Stochastic switching circuits are relay circuits that consist of stochastic switches called pswitches. The study of stochastic switching circuits has widespread applications in many fields of computer science, neuroscience, and biochemistry. In this paper, we discuss several properties of stochastic switching circuits, including robustness, expressibility, and probability approximation. First, we study the robustness, namely, the effect caused by introducing an error of size Є to each pswitch in a stochastic circuit. We analyze two constructions and prove that simple series-parallel circuits are robust to small error perturbations, while general series-parallel circuits are not. Specifically, the total error introduced by perturbations of size less than Є is bounded by a constant multiple of Є in a simple series-parallel circuit, independent of the size of the circuit. Next, we study the expressibility of stochastic switching circuits: Given an integer q and a pswitch set S = 1 q,2 q,...,q-1 q , can we synthesize any rational probability with denominator q^n (for arbitrary n) with a simple series-parallel stochastic switching circuit? We generalize previous results and prove that when q is a multiple of 2 or 3, the answer is yes. We also show that when q is a prime number larger than 3, the answer is no. Probability approximation is studied for a general case of an arbitrary pswitch set S = s_1, s_2,... , s_(|S|) . In this case, we propose an algorithm based on local optimization to approximate any desired probability. The analysis reveals that the approximation error of a switching circuit decreases exponentially with an increasing circuit size.
In the rest of this section, we introduce the original work that started the study on stochastic switching circuits (Wilhelm and Bruck @cite_4 ). Similar to resistor circuits @cite_9 , connecting one terminal of a switching circuit @math (where @math ) to one terminal of a circuit @math (where @math ) places them in series. The resulting circuit is closed if and only if both of @math and @math are closed, so the probability of the resulting circuit is @math Connecting both terminals of @math and @math together places the circuits in parallel. The resulting circuit is closed if and only if either @math or @math is closed, so the probability of the resulting circuit is @math Based on these rules, we can calculate the probability of any given ssp or sp circuit. For example, the probability of the circuit in Fig. (a) is @math and the probability of the circuit in Fig. (b) is @math
@cite_9 @cite_4
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Shannon in his 1938 Masterpsilas Thesis demonstrated that any Boolean function can be realized by a switching relay circuit, leading to the development of deterministic digital logic. Here, we replace each classical switch with a probabilistic switch (pswitch). We present algorithms for synthesizing circuits closed with a desired probability, including an algorithm that generates optimal size circuits for any binary fraction. We also introduce a new duality property for series-parallel stochastic switching circuits. Finally, we construct a universal probability generator which maps deterministic inputs to arbitrary probabilistic outputs. Potential applications exist in the analysis and design of stochastic networks in biology and engineering. We consider the Steiner tree problem in graphs under uncertainty, the so-called two-stage stochastic Steiner tree problem (SSTP). The problem consists of two stages: In the first stage, we do not know which nodes need to be connected. Instead, we know costs at which we may buy edges, and a set of possible scenarios one of which will arise in the second stage. Each scenario consists of its own terminal set, a probability, and second-stage edge costs. We want to find a selection of first-stage edges and second-stage edges for each scenario that minimizes the expected costs and satisfies all connectivity requirements. We show that SSTP is in the class of fixed-parameter tractable problems (FPT), parameterized by the number of terminals. Additionally, we transfer our results to the directed and the prize-collecting variant of SSTP. The classic all-terminal network reliability problem posits a graph, each of whose edges fails independently with some given probability. The goal is to determine the probability that the network becomes disconnected due to edge failures. This problem has obvious applications in the design of communication networks. Since the problem is @math -complete and thus believed hard to solve exactly, a great deal of research has been devoted to estimating the failure probability. In this paper, we give a fully polynomial randomized approximation scheme that, given any n-vertex graph with specified failure probabilities, computes in time polynomial in n and @math an estimate for the failure probability that is accurate to within a relative error of @math with high probability. We also give a deterministic polynomial approximation scheme for the case of small failure probabilities. Some extensions to evaluating probabilities of @math -connectivity, strong connectivity in directed Eulerian graphs and @math -way disconnection, and to evaluating the Tutte polynomial are also described. This version of the paper corrects several errata that appeared in the previous journal publication [D. R. Karger, SIAM J. Comput., 29 (1999), pp. 492--514]. We investigate the clustering performances of the relaxed @math means in the setting of sub-Gaussian Mixture Model (sGMM) and Stochastic Block Model (SBM). After identifying the appropriate signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), we prove that the misclassification error decay exponentially fast with respect to this SNR. These partial recovery bounds for the relaxed @math means improve upon results currently known in the sGMM setting. In the SBM setting, applying the relaxed @math means SDP allows to handle general connection probabilities whereas other SDPs investigated in the literature are restricted to the assortative case (where within group probabilities are larger than between group probabilities). Again, this partial recovery bound complements the state-of-the-art results. All together, these results put forward the versatility of the relaxed @math means.