Discuss the history and origins of algorithms for constructing minimum spanning trees.

It is standard practice among authors discussing the minimum spanning tree problem to refer to the work of Kruskal(1956) and Prim (1957) as the sources of the problem and its first efficient solutions, despite the citation by both of Boruvka (1926) as a predecessor. In fact, there are several apparently independent sources and algorithmic solutions of the problem. They have appeared in Czechoslovakia, France, and Poland, going back to the beginning of this century. We shall explore and compare these works and their motivations, and relate them to the most recent advances on the minimum spanning tree problem. Algorithms are presented that construct the shortest connecting network, or minimal spanning tree (MST), of N points embedded in k-dimensional coordinate space. These algorithms take advantage of the geometry of such spaces to substantially reduce the computation from that required to construct MST's of more general graphs. An algorithm is also presented that constructs a spanning tree that is very nearly minimal with computation proportional to N log N for all k. Minimum spanning tree present two efcient algorithms for constructing minimum spanning trees,namely, Kruskals algorithm [45] and Prims algorithm [58]. Kruskals algorithm is also called the greedy algorithm. Given a set of objects, the greedy algorithm attempts to nd a feasible subset with minimumobjective value by repeatedly choosing an object of minimum cost amongthe unchosen ones and adding it to the current subset provided the resulting subset is feasible. In particular, Kruskals algorithm works by repeatedly choosing an edge of minimum cost among the edges not chosen so far, and adding this edge to the current spanning forest provided this does not create a cycle. The algorithm terminates when the current spanning forest becomes connected. Prims algorithm starts with a current tree T that consists of a single node. In each iteration, a minimum-cost edge in the boundary (V (T)) of T is added to T, and this is repeated till T is a spanning tree.

Explain how Alpha-beta pruning can be used to simplify the computation of the value of a game tree. Alpha-beta pruning is a search algorithm that seeks to decrease the number of nodes that are evaluated by the minimax algorithm in its search tree. It is an adversarial search algorithm used commonly for machine playing of two-player games (Tic-tac-toe, Chess, Go, etc.). It stops completely evaluating a move when at least one possibility has been found that proves the move to be worse than a previously examined move. Such moves need not be evaluated further. When applied to a standard minimax tree, it returns the same move as minimax would, but prunes away branches that cannot possibly influence the final decision. This thesis studies the theory and practice of forward pruning in game-tree search. It presents research on applications of forward pruning in game-tree search to solve and play games, and a theoretical analysis of forward pruning in game-tree search. game-tree search and search enhancements, and outline how they are employed in game-playing programs. AI techniques have been applied to board games for the past 40 years. For example, Chess has been a popular testbed for AI techniques, and one of the most memorable result of such research is the defeat of reigning world champion Garry Kasparov to a computer system named DEEP BLUE under regular time controls in 1997. The underlying algorithm typically used for AI in board games is based on the Minimax paradigm. The Minimax paradigm can be implemented by game-tree search algorithms. In this thesis, we will focus on two-player zero-sum games with perfect information. The term two-player simply refers to a game that involves two players. term perfect information means that the states of the game are completely visible to all players. In contrast, the term imperfect information means that states of the game are only partially observable, and therefore some relevant information is hidden from the players. Zero-sum means that the gain of a player is the loss of his or her opponent. Let scoreA(p) and scoreB(p) represent the scores of A and B in position p respectively. In a zero-sum game, it is necessary that scoreA(p) + scoreB(p) = 0 p. This is equivalent to saying that there is no move that benets both players simultaneously.