Parameterized Sensitivity Oracles and Dynamic Algorithms using Exterior Algebras

TL;DR

This paper introduces novel sensitivity oracles and dynamic algorithms for parameterized problems using exterior algebra, enabling efficient updates and queries for problems like k-Path detection and others, which were previously hard to solve dynamically.

Contribution

It adapts algebraic coding techniques to dynamic settings, providing the first efficient sensitivity oracles and fully dynamic algorithms for several parameterized problems.

Findings

Developed a sensitivity oracle for directed k-Path detection with sub-exponential preprocessing and query times.

Created fully dynamic algorithms for problems like k-Partial Cover and k-Set Packing with polylogarithmic update times.

Achieved randomized and deterministic solutions with improved efficiency over previous static or non-dynamic methods.

Abstract

We design the first efficient sensitivity oracles and dynamic algorithms for a variety of parameterized problems. Our main approach is to modify the algebraic coding technique from static parameterized algorithm design, which had not previously been used in a dynamic context. We particularly build off of the `extensor coding' method of Brand, Dell and Husfeldt [STOC'18], employing properties of the exterior algebra over different fields. For the $k$-Path detection problem for directed graphs, it is known that no efficient dynamic algorithm exists (under popular assumptions from fine-grained complexity). We circumvent this by designing an efficient sensitivity oracle, which preprocesses a directed graph on $n$ vertices in $2^k poly(k) n^{\omega+o(1)}$ time, such that, given $\ell$ updates (mixing edge insertions and deletions, and vertex deletions) to that input graph, it can decide in time $\ell^2 2^kpoly(k)$ and with high probability, whether the updated graph contains a path of length $k$. We also give a deterministic sensitivity oracle requiring $4^k poly(k) n^{\omega+o(1)}$ preprocessing time and $\ell^2 2^{\omega k + o(k)}$ query time, and obtain a randomized sensitivity oracle for the task of approximately counting the number of $k$-paths. For $k$-Path detection in undirected graphs, we obtain a randomized sensitivity oracle with $O(1.66^k n^3)$ preprocessing time and $O(\ell^3 1.66^k)$ query time, and a better bound for undirected bipartite graphs. In addition, we present the first fully dynamic algorithms for a variety of problems: $k$-Partial Cover, $m$-Set $k$-Packing, $t$-Dominating Set, $d$-Dimensional $k$-Matching, and Exact $k$-Partial Cover. For example, for $k$-Partial Cover we show a randomized dynamic algorithm with $2^k poly(k)polylog(n)$ update time, and a deterministic dynamic algorithm with $4^kpoly(k)polylog(n)$ update time.