The Discrepancy Method: Randomness and Complexity

By Bernard Chazelle

Book Overview

The discrepancy method has produced the most fruitful line of attack on a pivotal computer science question: What is the computational power of random bits? It has also played a major role in recent developments in complexity theory. This book tells the story of the discrepancy method in a few succinct independent vignettes. The chapters explore such topics as communication complexity, pseudo-randomness, rapidly mixing Markov chains, points on a sphere, derandomization, convex hulls and Voronoi diagrams, linear programming, geometric sampling and VC-dimension theory, minimum spanning trees, circuit complexity, and multidimensional searching. The mathematical treatment is thorough and self-contained, with minimal prerequisites. More information can be found on the book's home page at http: //www.cs.princeton.edu/ chazelle/book.html.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0521003571
• ISBN13: 9780521003575
• Release Date: January 2002
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Length: 494 Pages
• Weight: 1.43 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 7.0" x 8.2"