Lecture 4 – Uninformed Search

September 24, 2023 1

  Uninformed search strategies use only the
information available in the problem definition

 Breadth-first search

 Uniform-cost search

 Depth-first search

 Depth-limited search

 Iterative deepening search

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  Expand shallowest unexpanded node
 Implementation:
 fringe is a FIFO queue, i.e., new successors go
at end

September 24, 2023 3

  Expand shallowest unexpanded node
 Implementation:
 fringe is a FIFO queue, i.e., new successors go
at end

September 24, 2023 4

  Expand shallowest unexpanded node
 Implementation:
 fringe is a FIFO queue, i.e., new successors go
at end

September 24, 2023 5

  Expand shallowest unexpanded node
 Implementation:
 fringe is a FIFO queue, i.e., new successors go
at end

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  Complete? Yes (if b is finite)

 Time? 1+b+b2+b3+… +bd + b(bd-1) =

O(bd+1)

 Space? O(bd+1) (keeps every node in

memory)

 Optimal? Yes (if cost = 1 per step)

 Space is the bigger problem (more than

time).
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 We can have search graphs (instead of trees)
 Hence paths can go backwards, ABCB
 Can get paths with loops ABCDB

 We can also have multiple paths to a node

 From them, we are interested in the min-cost
path

 The Loop problem is that we “rediscover” nodes

that the search has already discovered

 Need to consider methods to suppress nodes that

have already been visited.

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Consider the following
problem…

A
1 10

5 5
S B G

15 5
C

We wish to find the shortest route from node S to node G; that is, node S is the
initial state and node G is the goal state. In terms of path cost, we can clearly
see that the route SBG is the cheapest route. However, if we let breadth-first
search loose on the problem it will find the non-optimal path SAG, assuming
that A is the first node to be expanded at level 1.
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A
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The goal state is achieved and the

15 path S-B-G is returned. In relation
C to path cost, UCS has found the
optimal route.

Size of Queue: 0
1
3 Queue: Empty
S 10G
A,
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, 11
GC,11C, C15

Nodes expanded: 3
0
1
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action: Expanding
Waiting….
Backtracking
SEARCH Current level: 2
n/a
0
1

UNIFORM COST SEARCH PATTERN

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  Expand least-cost unexpanded node
 Implementation:
 fringe = queue ordered by path cost
 Equivalent to breadth-first if step costs all equal
 Complete? Yes, if step cost ≥ ε
 Time? O(bceiling(C*/ ε)) where C* is the cost of the
optimal solution
 Space? O(bceiling(C*/ ε))
 Optimal? Yes – given the condition of
completeness – you always expand the node
with lowest cost
 O(bceiling(C*/ ε)) can be greater than Ob/d

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  Expand deepest unexpanded node
 Implementation:
 fringe is a LIFO queue, i.e., put successors in
the front

September 24, 2023 16

  Expand deepest unexpanded node
 Implementation:
 fringe is a LIFO queue, i.e., put successors in
the front

September 24, 2023 17

  Expand deepest unexpanded node
 Implementation:
 fringe is a LIFO queue, i.e., put successors in
the front

September 24, 2023 18

  Expand deepest unexpanded node
 Implementation:
 fringe is a LIFO queue, i.e., put successors in
the front

September 24, 2023 19

  Expand deepest unexpanded node
 Implementation:
 fringe is a LIFO queue, i.e., put successors in
the front

September 24, 2023 20

  Expand deepest unexpanded node
 Implementation:
 fringe is a LIFO queue, i.e., put successors in
the front

September 24, 2023 21

  Expand deepest unexpanded node
 Implementation:
 fringe is a LIFO queue, i.e., put successors in
the front

September 24, 2023 22

  Complete? No: fails in infinite-depth
spaces, spaces with loops
 Complete in finite spaces
 Time? O(bm): terrible if m is much larger
than d
 But if solutions are dense, may be much
faster than breadth-first
 Space? O(bm), i.e., linear space!
 Optimal? No

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  Depth-first search with depth limit l, i.e., nodes
at depth l have no successors
 Recursive implementation:

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  Complete? NO. Why? (l < d OR l > d)

 Time? O(bl)

 Space? O(bl)

 Depth-first is a special case of depth-limited

with l being infinite.

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  Number of nodes generated in a depth-limited
search to depth d with branching factor b:
NDLS = b0 + b1 + b2 + … + bd-2 + bd-1 + bd

 Number of nodes generated in an iterative

deepening search to depth d with branching
factor b:
NIDS = (d+1)b0 + d b1 + (d-1)b2 + … + 3bd-2
+2bd-1 + 1bd
 For b = 10, d = 5,

N
DLS = 1 + 10 + 100 + 1,000 + 10,000 +
100,000 = 111,111
N
IDS = 6 + 50 + 400 + 3,000 + 20,000 +
100,000 = 123,456
 Overhead = (123,456 - 111,111)/111,111 =
11%
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  Complete? Yes

 Time? (d+1)b0 + d b1 + (d-1)b2 + … + bd =

O(bd)

 Space? O(bd)

 Optimal? Yes, if step cost = 1

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