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I am stuck on solving this problem and cannot understand how is the ceiling function omitted or solved. Please help.

The equation:

$\sum_{h=0}^{\lfloor\lg n\rfloor} \lceil\frac{n}{2^{h+1}}\rceil O(h) $.

But this transformed to:

$O\left(n \sum_{h=0}^{\lfloor\lg n\rfloor} \frac{h}{2^h}\right)$

My question concerns on omitting the ceiling function. I'm not clear on whether it was omitted or solved.

This has been taken from CLRS Section $6.3$ Building a Heap.

Please help me out. Thank you.

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1 Answer 1

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$$ \begin{align*} \sum_{h=0}^{\lfloor\lg n\rfloor} \left\lceil\frac{n}{2^{h+1}}\right\rceil O(h) &< \sum_{h=0}^{\lfloor\lg n\rfloor} \left(1+ \frac{n}{2^{h+1}}\right) O(h) \\ &< \sum_{h=0}^{\lfloor\lg n\rfloor} \left(\frac{n}{2^h} + \frac{n}{2^h}\right) O(h) = 2n \sum_{h=0}^{\lfloor\lg n\rfloor} \frac{ O(h) }{2^h} = O\left(n \sum_{h=0}^{\lfloor\lg n\rfloor} \frac{ h }{2^h}\right). \end{align*} $$.

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  • $\begingroup$ Thank you. I understood it. Please upvote my question if it's suitable. $\endgroup$ Apr 8, 2020 at 10:25
  • $\begingroup$ Could you please let me know how inequality replaced with equality. $\endgroup$ Apr 8, 2020 at 11:31
  • $\begingroup$ The equal sign refers to the last term on the first row. I'm just writing $\frac{n}{2^h} + \frac{n}{2^h}$ as $2 \frac{n}{2^h}$ and gathering the factors that do not depend on $h$. $\endgroup$
    – Steven
    Apr 8, 2020 at 12:29
  • $\begingroup$ $\sum_{h=0}^{\lfloor\lg n\rfloor} \lceil\frac{n}{2^{h+1}}\rceil O(h) = O\left(n \sum_{h=0}^{\lfloor\lg n\rfloor} \frac{ h }{2^h}\right).$ Just curious on knowing how is inequality replaced with an equal to. $\endgroup$ Apr 8, 2020 at 14:05
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    $\begingroup$ In particular, when the book writes $\sum_{h=0}^{\lfloor \lg n \rfloor} \lceil \frac{n}{2^{h+1}} \rceil O(h) = O( n \sum_{h=0}^{\lfloor \lg n \rfloor} \frac{h}{2^h} )$, you should interpret it as: $\forall f(h) \in O(h)$ it holds that $\sum_{h=0}^{\lfloor \lg n \rfloor} \lceil \frac{n}{2^{h+1}} \rceil f(h) \in O( n \sum_{h=0}^{\lfloor \lg n \rfloor} \frac{h}{2^h} )$. $\endgroup$
    – Steven
    Apr 8, 2020 at 14:58

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