Paths in graphs

Consider a digraph G = (V, E) with edge-weight

function w : E  R. The weight of path p = v1 
v2  L  vk is defined to be
k 1
w( p )   w(vi , vi 1 ) .
i 1
Example:
v 4 –2
v –5 1
v
1 v 3 v 5
2 4 w(p) = –2

L14.2
 Shortest paths
A shortest path from u to v is a path of
minimum weight from u to v. The shortest-
path weight from u to v is defined as
d(u, v) = min{w(p) : p is a path from u to v}.

Note: d(u, v) =  if no path from u to v exists.

L14.3
 Well-definedness of shortest
paths
If a graph G contains a negative-weight cycle,
then some shortest paths may not exist.

Example: …

<0

u v

L14.6
 Single-source shortest paths
Problem. From a given source vertex s  V, find
the shortest-path weights d(s, v) for all v  V.
If all edge weights w(u, v) are nonnegative, all
shortest-path weights must exist.
IDEA: Greedy.
1. Maintain a set S of vertices whose shortest-
path distances from s are known.
2. At each step add to S the vertex v  V – S
whose distance estimate from s is minimal.
3. Update the distance estimates of vertices
adjacent to v.
L14.7
 Dijkstra’s algorithm
d[s]  0
for each v  V – {s}
do d[v]  
S
QV ⊳ Q is a priority queue maintaining V – S
while Q  
do u  EXTRACT-MIN(Q)
S  S  {u}
for each v  Adj[u]
do if d[v] > d[u] + w(u, v) relaxation
then d[v]  d[u] + w(u, v) step
Implicit DECREASE-KEY
L14.8
 Example of Dijkstra’s
algorithm
Graph with 2
B D
nonnegative 10
edge weights: 8
A 1 4 7 9

3
C 2 E

L14.9
 Example of Dijkstra’s
algorithm
 
Initialize: 2
B D
10
8
0 A 1 4 7 9

3
Q: A B C D E C 2 E
0      

S: {}

L14.10
 Example of Dijkstra’s
algorithm
 
“A”  EXTRACT-MIN(Q): 2
B D
10
8
0 A 1 4 7 9

3
Q: A B C D E C 2 E
0      

S: { A }

L14.11
 Example of Dijkstra’s
algorithm
10 
Relax all edges leaving A: 2
B D
10
8
0 A 1 4 7 9

3
Q: A B C D E C 2 E
0     3 
10 3  

S: { A }

L14.12
 Example of Dijkstra’s
algorithm
10 
“C”  EXTRACT-MIN(Q): 2
B D
10
8
0 A 1 4 7 9

3
Q: A B C D E C 2 E
0     3 
10 3  

S: { A, C }

L14.13
 Example of Dijkstra’s
algorithm
Relax all edges leaving C: 7 11
2
B D
10
8
0 A 1 4 7 9

3
Q: A B C D E C 2 E
0     3 5
10 3  
7 11 5
S: { A, C }

L14.14
 Example of Dijkstra’s
algorithm
“E”  EXTRACT-MIN(Q): 7 11
2
B D
10
8
0 A 1 4 7 9

3
Q: A B C D E C 2 E
0     3 5
10 3  
7 11 5
S: { A, C, E }

L14.15
 Example of Dijkstra’s
algorithm
Relax all edges leaving E: 7 11
2
B D
10
8
0 A 1 4 7 9

3
Q: A B C D E C 2 E
0     3 5
10 3  
7 11 5
7 11 S: { A, C, E }

L14.16
 Example of Dijkstra’s
algorithm
“B”  EXTRACT-MIN(Q): 7 11
2
B D
10
8
0 A 1 4 7 9

3
Q: A B C D E C 2 E
0     3 5
10 3  
7 11 5
7 11 S: { A, C, E, B }

L14.17
 Example of Dijkstra’s
algorithm
Relax all edges leaving B: 7 9
2
B D
10
8
0 A 1 4 7 9

3
Q: A B C D E C 2 E
0     3 5
10 3  
7 11 5
7 11 S: { A, C, E, B }
9
L14.18
 Example of Dijkstra’s
algorithm
“D”  EXTRACT-MIN(Q): 7 9
2
B D
10
8
0 A 1 4 7 9

3
Q: A B C D E C 2 E
0     3 5
10 3  
7 11 5
7 11 S: { A, C, E, B, D }
9
L14.19
 Analysis of Dijkstra
while Q  
do u  EXTRACT-MIN(Q)
|V | S  S  {u}
times for each v  Adj[u]
degree(u) do if d[v] > d[u] + w(u, v)
times then d[v]  d[u] + w(u, v)

Handshaking Lemma  Q(E) implicit DECREASE-KEY’s.

Time = Q(V)·TEXTRACT-MIN + Q(E)·TDECREASE-KEY
Note: Same formula as in the analysis of Prim’s
minimum spanning tree algorithm.
L14.23