An Almost Optimal Algorithm for Unbounded Searching

Unbounded searching can be viewed as searching an ordered table of infinite size. In this paper we present an algorithm for unbounded searching and derive a lower bound on the number of comparisons required which shows that the algorithm is very nearly optimal. (Submitted to Information Processing Letters) * Work supported in part by U. S. Energy Research and Development Administration under contract E(dl-3)515 and in part by a National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship. * Work was done while this author was at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center.