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  • © 2013

Fault-Tolerant Search Algorithms

Reliable Computation with Unreliable Information

  • Will be of value to researchers engaged with the theories of search and fault-tolerant computation
  • The author puts a special emphasis throughout on algorithmic efficiency
  • Is supported throughout with exercises and pointers to background literature
  • Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras

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Table of contents (9 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xv
  2. Prologue: What This Book Is About

    • Ferdinando Cicalese
    Pages 1-6
  3. The Ulam-Rényi Game and Its Variants

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 7-7
    2. Fault-Tolerant Search à la Ulam-Rényi

      • Ferdinando Cicalese
      Pages 9-29
    3. Adaptive vs. Non-adaptive Search

      • Ferdinando Cicalese
      Pages 31-64
    4. Weighted Errors over a General Channel

      • Ferdinando Cicalese
      Pages 65-76
  4. Other Models

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 99-99
    2. Delays and Time Outs

      • Ferdinando Cicalese
      Pages 101-137
    3. Group Testing

      • Ferdinando Cicalese
      Pages 139-173
    4. Resilient Search

      • Ferdinando Cicalese
      Pages 175-184
    5. A Model for Learning

      • Ferdinando Cicalese
      Pages 185-198
  5. Back Matter

    Pages 199-207

About this book

Why a book on fault-tolerant search algorithms? Searching is one of the fundamental problems in computer science. Time and again algorithmic and combinatorial issues originally studied in the context of search find application in the most diverse areas of computer science and discrete mathematics. On the other hand, fault-tolerance is a necessary ingredient of computing.  Due to their inherent complexity, information systems are naturally prone to errors, which may appear at any level – as imprecisions in the data, bugs in the software, or transient or permanent hardware failures. This book provides a concise, rigorous and up-to-date account of different approaches to fault-tolerance in the context of algorithmic search theory.

 

Thanks to their basic structure, search problems offer insights into how fault-tolerant techniques may be applied in various scenarios. In the first part of the book, a paradigmatic model for fault-tolerant search is presented, the Ulam—Rényi problem. Following a didactic approach, the author takes the reader on a tour of Ulam—Rényi problem variants of increasing complexity. In the context of this basic model, fundamental combinatorial and algorithmic issues in the design of fault-tolerant search procedures are discussed. The algorithmic efficiency achievable is analyzed with respect to the statistical nature of the error sources, and the amount of information on which the search algorithm bases its decisions. In the second part of the book, more general models of faults and fault-tolerance are considered. Special attention is given to the application of fault-tolerant search procedures to specific problems in distributed computing, bioinformatics and computational learning.

 

This book will be of special value to researchers from the areas of combinatorial search and fault-tolerant computation, but also to researchers in learning andcoding theory, databases, and artificial intelligence. Only basic training in discrete mathematics is assumed. Parts of the book can be used as the basis for specialized graduate courses on combinatorial search, or as supporting material for a graduate or undergraduate course on error-correcting codes.

 

Reviews

From the book reviews:

“The book is well-written and well-organized, and provides a rigorous and up-to-date account of a wide area of algorithmic fault-tolerant search. Each chapter is supplemented with useful bibliographical notes and exercises. … This book will be useful to students and researchers in many diverse areas, ranging from combinatorial search, to learning and coding theory. It is a most valuable addition to the EATCS Series ‘Monographs in Theoretical Computer Science’.” (Daniele Mundici, zbMATH, Vol. 1295, 2014)

Authors and Affiliations

  • Dipartimento di Informatica, Università degli Studi di Salerno, Fisciano (SA), Italy

    Ferdinando Cicalese

About the author

The author received the award for the Best Italian Ph.D. thesis in Theoretical Computer Science, for work in this field, and he has since been awarded the Sofja Kovalevskaja Award of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and the German Federal Ministry of Research.

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Fault-Tolerant Search Algorithms

  • Book Subtitle: Reliable Computation with Unreliable Information

  • Authors: Ferdinando Cicalese

  • Series Title: Monographs in Theoretical Computer Science. An EATCS Series

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-17327-1

  • Publisher: Springer Berlin, Heidelberg

  • eBook Packages: Computer Science, Computer Science (R0)

  • Copyright Information: Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-642-17326-4Published: 16 December 2013

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-3-662-51871-7Published: 23 August 2016

  • eBook ISBN: 978-3-642-17327-1Published: 29 November 2013

  • Series ISSN: 1431-2654

  • Series E-ISSN: 2193-2069

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XV, 207

  • Number of Illustrations: 14 b/w illustrations

  • Topics: Theory of Computation, Algorithms

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access