Abstract:
Considerable effort has been devoted to the development of streaming
algorithms for analyzing massive graphs. Unfortunately, many results have been
negative, establishing that a wide variety of problems require $\Omega(n^2)$
space to solve. One of the few bright spots has been the development of
semi-streaming algorithms for a handful of graph problems -- these algorithms
use space $O(n\cdot\text{polylog}(n))$.
In the annotated data streaming model of Chakrabarti et al., a
computationally limited client wants to compute some property of a massive
input, but lacks the resources to store even a small fraction of the input, and
hence cannot perform the desired computation locally. The client therefore
accesses a powerful but untrusted service provider, who not only performs the
requested computation, but also proves that the answer is correct.
We put forth the notion of semi-streaming algorithms for annotated graph
streams (semi-streaming annotation schemes for short). These are protocols in
which both the client's space usage and the length of the proof are $O(n \cdot
\text{polylog}(n))$. We give evidence that semi-streaming annotation schemes
represent a substantially more robust solution concept than does the standard
semi-streaming model. On the positive side, we give semi-streaming annotation
schemes for two dynamic graph problems that are intractable in the standard
model: (exactly) counting triangles, and (exactly) computing maximum matchings.
The former scheme answers a question of Cormode. On the negative side, we
identify for the first time two natural graph problems (connectivity and
bipartiteness in a certain edge update model) that can be solved in the
standard semi-streaming model, but cannot be solved by annotation schemes of
"sub-semi-streaming" cost. That is, these problems are just as hard in the
annotations model as they are in the standard model.
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