Locally-iterative distributed (∆ + 1)-coloring below szegedy-vishwanathan barrier, and applications to self-stabilization and to restricted-bandwidth models

Leonid Barenboim, Michael Elkin, Uri Goldenberg

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

44 Scopus citations

Abstract

We consider graph coloring and related problems in the distributed message-passing model. Locally-iterative algorithms are especially important in this setting. These are algorithms in which each vertex decides about its next color only as a function of the current colors in its 1 − hop − nei hborhood. In STOC'93 Szegedy and Vishwanathan showed that any locally-iterative (∆ + 1)-coloring algorithm requires Ω(∆ log ∆ + log n) rounds, unless there exists "a very special type of coloring that can be very efficiently reduced" [39]. No such special coloring has been found since then. This led researchers to believe that Szegedy-Vishwanathan barrier is an inherent limitation for locally-iterative algorithms, and to explore other approaches to the coloring problem [1, 2, 17, 29]. The latter gave rise to faster algorithms, but their heavy machinery which is of non-locally-iterative nature made them far less suitable to various settings. In this paper we obtain the aforementioned special type of coloring. Specifically, we devise a locally-iterative (∆ + 1)-coloring algorithm with running time O(∆ + log n), i.e., below Szegedy-Vishwanathan barrier. This demonstrates that this barrier is not an inherent limitation for locally-iterative algorithms. As a result, we also achieve significant improvements for dynamic, self-stabilizing and bandwidth-restricted settings. This includes the following results. • We obtain self-stabilizing distributed algorithms for (∆ + 1)-vertex-coloring, (2∆ − 1)-edge-coloring, maximal independent set and maximal matching with O(∆ + log n) time. This significantly improves previously-known results that have O(n) or larger running times [21]. • We devise a (2∆ − 1)-edge-coloring algorithm in the CONGEST model with O(∆ + log n) time and O(∆)-edge-coloring in the Bit-Round model with O(∆ + log n) time. The factors of log n and log n are unavoidable in the CONGEST and Bit-Round models, respectively. Previously-known algorithms had superlinear dependency on ∆ for (2∆ − 1)-edge-coloring in these models. • We obtain an arbdefective coloring algorithm with running time O(∆+log n). Such a coloring is not necessarily proper, but has certain helpful properties. We employ it in order to compute a proper (1 +)∆-coloring within O(∆ + log n) time, and (∆ + 1)-coloring within O(∆ log ∆ log ∆ + log n) time. This improves the recent state-of-the-art bounds of Barenboim from PODC'15 [1] and Fraigniaud et al. from FOCS'16 [17] by polylogarithmic factors. • Our algorithms are applicable to the SET-LOCAL model [23] (also known as the weak LOCAL model). In this model a relatively strong lower bound of Ω(∆1/3) is known for (∆ + 1)-coloring. However, most of the coloring algorithms do not work in this model. (In [23] only Linial's O(∆2)-time algorithm and Kuhn-Wattenhofer O(∆ log ∆)-time algorithms are shown to work in it.) We obtain the first linear-in-∆ algorithms that work also in this model.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationPODC 2018 - Proceedings of the 2018 ACM Symposium on Principles of Distributed Computing
PublisherAssociation for Computing Machinery
Pages437-446
Number of pages10
ISBN (Print)9781450357951
DOIs
StatePublished - 23 Jul 2018
Event37th ACM SIGACT-SIGOPS Symposium on Principles of Distributed Computing, PODC 2018 - Egham, United Kingdom
Duration: 23 Jul 201827 Jul 2018

Publication series

NameProceedings of the Annual ACM Symposium on Principles of Distributed Computing

Conference

Conference37th ACM SIGACT-SIGOPS Symposium on Principles of Distributed Computing, PODC 2018
Country/TerritoryUnited Kingdom
CityEgham
Period23/07/1827/07/18

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Software
  • Hardware and Architecture
  • Computer Networks and Communications

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