We construct near optimal linear decision trees for a variety of decision problems in combinatorics and discrete geometry.
For example, for any constant $k$, we construct linear decision trees that solve the $k$-SUM problem on $n$ elements using $O(n \log^2 n)$ linear queries.
Moreover, the queries we use are comparison ... more >>>

We introduce the notion of \emph{Min-Entropic Optimality} thereby providing a framework for arguing that a given algorithm computes a function better than any other algorithm. An algorithm is $k(n)$ Min-Entropic Optimal if for every distribution $D$ with min-entropy at least $k(n)$, its expected running time when its input is drawn ... more >>>

In the average-case $k$-SUM problem, given $r$ integers chosen uniformly at random from $\{0,\ldots,M-1\}$, the objective is to find a set of $k$ numbers that sum to $0$ modulo $M$ (this set is called a ``solution''). In the related $k$-XOR problem, given $k$ uniformly random Boolean vectors of length $\log{M}$, ... more >>>