NIST

binomial heap

(data structure)

Definition: A heap made of a forest of binomial trees with the heap property numbered k=0, 1, 2, ..., n, each containing either 0 or 2k nodes. Each tree is formed by linking two of its predecessors, by joining one at the root of the other. The operations of insert a value, decrease a value, delete a value, and merge or join (meld) two queues take O(log n) time. The find minimum operation is a constant Θ(1).

Generalization (I am a kind of ...)
heap.

Aggregate parent (I am a part of or used in ...)
priority queue, Dijkstra's algorithm.

Aggregate child (... is a part of or used in me.)
binomial tree.

See also Fibonacci heap.

Note: Binomial heaps are so called because the number of nodes at each level of each subtree is a binomial coefficient. Sometimes called a binomial queue. After LK.

Author: PEB


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Entry modified 26 May 2011.
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Cite this as:
Paul E. Black, "binomial heap", in Dictionary of Algorithms and Data Structures [online], Vreda Pieterse and Paul E. Black, eds. 26 May 2011. (accessed TODAY) Available from: http://www.nist.gov/dads/HTML/binomialheap.html