A Boolean function $f:\{0,1\}^d \to \{0,1\}$ is unate if, along each coordinate, the function is either nondecreasing or nonincreasing. In this note, we prove that any nonadaptive, one-sided error unateness tester must make $\Omega(\frac{d}{\log d})$ queries. This result improves upon the $\Omega(\frac{d}{\log^2 d})$ lower bound for the same class of ... more >>>

We investigate the parameters in terms of which the complexity of sublinear-time algorithms should be expressed. Our goal is to find input parameters that are tailored to the combinatorics of the specific problem being studied and design algorithms that run faster when these parameters are small. This direction enables us ... more >>>

We study the problem of testing unateness of functions $f:\{0,1\}^d \to \mathbb{R}.$ We give a $O(\frac{d}{\epsilon} \cdot \log\frac{d}{\epsilon})$-query nonadaptive tester and a $O(\frac{d}{\epsilon})$-query adaptive tester and show that both testers are optimal for a fixed distance parameter $\epsilon$. Previously known unateness testers worked only for Boolean functions, and their query ... more >>>

We introduce strong, and in many cases optimal, lower bounds for the number of queries required to nonadaptively test three fundamental properties of functions $ f : [n]^d \rightarrow \mathbb R$ on the hypergrid: monotonicity, convexity, and the Lipschitz property.
Our lower bounds also apply to the more restricted setting ... more >>>

A function $f(x_1, ... , x_d)$, where each input is an integer from 1 to $n$ and output is a real number, is Lipschitz if changing one of the inputs by 1 changes the output by at most 1. In other words, Lipschitz functions are not very sensitive to small ... more >>>

We study local filters for two properties of functions $f:\B^d\to \mathbb{R}$: the Lipschitz property and monotonicity. A local filter with additive error $a$ is a randomized algorithm that is given black-box access to a function $f$ and a query point $x$ in the domain of $f$. Its output is a ... more >>>

A function $f : D \to R$ has Lipschitz constant $c$ if $d_R(f(x),f(y)) \leq c\cdot d_D(x,y)$ for all $x,y$ in $D$, where $d_R$ and $d_D$ denote the distance functions on the range and domain of $f$, respectively. We say a function is Lipschitz if it has Lipschitz constant 1. (Note ... more >>>

Given a directed graph $G = (V,E)$ and an integer $k \geq 1$, a $k$-transitive-closure-spanner ($k$-TC-spanner) of $G$ is a directed graph $H = (V, E_H)$ that has (1) the same transitive-closure as $G$ and (2) diameter at most $k$. Transitive-closure spanners were introduced in \cite{tc-spanners-soda} as a common abstraction ... more >>>

We show that in the bounded degree model for graph property testing,
adaptivity is essential. An algorithm is *non-adaptive* if it makes all queries to the input before receiving any answers. We call a property *non-trivial* if it does not depend only on the degree distribution of the nodes. We ... more >>>

We raise the question of approximating compressibility of a string with respect to a fixed compression scheme, in sublinear time. We study this question in detail for two popular lossless compression schemes: run-length encoding (RLE) and Lempel-Ziv (LZ), and present algorithms and lower bounds for approximating compressibility with respect to ... more >>>

For a boolean formula \phi on n variables, the associated property
P_\phi is the collection of n-bit strings that satisfy \phi. We prove
that there are 3CNF properties that require a linear number of queries,
even for adaptive tests. This contrasts with 2CNF properties
that are testable with O(\sqrt{n}) ... more >>>

We present improved algorithms for testing monotonicity of functions.
Namely, given the ability to query an unknown function $f$, where
$\Sigma$ and $\Xi$ are finite ordered sets, the test always accepts a
monotone $f$, and rejects $f$ with high probability if it is $\e$-far
from being monotone (i.e., every ... more >>>