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Dijkstra's Algorithm


Dijkstra's algorithm is an algorithm for finding a graph geodesic, i.e., the shortest path between two graph vertices in a graph. It functions by constructing a shortest-path tree from the initial vertex to every other vertex in the graph.

The algorithm is implemented in the Wolfram Language as FindShortestPath[g, Method -> "Dijkstra"].

The worst-case running time for the Dijkstra algorithm on a graph with n nodes and m edges is O(n^2) because it allows for directed cycles. It even finds the shortest paths from a source node s to all other nodes in the graph. This is basically O(n^2) for node selection and O(m) for distance updates. While O(n^2) is the best possible complexity for dense graphs, the complexity can be improved significantly for sparse graphs.

With slight modifications, Dijkstra's algorithm can be used as a reverse algorithm that maintains minimum spanning trees for the sink node. With further modifications, it can be extended to become bidirectional.

The bottleneck in Dijkstra's algorithm is node selection. However, using Dial's implementation, this can be significantly improved for sparse graphs.

In the Season 3 episode "Money For Nothing" (2007) of the television crime drama NUMB3RS, mathematics professor Charlie Eppes uses Dijkstra's algorithm to find the most likely escape routes out of Los Angeles for a hijacked truck that is carrying millions of dollars in cash and medical supplies and also two kidnapping victims.

Haeupler et al. (2024) proved that Dijkstra's algorithm is universally optimal both in its running time and number of comparisons when combined with a sufficiently efficient heap data structure. This result provides a powerful beyond-worst-case performance guarantee for graph algorithms. Informally speaking, it means that Dijkstra's algorithm performs as well as possible for every possible graph topology (Haeupler et al. 2024).


See also

All-Pairs Shortest Path, Bellman-Ford Algorithm, Floyd-Warshall Algorithm, Graph Distance, Graph Geodesic, Reaching Algorithm, Shortest Path, Shortest Path Problem

Portions of this entry contributed by Andreas Lauschke

Portions of this entry contributed by Len Goodman

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References

Dijkstra, E. W. "A Note on Two Problems in Connection with Graphs." Numerische Math. 1, 269-271, 1959.Haeupler, B.; Hladík, R.; Rozhoň, V., Tarjan, R.; and Tetek, J. "Universal Optimality of Dijkstra via Beyond-Worst-Case Heaps." 9 Apr 2024. https://arxiv.org/abs/2311.11793.Skiena, S. "Dijkstra's Algorithm." §6.1.1 in Implementing Discrete Mathematics: Combinatorics and Graph Theory with Mathematica. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, pp. 225-227, 1990.Whiting, P. D. and Hillier, J. A. "A Method for Finding the Shortest Route through a Road Network." Operational Res. Quart. 11, 37-40, 1960.

Referenced on Wolfram|Alpha

Dijkstra's Algorithm

Cite this as:

Goodman, Len; Lauschke, Andreas; and Weisstein, Eric W. "Dijkstra's Algorithm." From MathWorld--A Wolfram Web Resource. https://mathworld.wolfram.com/DijkstrasAlgorithm.html

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