Introduction to Algorithms March 14, 2019

Massachusetts Institute of Technology 6.006 Spring 2019

Instructors: Jason Ku, Vinod Vaikuntanathan, and Virginia Williams Quiz 1

Quiz 1
• Do not open this quiz booklet until directed to do so. Read all the instructions on this page.
• When the quiz begins, write your name on the top of every page of this quiz booklet.
• You have 120 minutes to earn a maximum of 120 points. Do not spend too much time on
any one problem. Skim them all first, and attack them in the order that allows you to make
the most progress.
• You are allowed one double-sided letter-sized sheet with your own notes. No calculators,
cell phones, or other programmable or communication devices are permitted.
• Write your solutions in the space provided. Pages will be scanned and separated for grading.
If you need more space, write “Continued on S1” (or S2, S3, S4) and continue your solution
on the referenced scratch page at the end of the exam.
• Do not waste time and paper rederiving facts that we have studied in lecture, recitation, or
problem sets. Simply cite them.
• When writing an algorithm, a clear description in English will suffice. Pseudo-code is not
required. Be sure to argue that your algorithm is correct, and analyze the asymptotic
running time of your algorithm. Even if your algorithm does not meet a requested bound,
you may receive partial credit for inefficient solutions that are correct.
• Pay close attention to the instructions for each problem. Depending on the problem,
partial credit may be awarded for incomplete answers.

Problem Parts Points

0: Information 2 2
1: Warmup 4 20
2: Sortid Casino 3 18
3: Restaurant Lineup 1 15
4: Range Pair 2 25
5: Rainy Research 1 20
6: Left Smaller Count 1 20
Total 120

Name:

School Email:
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Problem 0. [2 points] Information (2 parts)

(a) [1 point] Write your name and email address on the cover page.

(b) [1 point] Write your name at the top of each page.

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Problem 1. [20 points] Warmup

(a) [5 points] Given array A of n integers, the Python function below appends all integers
from set {A[x] | 0 ≤ i ≤ x < j ≤ n and A[x] < k} to the end of dynamic array B.
1 def filter_below(A, k, i, j, B):
2 if (j - i) > 1:
3 c = (i + j) // 2
4 filter_below(A, k, i, c, B)
5 filter_below(A, k, c, j, B)
6 elif (j - i) == 1 and A[i] < k:
7 B.append(A[i])
Argue the worst-case running time of filter below(A, k, 0, len(A), [])
in terms of n = len(A). You may assume that n is a power of two.

(b) [5 points] The integer array A = [4, 3, 1, 5, 0, 2] is not a heap. It is possible to make
A either a max or min heap by swapping two integers. State two such integers.
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(c) [5 points] Let T be a binary search tree storing n integer keys in which the key k
appears m > 1 times. Let p be the lowest common ancestor of all nodes in T which
contain key k. Prove that p also contains key k.

(d) [5 points] Given the hash family H = {ha (k) = a(k + a) mod m | a ∈ {1, . . . , m}}
and some key k1 ∈ {0, . . . u − 1} where 2 < 2m < u, find a key k2 ∈ {0, . . . , u − 1}
with k2 6= k1 such that ha (k1 ) = ha (k2 ) for every ha ∈ H.
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Problem 2. [18 points] Sortid Casino (3 parts)

Jane Stock is secret agent 006. She is searching for criminal mastermind Dr. Yes who is known to
frequent a fancy casino. Help Jane in each of the following scenarios. Note that each scenerio can
be solved independently.

(a) [6 points] A dealer in the casino has a deck of cards that is missing 3 cards. He will
help Jane find Dr. Yes if she helps him determine which cards are missing from his
deck. A full deck of cards contains kn cards, where each card has a value (an integer
i ∈ {1, . . . , n}) and a suit (one of k known English words), and no two cards have
both the same value and the same suit. Describe an efficient1 algorithm to determine
the value and suit of each of the 3 cards missing from the deck.

1
By “efficient”, we mean that faster correct algorithms will receive more points than slower ones.
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(b) [6 points] The dealer doesn’t know Dr. Yes, but he knows that Dr. Yes is one of the
k best players in the casino. Jane scans the room and for each of the p > k players,
she transmits back to headquarters a pair (c, `) representing the number of chips c
and location ` of the player. Assuming that no player has the same number of chips,
describe an efficient algorithm for headquarters to determine the locations of the k
players in the casino who have the most chips.
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(c) [6 points] After determining the locations of the k players with the most chips, Jane
observes the game play of each of them. She watches each player play exactly h < k
game rounds. In any game round, a player will either win or lose chips. A player’s
win ratio is one plus the number of wins divided by one plus the number of losses
during the h observed hands. Given the number of observed wins and losses from
each of the k players, describe an efficient algorithm to sort the players by win ratio.
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Problem 3. [15 points] Restaurant Lineup

Popular restaurant Criminal Seafood does not take reservations, but maintains a wait list where
customers who have been on the wait list longer are seated earlier. Sometimes customers decide to
eat somewhere else, so the restaurant must remove them from the wait list. Assume each customer
has a different name, and no two customers are added to the wait list at the exact same time. Design
a database to help Criminal Seafood maintain its wait list supporting the following operations, each
in O(1) time. State whether each operation running time is worst-case, amortized, and/or expected.

• add name(x): add name x to the back of the wait list

• remove name(x): remove name x from the wait list
• seat(): remove and return the name of the customer from the front of the wait list
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Problem 4. [25 points] Range Pair (2 parts)

Given array A = [a0 , a1 , . . . , an−1 ] containing n distinct integers, and a pair of integers (b1 , b2 )
with b1 ≤ b2 , a range pair is a pair of indices (i, j) with i 6= j such that the sum ai + aj is within
range, i.e., b1 ≤ ai + aj ≤ b2 . Note that parts (a) and (b) can be solved independently.

(a) [10 points] Assuming b2 − b1 < 6006, describe an O(n)-time algorithm to return
a range pair of A with respect to range (b1 , b2 ) if one exists. State whether your
algorithm’s running time is expected, worst-case, and/or amortized.
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(b) [15 points] Assuming logn (max A − min A) < 6006 (with no restriction on b1 or
b2 ), describe an O(n)-time algorithm to return a range pair of A with respect to range
(b1 , b2 ) if one exists. State whether your algorithm’s running time is expected, worst-
case, and/or amortized.
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Problem 5. [20 points] Rainy Research

Mether Wan is a scientist who studies global rainfall. Mether often receives data measurements
from a large set of deployed sensors. Each collected data measurement is a triple of integers
(r, `, t), where r is a positive amount of rainfall measured at latitude ` at time t. The peak rainfall
at latitude ` since time t is the maximum rainfall of any measurement at latitude ` measured at a
time greater than or equal to t (or zero if no such measurement exists). Describe a database that
can store Mether’s sensor data and support the following operations, each in worst-case O(log n)
time where n is the number of measurements in the database at the time of the operation.

• record data(r, `, t): add a rainfall measurement r at latitude ` at time t

• peak rainfall(`, t): return the peak rainfall at latitude ` since time t
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Problem 6. [20 points] Left Smaller Count

Given array A = [a0 , a1 , . . . , an−1 ] containing n distinct integers, the left smaller count array of
A is an array S = [s0 , s1 , . . . , sn−1 ] where si is the number of integers in A to the left of index i
with value less than ai , specifically:

si = |{j | 0 ≤ j < i and aj < ai }|.

For example, the left smaller count array of A = [10, 5, 12, 1, 11] is S = [0, 0, 2, 0, 3]. Describe an
O(n log n)-time algorithm to compute the left smaller count array of an array of n distinct integers.
State whether your algorithm’s running time is worst-case, amortized, and/or expected.
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SCRATCH PAPER 1. DO NOT REMOVE FROM THE EXAM.

You can use this paper to write a longer solution if you run out of space, but be sure to write
“Continued on S1” on the problem statement’s page.
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SCRATCH PAPER 2. DO NOT REMOVE FROM THE EXAM.

You can use this paper to write a longer solution if you run out of space, but be sure to write
“Continued on S2” on the problem statement’s page.
6.006 Quiz 1 Name 15

SCRATCH PAPER 3. DO NOT REMOVE FROM THE EXAM.

You can use this paper to write a longer solution if you run out of space, but be sure to write
“Continued on S3” on the problem statement’s page.
16 6.006 Quiz 1 Name

SCRATCH PAPER 4. DO NOT REMOVE FROM THE EXAM.

You can use this paper to write a longer solution if you run out of space, but be sure to write
“Continued on S4” on the problem statement’s page.