Contents ix

24 Single-Source Shortest Paths 643

24.1 The Bellman-Ford algorithm 651
24.2 Single-source shortest paths in directed acyclic graphs 655
24.3 Dijkstra’s algorithm 658
24.4 Difference constraints and shortest paths 664
24.5 Proofs of shortest-paths properties 671
25 All-Pairs Shortest Paths 684
25.1 Shortest paths and matrix multiplication 686
25.2 The Floyd-Warshall algorithm 693
25.3 Johnson’s algorithm for sparse graphs 700
26 Maximum Flow 708
26.1 Flow networks 709
26.2 The Ford-Fulkerson method 714
26.3 Maximum bipartite matching 732
? 26.4 Push-relabel algorithms 736
? 26.5 The relabel-to-front algorithm 748

VII Selected Topics

Introduction 769
27 Multithreaded Algorithms 772
27.1 The basics of dynamic multithreading 774
27.2 Multithreaded matrix multiplication 792
27.3 Multithreaded merge sort 797
28 Matrix Operations 813
28.1 Solving systems of linear equations 813
28.2 Inverting matrices 827
28.3 Symmetric positive-definite matrices and least-squares approximation
832
29 Linear Programming 843
29.1 Standard and slack forms 850
29.2 Formulating problems as linear programs 859
29.3 The simplex algorithm 864
29.4 Duality 879
29.5 The initial basic feasible solution 886
x Contents

30 Polynomials and the FFT 898

30.1 Representing polynomials 900
30.2 The DFT and FFT 906
30.3 Efficient FFT implementations 915
31 Number-Theoretic Algorithms 926
31.1 Elementary number-theoretic notions 927
31.2 Greatest common divisor 933
31.3 Modular arithmetic 939
31.4 Solving modular linear equations 946
31.5 The Chinese remainder theorem 950
31.6 Powers of an element 954
31.7 The RSA public-key cryptosystem 958
? 31.8 Primality testing 965
? 31.9 Integer factorization 975
32 String Matching 985
32.1 The naive string-matching algorithm 988
32.2 The Rabin-Karp algorithm 990
32.3 String matching with finite automata 995
? 32.4 The Knuth-Morris-Pratt algorithm 1002
33 Computational Geometry 1014
33.1 Line-segment properties 1015
33.2 Determining whether any pair of segments intersects 1021
33.3 Finding the convex hull 1029
33.4 Finding the closest pair of points 1039
34 NP-Completeness 1048
34.1 Polynomial time 1053
34.2 Polynomial-time verification 1061
34.3 NP-completeness and reducibility 1067
34.4 NP-completeness proofs 1078
34.5 NP-complete problems 1086
35 Approximation Algorithms 1106
35.1 The vertex-cover problem 1108
35.2 The traveling-salesman problem 1111
35.3 The set-covering problem 1117
35.4 Randomization and linear programming 1123
35.5 The subset-sum problem 1128
 Contents xi

VIII Appendix: Mathematical Background

Introduction 1143
A Summations 1145
A.1 Summation formulas and properties 1145
A.2 Bounding summations 1149
B Sets, Etc. 1158
B.1 Sets 1158
B.2 Relations 1163
B.3 Functions 1166
B.4 Graphs 1168
B.5 Trees 1173
C Counting and Probability 1183
C.1 Counting 1183
C.2 Probability 1189
C.3 Discrete random variables 1196
C.4 The geometric and binomial distributions 1201
? C.5 The tails of the binomial distribution 1208
D Matrices 1217
D.1 Matrices and matrix operations 1217
D.2 Basic matrix properties 1222

Bibliography 1231
Index 1251
Preface

Before there were computers, there were algorithms. But now that there are com-
puters, there are even more algorithms, and algorithms lie at the heart of computing.
This book provides a comprehensive introduction to the modern study of com-
puter algorithms. It presents many algorithms and covers them in considerable
depth, yet makes their design and analysis accessible to all levels of readers. We
have tried to keep explanations elementary without sacrificing depth of coverage
or mathematical rigor.
Each chapter presents an algorithm, a design technique, an application area, or a
related topic. Algorithms are described in English and in a pseudocode designed to
be readable by anyone who has done a little programming. The book contains 244
figures—many with multiple parts—illustrating how the algorithms work. Since
we emphasize efficiency as a design criterion, we include careful analyses of the
running times of all our algorithms.
The text is intended primarily for use in undergraduate or graduate courses in
algorithms or data structures. Because it discusses engineering issues in algorithm
design, as well as mathematical aspects, it is equally well suited for self-study by
technical professionals.
In this, the third edition, we have once again updated the entire book. The
changes cover a broad spectrum, including new chapters, revised pseudocode, and
a more active writing style.

To the teacher
We have designed this book to be both versatile and complete. You should find it
useful for a variety of courses, from an undergraduate course in data structures up
through a graduate course in algorithms. Because we have provided considerably
more material than can fit in a typical one-term course, you can consider this book
to be a “buffet” or “smorgasbord” from which you can pick and choose the material
that best supports the course you wish to teach.
xiv Preface

You should find it easy to organize your course around just the chapters you
need. We have made chapters relatively self-contained, so that you need not worry
about an unexpected and unnecessary dependence of one chapter on another. Each
chapter presents the easier material first and the more difficult material later, with
section boundaries marking natural stopping points. In an undergraduate course,
you might use only the earlier sections from a chapter; in a graduate course, you
might cover the entire chapter.
We have included 957 exercises and 158 problems. Each section ends with exer-
cises, and each chapter ends with problems. The exercises are generally short ques-
tions that test basic mastery of the material. Some are simple self-check thought
exercises, whereas others are more substantial and are suitable as assigned home-
work. The problems are more elaborate case studies that often introduce new ma-
terial; they often consist of several questions that lead the student through the steps
required to arrive at a solution.
Departing from our practice in previous editions of this book, we have made
publicly available solutions to some, but by no means all, of the problems and ex-
ercises. Our Web site, http://mitpress.mit.edu/algorithms/, links to these solutions.
You will want to check this site to make sure that it does not contain the solution to
an exercise or problem that you plan to assign. We expect the set of solutions that
we post to grow slowly over time, so you will need to check it each time you teach
the course.
We have starred (?) the sections and exercises that are more suitable for graduate
students than for undergraduates. A starred section is not necessarily more diffi-
cult than an unstarred one, but it may require an understanding of more advanced
mathematics. Likewise, starred exercises may require an advanced background or
more than average creativity.

To the student
We hope that this textbook provides you with an enjoyable introduction to the
field of algorithms. We have attempted to make every algorithm accessible and
interesting. To help you when you encounter unfamiliar or difficult algorithms, we
describe each one in a step-by-step manner. We also provide careful explanations
of the mathematics needed to understand the analysis of the algorithms. If you
already have some familiarity with a topic, you will find the chapters organized so
that you can skim introductory sections and proceed quickly to the more advanced
material.
This is a large book, and your class will probably cover only a portion of its
material. We have tried, however, to make this a book that will be useful to you
now as a course textbook and also later in your career as a mathematical desk
reference or an engineering handbook.