An Introduction to Online Computation Determinism, Randomization, Advice

This textbook explains online computation in different settings, with particular emphasis on randomization and advice complexity. These settings are analyzed for various online problems such as the paging problem, the k-server problem, job shop scheduling, the knapsack problem, the bit guessing problem, and problems on graphs.

This book is appropriate for undergraduate and graduate students of computer science, assuming a basic knowledge in algorithmics and discrete mathematics. Also researchers will find this a valuable reference for the recent field of advice complexity.

Introduction.- Randomization.- Advice Complexity.- The k-Server Problem.- Job Shop Scheduling.- The Knapsack Problem.- The Bit Guessing Problem.- Problems on Graphs.

Dr. Dennis Komm is a lecturer in the Chair of Information Technology and Education at ETH Zürich. His research interests include approximation algorithms for hard optimization problems, re-optimization of optimization problems, and advice complexity in different setups and environments.