Definition
A specialized tree-based data structure used within RAG retrieval components to efficiently maintain an ordered set of the 'top-k' most similar vector results during a similarity search. In the context of AI agents, it serves as the underlying structure for priority queues that manage task execution order based on importance or urgency.
Refers to the priority-ordered data structure used for ranking, not the 'heap' region of RAM used for dynamic memory allocation.
"A fixed-size leaderboard that automatically ejects the lowest-scoring document the moment a more relevant one is found during a database scan."
- Top-k Retrieval(Functional Goal)
- Priority Queue(Abstract Implementation)
- Vector Similarity Search(Operational Context)
Conceptual Overview
A specialized tree-based data structure used within RAG retrieval components to efficiently maintain an ordered set of the 'top-k' most similar vector results during a similarity search. In the context of AI agents, it serves as the underlying structure for priority queues that manage task execution order based on importance or urgency.
Disambiguation
Refers to the priority-ordered data structure used for ranking, not the 'heap' region of RAM used for dynamic memory allocation.
Visual Analog
A fixed-size leaderboard that automatically ejects the lowest-scoring document the moment a more relevant one is found during a database scan.