270 research outputs found
Datalog and Constraint Satisfaction with Infinite Templates
On finite structures, there is a well-known connection between the expressive
power of Datalog, finite variable logics, the existential pebble game, and
bounded hypertree duality. We study this connection for infinite structures.
This has applications for constraint satisfaction with infinite templates. If
the template Gamma is omega-categorical, we present various equivalent
characterizations of those Gamma such that the constraint satisfaction problem
(CSP) for Gamma can be solved by a Datalog program. We also show that
CSP(Gamma) can be solved in polynomial time for arbitrary omega-categorical
structures Gamma if the input is restricted to instances of bounded treewidth.
Finally, we characterize those omega-categorical templates whose CSP has
Datalog width 1, and those whose CSP has strict Datalog width k.Comment: 28 pages. This is an extended long version of a conference paper that
appeared at STACS'06. In the third version in the arxiv we have revised the
presentation again and added a section that relates our results to
formalizations of CSPs using relation algebra
Rewritability in Monadic Disjunctive Datalog, MMSNP, and Expressive Description Logics
We study rewritability of monadic disjunctive Datalog programs, (the
complements of) MMSNP sentences, and ontology-mediated queries (OMQs) based on
expressive description logics of the ALC family and on conjunctive queries. We
show that rewritability into FO and into monadic Datalog (MDLog) are decidable,
and that rewritability into Datalog is decidable when the original query
satisfies a certain condition related to equality. We establish
2NExpTime-completeness for all studied problems except rewritability into MDLog
for which there remains a gap between 2NExpTime and 3ExpTime. We also analyze
the shape of rewritings, which in the MMSNP case correspond to obstructions,
and give a new construction of canonical Datalog programs that is more
elementary than existing ones and also applies to formulas with free variables
Linear Datalog and Bounded Path Duality of Relational Structures
In this paper we systematically investigate the connections between logics
with a finite number of variables, structures of bounded pathwidth, and linear
Datalog Programs. We prove that, in the context of Constraint Satisfaction
Problems, all these concepts correspond to different mathematical embodiments
of a unique robust notion that we call bounded path duality. We also study the
computational complexity implications of the notion of bounded path duality. We
show that every constraint satisfaction problem \csp(\best) with bounded path
duality is solvable in NL and that this notion explains in a uniform way all
families of CSPs known to be in NL. Finally, we use the results developed in
the paper to identify new problems in NL
Does Treewidth Help in Modal Satisfiability?
Many tractable algorithms for solving the Constraint Satisfaction Problem
(CSP) have been developed using the notion of the treewidth of some graph
derived from the input CSP instance. In particular, the incidence graph of the
CSP instance is one such graph. We introduce the notion of an incidence graph
for modal logic formulae in a certain normal form. We investigate the
parameterized complexity of modal satisfiability with the modal depth of the
formula and the treewidth of the incidence graph as parameters. For various
combinations of Euclidean, reflexive, symmetric and transitive models, we show
either that modal satisfiability is FPT, or that it is W[1]-hard. In
particular, modal satisfiability in general models is FPT, while it is
W[1]-hard in transitive models. As might be expected, modal satisfiability in
transitive and Euclidean models is FPT.Comment: Full version of the paper appearing in MFCS 2010. Change from v1:
improved section 5 to avoid exponential blow-up in formula siz
On the Complexity of Existential Positive Queries
We systematically investigate the complexity of model checking the
existential positive fragment of first-order logic. In particular, for a set of
existential positive sentences, we consider model checking where the sentence
is restricted to fall into the set; a natural question is then to classify
which sentence sets are tractable and which are intractable. With respect to
fixed-parameter tractability, we give a general theorem that reduces this
classification question to the corresponding question for primitive positive
logic, for a variety of representations of structures. This general theorem
allows us to deduce that an existential positive sentence set having bounded
arity is fixed-parameter tractable if and only if each sentence is equivalent
to one in bounded-variable logic. We then use the lens of classical complexity
to study these fixed-parameter tractable sentence sets. We show that such a set
can be NP-complete, and consider the length needed by a translation from
sentences in such a set to bounded-variable logic; we prove superpolynomial
lower bounds on this length using the theory of compilability, obtaining an
interesting type of formula size lower bound. Overall, the tools, concepts, and
results of this article set the stage for the future consideration of the
complexity of model checking on more expressive logics
Tractable Combinations of Global Constraints
We study the complexity of constraint satisfaction problems involving global
constraints, i.e., special-purpose constraints provided by a solver and
represented implicitly by a parametrised algorithm. Such constraints are widely
used; indeed, they are one of the key reasons for the success of constraint
programming in solving real-world problems.
Previous work has focused on the development of efficient propagators for
individual constraints. In this paper, we identify a new tractable class of
constraint problems involving global constraints of unbounded arity. To do so,
we combine structural restrictions with the observation that some important
types of global constraint do not distinguish between large classes of
equivalent solutions.Comment: To appear in proceedings of CP'13, LNCS 8124. arXiv admin note: text
overlap with arXiv:1307.179
Beyond Hypertree Width: Decomposition Methods Without Decompositions
The general intractability of the constraint satisfaction problem has
motivated the study of restrictions on this problem that permit polynomial-time
solvability. One major line of work has focused on structural restrictions,
which arise from restricting the interaction among constraint scopes. In this
paper, we engage in a mathematical investigation of generalized hypertree
width, a structural measure that has up to recently eluded study. We obtain a
number of computational results, including a simple proof of the tractability
of CSP instances having bounded generalized hypertree width
The Logic of Counting Query Answers
We consider the problem of counting the number of answers to a first-order
formula on a finite structure. We present and study an extension of first-order
logic in which algorithms for this counting problem can be naturally and
conveniently expressed, in senses that are made precise and that are motivated
by the wish to understand tractable cases of the counting problem
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