# In pursuit of the dynamic optimality conjecture

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/1306.0207 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/1306.0207/

## Key facts

- Cited by 1 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 2 Jun 2013.

## Built on by (most cited first, 1 of 1)

- [On the Power of Learning-Augmented Search Trees](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2211.09251/) (2022)

## Abstract (arXiv)

In 1985, Sleator and Tarjan introduced the splay tree, a self-adjusting binary search tree algorithm. Splay trees were conjectured to perform within a constant factor as any offline rotation-based search tree algorithm on every sufficiently long sequence---any binary search tree algorithm that has this property is said to be dynamically optimal. However, currently neither splay trees nor any other tree algorithm is known to be dynamically optimal. Here we survey the progress that has been made in the almost thirty years since the conjecture was first formulated, and present a binary search tree algorithm that is dynamically optimal if any binary search tree algorithm is dynamically optimal.