1y3y2y4y4y3)

12

The Post Correspondence Problem


x1

x2

x3

x4

y1

y2

ab

bbaaba

bb

y3

y4

bbbb ab

Solution: Indices 1,3,2,4,4,3


(to verify: check that x1x3x2x4x4x3=y1y3y2y4y4y3)

x1

x2

y1

y2

ab

ba

12

The Post Correspondence Problem


x1

x2

x3

x4

y1

y2

ab

bbaaba

bb

y3

y4

bbbb ab

Solution: Indices 1,3,2,4,4,3


(to verify: check that x1x3x2x4x4x3=y1y3y2y4y4y3)

x1

x2

y1

y2

ab

ba

No Solution!

12

The Post Correspondence Problem

Devise a brute-force algorithm for PCP????

13

A Taxonomy of the Problems

Group 1: [We ca do much better than brute force]

Group 2: [We cant do much better than brute force]

Bipartiteness, connectivity, shortest paths, and distance

Clique, traveling salesman

Group 3: [Even brute force doesnt work; there is no algorithm]

Post correspondence problem

14

Whats wrong with the algorithms weve seen?

Stay tuned for efficiency analysis!

15

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