Multi-Index Hashing for Information Retrieval

We describe a technique for building hash indices for a large dictionary of strings. This technique permits robust retrieval of strings from the dictionary even when the query pattern has a significant number of errors. This technique is closely related to the classical Turan problem for hypergraphs. We propose a general method of multi-index construction by generalizing certain Turan hypergraphs. We also develop an accompanying theory for analyzing such hashing schemes. The resulting algorithms have been implemented and can be applied to a wide variety of recognition and retrieval problems.