.1 Error

Randomized algorithms have an additional primitive operation that deterministic algorithms do not have. We can select a number from a range [1 . . .x] uniformly at random, at a cost assumed to be linearly dependent on the size of x in binary representation. The algorithm then makes a decision based on the outcome of this random selection. We first look at some defining characteristics of randomized algorithms that differ from deterministic algorithms. We then look at several problems that can be solved efficiently with randomized algorithms (arithmetic formula identity testing, arithmetic circuit identity testing, primality testing, minimum cut, selection, sorting).