@misc{NielsenWeber, author = {Nielsen, Adam and Weber, Marcus}, title = {Computing the nearest reversible Markov chain}, issn = {1438-0064}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-53292}, abstract = {Reversible Markov chains are the basis of many applications. However, computing transition probabilities by a finite sampling of a Markov chain can lead to truncation errors. Even if the original Markov chain is reversible, the approximated Markov chain might be non-reversible and will lose important properties, like the real valued spectrum. In this paper, we show how to find the closest reversible Markov chain to a given transition matrix. It turns out that this matrix can be computed by solving a convex minimization problem.}, language = {en} } @misc{MunguiaOxberryRajanetal., author = {Munguia, Lluis-Miquel and Oxberry, Geoffrey and Rajan, Deepak and Shinano, Yuji}, title = {Parallel PIPS-SBB: Multi-Level Parallelism For Stochastic Mixed-Integer Programs}, number = {ZIB-Report 17-58}, issn = {1438-0064}, doi = {10.1007/s10589-019-00074-0}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-65517}, abstract = {PIPS-SBB is a distributed-memory parallel solver with a scalable data distribution paradigm. It is designed to solve MIPs with a dual-block angular structure, which is characteristic of deterministic-equivalent Stochastic Mixed-Integer Programs (SMIPs). In this paper, we present two different parallelizations of Branch \& Bound (B\&B), implementing both as extensions of PIPS-SBB, thus adding an additional layer of parallelism. In the first of the proposed frameworks, PIPS-PSBB, the coordination and load-balancing of the different optimization workers is done in a decentralized fashion. This new framework is designed to ensure all available cores are processing the most promising parts of the B\&B tree. The second, ug[PIPS-SBB,MPI], is a parallel implementation using the Ubiquity Generator (UG), a universal framework for parallelizing B\&B tree search that has been successfully applied to other MIP solvers. We show the effects of leveraging multiple levels of parallelism in potentially improving scaling performance beyond thousands of cores.}, language = {en} } @misc{MasingLindnerEbert, author = {Masing, Berenike and Lindner, Niels and Ebert, Patricia}, title = {Forward and Line-Based Cycle Bases for Periodic Timetabling}, issn = {1438-0064}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-89731}, abstract = {The optimization of periodic timetables is an indispensable planning task in public transport. Although the periodic event scheduling problem (PESP) provides an elegant mathematical formulation of the periodic timetabling problem that led to many insights for primal heuristics, it is notoriously hard to solve to optimality. One reason is that for the standard mixed-integer linear programming formulations, linear programming relaxations are weak and the integer variables are of pure technical nature and in general do not correlate with the objective value. While the first problem has been addressed by developing several families of cutting planes, we focus on the second aspect. We discuss integral forward cycle bases as a concept to compute improved dual bounds for PESP instances. To this end, we develop the theory of forward cycle bases on general digraphs. Specifically for the application of timetabling, we devise a generic procedure to construct line-based event-activity networks, and give a simple recipe for an integral forward cycle basis on such networks. Finally, we analyze the 16 railway instances of the benchmark library PESPlib, match them to the line-based structure and use forward cycle bases to compute better dual bounds for 14 out of the 16 instances.}, language = {en} } @misc{LindnerReisch, author = {Lindner, Niels and Reisch, Julian}, title = {Parameterized Complexity of Periodic Timetabling}, issn = {1438-0064}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-78314}, abstract = {Public transportation networks are typically operated with a periodic timetable. The Periodic Event Scheduling Problem (PESP) is the standard mathematical modelling tool for periodic timetabling. Since PESP can be solved in linear time on trees, it is a natural question to ask whether there are polynomial-time algorithms for input networks of bounded treewidth. We show that deciding the feasibility of a PESP instance is NP-hard even when the treewidth is 2, the branchwidth is 2, or the carvingwidth is 3. Analogous results hold for the optimization of reduced PESP instances, where the feasibility problem is trivial. To complete the picture, we present two pseudo-polynomial-time dynamic programming algorithms solving PESP on input networks with bounded tree- or branchwidth. We further analyze the parameterized complexity of PESP with bounded cyclomatic number, diameter, or vertex cover number. For event-activity networks with a special -- but standard -- structure, we give explicit and sharp bounds on the branchwidth in terms of the maximum degree and the carvingwidth of an underlying line network. Finally, we investigate several parameters on the smallest instance of the benchmarking library PESPlib.}, language = {en} } @misc{LieSullivanTeckentrup, author = {Lie, Han Cheng and Sullivan, T. J. and Teckentrup, Aretha}, title = {Random forward models and log-likelihoods in Bayesian inverse problems}, series = {SIAM/ASA Journal on Uncertainty Quantification}, volume = {6}, journal = {SIAM/ASA Journal on Uncertainty Quantification}, number = {4}, issn = {1438-0064}, doi = {10.1137/18M1166523}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-66324}, pages = {1600 -- 1629}, abstract = {We consider the use of randomised forward models and log-likelihoods within the Bayesian approach to inverse problems. Such random approximations to the exact forward model or log-likelihood arise naturally when a computationally expensive model is approximated using a cheaper stochastic surrogate, as in Gaussian process emulation (kriging), or in the field of probabilistic numerical methods. We show that the Hellinger distance between the exact and approximate Bayesian posteriors is bounded by moments of the difference between the true and approximate log-likelihoods. Example applications of these stability results are given for randomised misfit models in large data applications and the probabilistic solution of ordinary differential equations.}, language = {en} } @misc{Keidel, type = {Master Thesis}, author = {Keidel, Stefan}, title = {Snapshots in Scalaris}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-42282}, school = {Zuse Institute Berlin (ZIB)}, pages = {87}, abstract = {Eines der gr{\"o}ßten Hindernisse beim praktischen Einsatz von Scalaris, einer skalierbaren Implementierung einer verteilten Hashtabelle mit Unterst{\"u}tzung f{\"u}r Transaktionen, ist das Fehlen eines Verfahrens zur Aufnahme eines konsistenten Zustandes des gesamten Systems. Wir stellen in dieser Arbeit ein einfaches Protokoll vor, dass diese Aufgabe erf{\"u}llt und sich, auf Grund der von uns gew{\"a}hlten Herangehensweise, leicht implementieren l{\"a}sst. Als Ausgangspunkt daf{\"u}r w{\"a}hlen wir aus einer Reihe von „klassischen" Snapshot-Algorithmen ein 1993 von Mattern entworfenes Verfahren, welches auf dem Algorithmus von Lai und Yang basiert, aus. Diese Entscheidung basiert auf einer gr{\"u}ndlichen Analyse der Protokolle unter Ber{\"u}cksichtigung der Architektur der existierenden Software. Im n{\"a}chsten Arbeitsschritt benutzen wir unser vollst{\"a}ndiges Wissen {\"u}ber die Interna des Transaktionssystems von Scalaris und vereinfachen damit das Verfahren hinsichtlich Benutzbarkeit und Implementierungskomplexit{\"a}t, ohne die Anforderungen an den aufgenommenen Zustand aufzuweichen. Statt einer losen Anh{\"a}ufung lokaler Zust{\"a}nde der einzelnen Teilnehmerknoten k{\"o}nnen wir am Ende eine große Schl{\"u}ssel-Wert-Tabelle als Ergebnis erzeugen, die konsistent ist, sich leicht weiterverarbeiten l{\"a}sst und die einem Zustand entspricht, in dem sich das System einmal befunden haben k{\"o}nnte. Nachdem wir das Verfahren dann in Software umgesetzt haben, werten wir die Ergebnisse hinsichtlich des Einflusses auf die Performanz des Gesamtsystems aus und diskutieren m{\"o}gliche Weiterentwicklungen.}, language = {de} } @misc{KaplanLauferProhaskaetal., author = {Kaplan, Bernhard and Laufer, Jan and Prohaska, Steffen and Buchmann, Jens}, title = {Monte-Carlo-based inversion scheme for 3D quantitative photoacoustic tomography}, issn = {1438-0064}, doi = {10.1117/12.2251945}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-62318}, abstract = {The goal of quantitative photoacoustic tomography (qPAT) is to recover maps of the chromophore distributions from multiwavelength images of the initial pressure. Model-based inversions that incorporate the physical processes underlying the photoacoustic (PA) signal generation represent a promising approach. Monte-Carlo models of the light transport are computationally expensive, but provide accurate fluence distributions predictions, especially in the ballistic and quasi-ballistic regimes. Here, we focus on the inverse problem of 3D qPAT of blood oxygenation and investigate the application of the Monte-Carlo method in a model-based inversion scheme. A forward model of the light transport based on the MCX simulator and acoustic propagation modeled by the k-Wave toolbox was used to generate a PA image data set acquired in a tissue phantom over a planar detection geometry. The combination of the optical and acoustic models is shown to account for limited-view artifacts. In addition, the errors in the fluence due to, for example, partial volume artifacts and absorbers immediately adjacent to the region of interest are investigated. To accomplish large-scale inversions in 3D, the number of degrees of freedom is reduced by applying image segmentation to the initial pressure distribution to extract a limited number of regions with homogeneous optical parameters. The absorber concentration in the tissue phantom was estimated using a coordinate descent parameter search based on the comparison between measured and modeled PA spectra. The estimated relative concentrations using this approach lie within 5 \% compared to the known concentrations. Finally, we discuss the feasibility of this approach to recover the blood oxygenation from experimental data.}, language = {en} } @misc{Hoffmann, type = {Master Thesis}, author = {Hoffmann, Marie}, title = {Approximate Algorithms for Distributed Systems}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-42370}, school = {Zuse Institute Berlin (ZIB)}, pages = {75}, abstract = {Peer-to-peer (P2P) systems form a special class of distributed systems. Typically, nodes in a P2P system are flat and share the same responsabilities. In this thesis we focus on three problems that occur in P2P systems: the storage of data replicates, quantile computation on distributed data streams, and churn rate estimation. Data replication is one of the oldest techniques to maintain stored data in a P2P system and to reply to read requests. Applications, which use data replication are distributed databases. They are part of an abstract overlay network and do not see the underlying network topology. The question is how to place a set of data replicates in a distributed system such that response times and failure probabilities become minimal without a priori knowledge of the topology of the underlying hardware nodes? We show how to utilize an agglomerative clustering procedure to reach this goal. State-of-the-art algorithms for aggregation of distributed data or data streams require at some point synchronization, or merge data aggregates hierarchically, which does not accompany the basic principle of P2P systems. We test whether randomized communication and merging of data aggregates are able to produce the same results. These data aggregates serve for quantile queries. Constituting and maintaining a P2P overlay network requires frequent message passing. It is a goal to minimize the number of maintenance messages since they consume bandwidth which might be missing for other applications. The lower bound of the frequency for mainte- nance messages is highly dependent on the churn rate of peers. We show how to estimate the mean lifetime of peers and to reduce the frequency for maintenance messages without destabilizing the infrastructure of the constituting overlay.}, language = {en} } @misc{HillerVredeveld, author = {Hiller, Benjamin and Vredeveld, Tjark}, title = {Stochastic dominance analysis of Online Bin Coloring algorithms}, issn = {1438-0064}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-16502}, abstract = {This paper proposes a new method for probabilistic analysis of online algorithms. It is based on the notion of stochastic dominance. We develop the method for the online bin coloring problem introduced by Krumke et al (2008). Using methods for the stochastic comparison of Markov chains we establish the result that the performance of the online algorithm GreedyFit is stochastically better than the performance of the algorithm OneBin for any number of items processed. This result gives a more realistic picture than competitive analysis and explains the behavior observed in simulations.}, language = {en} } @misc{HillerVredeveld, author = {Hiller, Benjamin and Vredeveld, Tjark}, title = {Probabilistic alternatives for competitive analysis}, issn = {1438-0064}, doi = {10.1007/s00450-011-0149-1}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-15131}, abstract = {In the last 20 years competitive analysis has become the main tool for analyzing the quality of online algorithms. Despite of this, competitive analysis has also been criticized: It sometimes cannot discriminate between algorithms that exhibit significantly different empirical behavior, or it even favors an algorithm that is worse from an empirical point of view. Therefore, there have been several approaches to circumvent these drawbacks. In this survey, we discuss probabilistic alternatives for competitive analysis.}, language = {en} }