Combinatorial Scientific Computing Research Articles

Approximation algorithms in combinatorial scientific computing

We survey recent work on approximation algorithms for computing degree-constrained subgraphs in graphs and their applications in combinatorial scientific computing. The problems we consider include maximization versions of cardinality matching, edge-weighted matching, vertex-weighted matching and edge-weighted$b$-matching, and minimization versions of weighted edge cover and$b$-edge cover. Exact algorithms for these problems are impractical for massive graphs with several millions of edges. For each problem we discuss theoretical foundations, the design of several linear or near-linear time approximation algorithms, their implementations on serial and parallel computers, and applications. Our focus is on practical algorithms that yield good performance on modern computer architectures with multiple threads and interconnected processors. We also include information about the software available for these problems.

The Zoltan and Isorropia Parallel Toolkits for Combinatorial Scientific Computing: Partitioning, Ordering and Coloring

Partitioning and load balancing are important problems in scientific computing that can be modeled as combinatorial problems using graphs or hypergraphs. The Zoltan toolkit was developed primarily for partitioning and load balancing to support dynamic parallel applications, but has expanded to support other problems in combinatorial scientific computing, including matrix ordering and graph coloring. Zoltan is based on abstract user interfaces and uses callback functions. To simplify the use and integration of Zoltan with other matrix-based frameworks, such as the ones in Trilinos, we developed Isorropia as a Trilinos package, which supports most of Zoltan's features via a matrix-based interface. In addition to providing an easy-to-use matrix-based interface to Zoltan, Isorropia also serves as a platform for additional matrix algorithms. In this paper, we give an overview of the Zoltan and Isorropia toolkits, their design, capabilities and use. We also show how Zoltan and Isorropia enable large-scale, parallel scientific simulations, and describe current and future development in the next-generation package Zoltan2.

Partitioning Hypergraphs in Scientific Computing Applications through Vertex Separators on Graphs

The modeling flexibility provided by hypergraphs has drawn a lot of interest from the combinatorial scientific community, leading to novel models and algorithms, their applications, and development of associated tools. Hypergraphs are now a standard tool in combinatorial scientific computing. The modeling flexibility of hypergraphs, however, comes at a cost: algorithms on hypergraphs are inherently more complicated than those on graphs, which sometimes translates to nontrivial increases in processing times. Neither the modeling flexibility of hypergraphs nor the runtime efficiency of graph algorithms can be overlooked. Therefore, the new research thrust should be how to cleverly trade off between the two. This work addresses one method for this trade-off by solving the hypergraph partitioning problem by finding vertex separators on graphs. Specifically, we investigate how to solve the hypergraph partitioning problem by seeking a vertex separator on its net intersection graph (NIG), where each net of the hypergraph is represented by a vertex, and two vertices share an edge if their nets have a common vertex. We propose a vertex-weighting scheme to attain good node-balanced hypergraphs, since the NIG model cannot preserve node-balancing information. Vertex-removal and vertex-splitting techniques are described to optimize cut-net and connectivity metrics, respectively, under the recursive bipartitioning paradigm. We also developed implementations of our proposed hypergraph partitioning formulations by adopting and modifying a state-of-the-art graph partitioning by vertex separator tool onmetis. Experiments conducted on a large collection of sparse matrices demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed techniques.

Combinatorial algorithms for computational science and engineering

We discuss recent activities in the SciDAC Applied Mathematics Institute for Combinatorial Scientific Computing and Petascale Simulations (CSCAPES).

Enabling high performance computational science through combinatorial algorithms

The Combinatorial Scientific Computing and Petascale Simulations (CSCAPES) Institute is developing algorithms and software for combinatorial problems that play an enabling role in scientific and engineering computations. Discrete algorithms will be increasingly critical for achieving high performance for irregular problems on petascale architectures. This paper describes recent contributions by researchers at the CSCAPES Institute in the areas of load balancing, parallel graph coloring, performance improvement, and parallel automatic differentiation.