We present a parameterized approximation scheme for distributed combinatorial optimization problems based on dynamic programming. The algorithm is a utility propagation method and requires a linear number of messages. For exact computation, the size of the largest message is exponential in the width of the constraint graph. We present a distributed approximation scheme where the size of the lar...

This paper presents a generic scheme for fractional packing in ideal clutters. Consider an ideal clutter with a nonnegative capacity function on its vertices. It follows from ideality that for any nonnegative capacity the total multiplicity of an optimal fractional packing is equal to the minimum capacity of a vertex cover. Our scheme finds an optimal packing using at most n edges with positive...

Fodor and Pylyshyn (1988) famously argued that neural networks cannot behave systematically short of implementing a combinatorial symbol system. A recent response from Frank et al. (2009) claimed to have trained a neural network to behave systematically without implementing a symbol system and without any in-built predisposition towards combinatorial representations. We believe systems like the...

In an electronic marketplace coalition formation allows buyers to enjoy a price discount for each item while combinatorial auction enables buyers to place bids for a bundle of items that are complementary. Coalition formation and combinatorial auction both help to improve the e ciency of a market and have received much attention from economists and computer scientists. But neither in laboratori...

This paper analyzes the dynamics of a new selection scheme based on altruistic cooperation between individuals. The scheme, which we refer to as cooperative selection, extends from tournament selection and imposes a stringent restriction on the mating chances of an individual during its lifespan: winning a tournament entails a depreciation of its fitness value. We show that altruism minimizes t...

In distributed computing environments, executing a program often requires the access of remote data ®les. An ecient data routing scheme is thus important for timecritical applications. To ensure a prior desired communication quality, we present a connection-oriented routing scheme, the multipath routing, which allows multiple routes to be established between the source and the destination. Bas...

In this paper, we present the cryptanalysis of a public key scheme based on a system of multivariate polynomial equations, the ”tractable rational map” cryptosystem. We show combinatorial weaknesses of the cryptosystem, and introduce a variant of the XL resolution algorithm, the Linear Method, which is able to leverage these weaknesses to invert in short time the trapdoor one-way function defin...