算法导论学习笔记-找数组中第二小的数

The smallest of n numbers can be found with n − 1 comparisons by conducting a

tournament as follows: Compare all the numbers in pairs. Only the smaller of each

pair could possibly be the smallest of all n, so the problem has been reduced to that

of Þnding the smallest of n/2 numbers. Compare those numbers in pairs, and so

on, until there’s just one number left, which is the answer.

To see that this algorithm does exactly n −1 comparisons, notice that each number

except the smallest loses exactly once. To show this more formally, draw a binary

tree of the comparisons the algorithm does. The n numbers are the leaves, and each

number that came out smaller in a comparison is the parent of the two numbers that

were compared. Each non-leaf node of the tree represents a comparison, and there

are n − 1 internal nodes in an n-leaf full binary tree (see Exercise (B.5-3)), so

exactly n − 1 comparisons are made.

In the search for the smallest number, the second smallest number must have come

out smallest in every comparison made with it until it was eventually compared

with the smallest. So the second smallest is among the elements that were compared

with the smallest during the tournament. To Þnd it, conduct another tournament

(as above) to Þnd the smallest of these numbers. At most lg n (the height

of the tree of comparisons) elements were compared with the smallest, so Þnding

the smallest of these takes lg n − 1 comparisons in the worst case.

The total number of comparisons made in the two tournaments was

n − 1 + lg n − 1 = n + lg n − 2

in the worst case.