A Three-String Approach to the Closest String Problem

Zhi-Zhong Chen, Bin Ma, Lusheng Wang

Research output: Chapters, Conference Papers, Creative and Literary WorksRGC 32 - Refereed conference paper (with host publication)peer-review

Abstract

Given a set of n strings of length L and a radius d, the closest string problem asks for a new string t sol that is within a Hamming distance of d to each of the given strings. It is known that the problem is NP-hard and its optimization version admits a polynomial time approximation scheme (PTAS). Parameterized algorithms have been then developed to solve the problem when d is small. In this paper, with a new approach (called the 3-string approach), we first design a parameterized algorithm for binary strings that runs in time, while the previous best runs in O (nL + nd6.731d) time, while the previous best runs in O (nL + nd8d) time. We then extend the algorithm to arbitrary alphabet sizes, obtaining an algorithm that runs in O (nL + nd1.612d (α2 + 1 − 2α−1 + α−2)3d) time, where α = 3√ √|Σ| − 1 + 1. This new time bound is better than the previous best for small alphabets, including the very important case where |∑|=4 (i.e., the case of DNA strings).
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationComputing and Combinatorics
EditorsMy T. Thai, Sartaj Sahni
Pages449-458
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jul 2010
Event16th Annual International Computing and Combinatorics Conference (COCOON 2010) - Nha Trang, Viet Nam
Duration: 19 Jul 201021 Jul 2010

Publication series

NameLecture Notes in Computer Science
Volume6196
ISSN (Print)0302-9743
ISSN (Electronic)1611-3349

Conference

Conference16th Annual International Computing and Combinatorics Conference (COCOON 2010)
PlaceViet Nam
CityNha Trang
Period19/07/1021/07/10

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