Girth Approximations in the CONGEST Model
For distributed computing researchers, this work advances girth approximation in the CONGEST model with tighter tradeoffs and lower bounds, though improvements are incremental over prior work.
This paper provides improved girth approximation algorithms and lower bounds in the CONGEST model, achieving e.g., an f-approximation for unweighted undirected girth in Õ(n^{1/f}+D) rounds and a 2-approximation for directed unweighted girth in Õ(n^{2/3}+D) rounds, narrowing complexity gaps.
This paper advances the state of the art in girth approximation within the CONGEST model. Manoharan and Ramachandran [PODC '24] provided the first significant improvement in girth approximation in over a decade. We build on this momentum and make progress on all fronts: we provide a unified family of algorithms yielding girth approximation-round tradeoffs for undirected networks; we obtain improved bounds for directed networks; and we establish better lower bounds for directed and undirected weighted networks. Together, these results substantially narrow the remaining complexity gaps across all settings. Specifically, for networks with $n$ nodes and hop-diameter $D$, we show that one can compute, with high probability: $(1)$ An $f$-approximation for unweighted undirected girth in $\tilde{O}(n^{1/f}+D)$ rounds, for every constant integer $f>2$, $(2)$ A $(2k-1+o(1))$-approximation for weighted undirected girth in $\tilde{O}(n^{(k+1)/(2k+1)}+D)$ rounds, for every constant integer $k>1$, and $(3)$ A $2$-approximation for directed unweighted girth, and a $(2+\varepsilon)$-approximation for directed weighted girth, both in $\tilde{O}(n^{2/3}+D)$ rounds. We also prove new lower bounds for directed networks and for undirected weighted networks: for every integer $k > 2$ and $\varepsilon>0$, assuming the ErdÅs-Simonovits' even cycle conjecture (and unconditionally for $k\in\{3,4,6\}$), any $(k-\varepsilon)$-approximation for the girth requires $\tildeΩ(n^{k/(2k-1)})$ rounds, even when $D = O(\log n)$.