Prim’s algorithm

IDEA: Maintain V – A as a priority queue Q. Key

each vertex in Q with the weight of the least-
weight edge connecting it to a vertex in A.
QV
key[v]   for all v  V
key[s]  0 for some arbitrary s  V
while Q  
do u  EXTRACT-MIN(Q)
for each v  Adj[u]
do if v  Q and w(u, v) < key[v]
then key[v]  w(u, v) ⊳ DECREASE-KEY
p[v]  u
At the end, {(v, p[v])} forms the MST.
© 2001 by Charles E. Leiserson
 Example of Prim’s algorithm

A 
6 12
V–A
5 9
  
14 7
8 15
 0 
3 10


© 2001 by Charles E. Leiserson

 Example of Prim’s algorithm

A 
6 12
V–A
5 9
  
14 7
8 15
 0 
3 10


© 2001 by Charles E. Leiserson

 Example of Prim’s algorithm

A 
6 12
V–A
5 9
 7 
14 7
8 15
 0 15
3 10
10

© 2001 by Charles E. Leiserson

 Example of Prim’s algorithm

A 
6 12
V–A
5 9
 7 
14 7
8 15
 0 15
3 10
10

© 2001 by Charles E. Leiserson

 Example of Prim’s algorithm

A 12
6 12
V–A
5 9
5 7 9
14 7
8 15
 0 15
3 10
10

© 2001 by Charles E. Leiserson

 Example of Prim’s algorithm

A 12
6 12
V–A
5 9
5 7 9
14 7
8 15
 0 15
3 10
10

© 2001 by Charles E. Leiserson

 Example of Prim’s algorithm

A 6
6 12
V–A
5 9
5 7 9
14 7
8 15
14 0 15
3 10
8

© 2001 by Charles E. Leiserson

 Example of Prim’s algorithm

A 6
6 12
V–A
5 9
5 7 9
14 7
8 15
14 0 15
3 10
8

© 2001 by Charles E. Leiserson

 Example of Prim’s algorithm

A 6
6 12
V–A
5 9
5 7 9
14 7
8 15
14 0 15
3 10
8

© 2001 by Charles E. Leiserson

 Example of Prim’s algorithm

A 6
6 12
V–A
5 9
5 7 9
14 7
8 15
3 0 15
3 10
8

© 2001 by Charles E. Leiserson

 Example of Prim’s algorithm

A 6
6 12
V–A
5 9
5 7 9
14 7
8 15
3 0 15
3 10
8

© 2001 by Charles E. Leiserson

 Example of Prim’s algorithm

A 6
6 12
V–A
5 9
5 7 9
14 7
8 15
3 0 15
3 10
8

© 2001 by Charles E. Leiserson

 Example of Prim’s algorithm

A 6
6 12
V–A
5 9
5 7 9
14 7
8 15
3 0 15
3 10
8

© 2001 by Charles E. Leiserson

 Analysis of Prim
QV
Q(V) key[v]   for all v  V
total key[s]  0 for some arbitrary s  V
while Q  
do u  EXTRACT-MIN(Q)
|V | for each v  Adj[u]
times degree(u) do if v  Q and w(u, v) < key[v]
times then key[v]  w(u, v)
p[v]  u
Handshaking Lemma  Q(E) implicit DECREASE-KEY’s.
Time = Q(V)·TEXTRACT-MIN + Q(E)·TDECREASE-KEY
© 2001 by Charles E. Leiserson
 Analysis of Prim (continued)
Time = Q(V)·TEXTRACT-MIN + Q(E)·TDECREASE-KEY

Q TEXTRACT-MIN TDECREASE-KEY Total

array O(V) O(1) O(V2)

binary
heap O(lg V) O(lg V) O(E lg V)
Fibonacci O(lg V) O(1) O(E + V lg V)
heap amortized amortized worst case

© 2001 by Charles E. Leiserson

 MST algorithms
Kruskal’s algorithm (see CLRS):
• Uses the disjoint-set data structure (Lecture 20).
• Running time = O(E lg V).
Best to date:
• Karger, Klein, and Tarjan [1993].
• Randomized algorithm.
• O(V + E) expected time.

© 2001 by Charles E. Leiserson