View article

It is well-known that non-comparison-based techniques can allow us to sort n elements in o(n log n) time on a Random-Access Machine (RAM). On the other hand, it is a long-standing open question whether (non-comparison-based) circuits can sort n elements from the domain [1‥2^k] with o(kn log n) boolean gates. We consider weakened forms of this question: first, we consider a restricted class of sorting where the number of distinct keys is much smaller than the input length; and second, we explore Oblivious RAMs and probabilistic circuit families, i.e., computational models that are somewhat more powerful than circuits but much weaker than RAM. We show that Oblivious RAMs and probabilistic circuit families can sort o(log n)-bit keys in o(n log n) time or o(kn log n) circuit complexity. Our algorithms work in the indivisible model, i.e., not only can they sort an array of numerical keys — if each key additionally …