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Classification via Two-Way Comparisons (Extended Abstract)

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Algorithms and Data Structures (WADS 2023)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNCS,volume 14079))

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Abstract

Given a weighted, ordered query set Q and a partition of Q into classes, we study the problem of computing a minimum-cost decision tree that, given any query \(q\in Q\), uses equality tests and less-than comparisons to determine the class to which q belongs. Such a tree can be much smaller than a lookup table, and much faster and smaller than a conventional search tree. We give the first polynomial-time algorithm for the problem. The algorithm extends naturally to the setting where each query has multiple allowed classes.

Most proofs from Sects. 3 and 4 are omitted. See [6] for full proofs.

M. Chrobak—Research partially supported by National Science Foundation grant CCF-2153723.

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Acknowledgements

Thanks to Mordecai Golin and Ian Munro for introducing us to the problem and for useful discussions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of California, Riverside, USA

    Marek Chrobak & Neal E. Young

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  1. Marek Chrobak
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  2. Neal E. Young
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Correspondence to Marek Chrobak .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada

    Pat Morin

  2. University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, USA

    Subhash Suri

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Chrobak, M., Young, N.E. (2023). Classification via Two-Way Comparisons (Extended Abstract). In: Morin, P., Suri, S. (eds) Algorithms and Data Structures. WADS 2023. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 14079. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-38906-1_19

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-38906-1_19

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-031-38905-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-031-38906-1

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