Master Theorem

The master theorem provides a general boilerplate solution for solving recurrence relations (like divide and conquer algorithms) that satisfy a particular format.

Definition

Let Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle f} be an increasing function satisfying a recurrence relation:

Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle f(n) = af\left(\frac{n}{b}\right) + cn^d}

Whenever

• $n=b^{k}$ for some Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle k\ge1} , Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle a \ge 1}
• Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle b} is an integer > 1
• Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle c} and Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle d} are real numbers ≥ 0

Then

$f(n)=af\left({\frac {n}{b}}\right)+cn^{d}={\begin{cases}\Theta \left(n^{d}\right)&a<b^{d}\\\Theta \left(n^{d}\log {n}\right)&a=b^{d}\\\Theta \left(n^{\log _{b}{a}}\right)&a>b^{d}\end{cases}}$

Proof

Proposition. If Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle a=b^d} and Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle n} is a power of Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle b} , then a function Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle f} satisfying the recurrence relation Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle f(n) = af(n/b) + cn^d} is of the form $f(n)=f(1)n^{d}+cn^{d}\log _{b}{n}$

Proof. Let Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle k = \log_b{n}} . Then

Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \begin{align} f(n) &= cn^d + ac\left(\frac{n}{b}\right)^d+a^2c\left(\frac{n}{b^2}\right)^d+\dots+a^{k-1}c\left(\frac{n}{b^{k-1}}\right)^d+a^kf(1) \\ &= a^k f(1) + \sum_{j=0}^{k-1} a^jc\left(\frac{n}{b^j}\right)^d \\ &= a^k f(1) + \sum_{j=0}^{k-1} cn^d \\ &= a^k f(1) + kcn^d \\ &= a^{\log_b{n}} f(1) + c(\log_b{n})n^d \\ &= b^{d\log_b{n}} f(1) + c(\log_b{n})n^d \\ &= n^d f(1) + c(\log_b{n})n^d \\ &= O(n^d \log{n}) \end{align}}