System and method for top-k searching using parallel processing

A system comprising a plurality of processors, memory, and a communications platform in communication with a network for retrieving documents for a search, comprising:

• a query decomposition unit configured to receive a query comprising a plurality of terms;
• a plurality of query term based searchers each being configured to:
• obtain a posting list of one or more content items for a term of the plurality of terms, the posting list comprising a ranked list of term scores corresponding to the one or more content items, each of the term scores being indicative of a level of relevance of a corresponding content item to a term associated with the posting list, and
• determine a list of relevant content items for the query based on the term scores in the posting list for the one or more content items identified with respect to the term;
• and
• a query search result aggregator configured to provide at least one of the relevant content items as a response to the query.

A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions for retrieving content items for a search that, when executed by one or more of a plurality of processors, cause a computing device to:

• receive a query comprising a plurality of terms;
• obtain, for each of the plurality of terms, a posting list of one or more content items, the posting list comprising a ranked list of term scores corresponding to the one or more content items, each of the term scores being indicative of a level of relevance of a corresponding content item to a term associated with the posting list;
• determine a list of relevant content items for the query based on the term scores in each posting list for the one or more content items identified with respect to each term;
• and
• provide at least one of the relevant content items as a response to the query.