Introduction to Algorithms October 1, 2004
Massachusetts Institute of Technology 6.046J/18.410J
Professors Piotr Indyk and Charles E. Leiserson Handout 9
Problem Set 2 Solutions
Reading: Chapters 5-9, excluding 5.4 and 8.4
Both exercises and problems should be solved, but only the problems should be turned in.
Exercises are intended to help you master the course material. Even though you should not turn in
the exercise solutions, you are responsible for material covered in the exercises.
Mark the top of each sheet with your name, the course number, the problem number, your
recitation section, the date and the names of any students with whom you collaborated.
You will often be called upon to “give an algorithm” to solve a certain problem. Your write-up
should take the form of a short essay. A topic paragraph should summarize the problem you are
solving and what your results are. The body of the essay should provide the following:
1. A description of the algorithm in English and, if helpful, pseudo-code.
2. At least one worked example or diagram to show more precisely how your algorithm works.
3. A proof (or indication) of the correctness of the algorithm.
4. An analysis of the running time of the algorithm.
Remember, your goal is to communicate. Full credit will be given only to correct algorithms
which are which are described clearly. Convoluted and obtuse descriptions will receive low marks.
Exercise 2-1. Do Exercise 5.2-4 on page 98 in CLRS.
Exercise 2-2. Do Exercise 8.2-3 on page 170 in CLRS.
Problem 2-1. Randomized Evaluation of Polynomials
In this problem, we consider testing the equivalence of two polynomials in a finite field.
A field is a set of elements for which there are addition and multiplication operations that satisfy
commutativity, associativity, and distributivity. Each element in a field must have an additive and
multiplicative identity, as well as an additive and multiplicative inverse. Examples of fields include
the real and rational numbers.
A finite field has a finite number of elements. In this problem, we consider the field of integers
modulo p. That is, we consider two integers a and b to be “equal” if and only if they have the same
remainder when divided by p, in which case we write a ≡ b mod p. This field, which we denote as
Z/p, has p elements, {0, . . . , p − 1}.