On multistage learning a hidden hypergraph

Learning a hidden hypergraph is a natural generalization of the classical group testing problem that consists in detecting unknown hypergraph H
_un
= H(V, E) by carrying out edge-detecting tests. In the given paper we focus our attention only on a specific family F(t, s, ℓ) of localized hypergraphs for which the total number of vertices |V| = t, the number of edges |E| ≤ s, s ≪ t, and the cardinality of any edge |e| ≤ ℓ, ℓ ≪ t. Our goal is to identify all edges of H
_un
∈ F(t, s, ℓ) by using the minimal number of tests. We develop an adaptive algorithm that matches the information theory bound, i.e., the total number of tests of the algorithm in the worst case is at most sℓ log
₂
t(1+o(1)). We also discuss a probabilistic generalization of the problem.