301 research outputs found
On the Satisfiability Threshold and Clustering of Solutions of Random 3-SAT Formulas
We study the structure of satisfying assignments of a random 3-SAT formula.
In particular, we show that a random formula of density 4.453 or higher almost
surely has no non-trivial "core" assignments. Core assignments are certain
partial assignments that can be extended to satisfying assignments, and have
been studied recently in connection with the Survey Propagation heuristic for
random SAT. Their existence implies the presence of clusters of solutions, and
they have been shown to exist with high probability below the satisfiability
threshold for k-SAT with k>8, by Achlioptas and Ricci-Tersenghi, STOC 2006. Our
result implies that either this does not hold for 3-SAT or the threshold
density for satisfiability in 3-SAT lies below 4.453.
The main technical tool that we use is a novel simple application of the
first moment method
Solution space heterogeneity of the random K-satisfiability problem: Theory and simulations
The random K-satisfiability (K-SAT) problem is an important problem for
studying typical-case complexity of NP-complete combinatorial satisfaction; it
is also a representative model of finite-connectivity spin-glasses. In this
paper we review our recent efforts on the solution space fine structures of the
random K-SAT problem. A heterogeneity transition is predicted to occur in the
solution space as the constraint density alpha reaches a critical value
alpha_cm. This transition marks the emergency of exponentially many solution
communities in the solution space. After the heterogeneity transition the
solution space is still ergodic until alpha reaches a larger threshold value
alpha_d, at which the solution communities disconnect from each other to become
different solution clusters (ergodicity-breaking). The existence of solution
communities in the solution space is confirmed by numerical simulations of
solution space random walking, and the effect of solution space heterogeneity
on a stochastic local search algorithm SEQSAT, which performs a random walk of
single-spin flips, is investigated. The relevance of this work to glassy
dynamics studies is briefly mentioned.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures. Final version as will appear in Journal of
Physics: Conference Series (Proceedings of the International Workshop on
Statistical-Mechanical Informatics, March 7-10, 2010, Kyoto, Japan
Focused Local Search for Random 3-Satisfiability
A local search algorithm solving an NP-complete optimisation problem can be
viewed as a stochastic process moving in an 'energy landscape' towards
eventually finding an optimal solution. For the random 3-satisfiability
problem, the heuristic of focusing the local moves on the presently
unsatisfiedclauses is known to be very effective: the time to solution has been
observed to grow only linearly in the number of variables, for a given
clauses-to-variables ratio sufficiently far below the critical
satisfiability threshold . We present numerical results
on the behaviour of three focused local search algorithms for this problem,
considering in particular the characteristics of a focused variant of the
simple Metropolis dynamics. We estimate the optimal value for the
``temperature'' parameter for this algorithm, such that its linear-time
regime extends as close to as possible. Similar parameter
optimisation is performed also for the well-known WalkSAT algorithm and for the
less studied, but very well performing Focused Record-to-Record Travel method.
We observe that with an appropriate choice of parameters, the linear time
regime for each of these algorithms seems to extend well into ratios -- much further than has so far been generally assumed. We discuss the
statistics of solution times for the algorithms, relate their performance to
the process of ``whitening'', and present some conjectures on the shape of
their computational phase diagrams.Comment: 20 pages, lots of figure
Pairs of SAT Assignment in Random Boolean Formulae
We investigate geometrical properties of the random K-satisfiability problem
using the notion of x-satisfiability: a formula is x-satisfiable if there exist
two SAT assignments differing in Nx variables. We show the existence of a sharp
threshold for this property as a function of the clause density. For large
enough K, we prove that there exists a region of clause density, below the
satisfiability threshold, where the landscape of Hamming distances between SAT
assignments experiences a gap: pairs of SAT-assignments exist at small x, and
around x=1/2, but they donot exist at intermediate values of x. This result is
consistent with the clustering scenario which is at the heart of the recent
heuristic analysis of satisfiability using statistical physics analysis (the
cavity method), and its algorithmic counterpart (the survey propagation
algorithm). The method uses elementary probabilistic arguments (first and
second moment methods), and might be useful in other problems of computational
and physical interest where similar phenomena appear
Simplest random K-satisfiability problem
We study a simple and exactly solvable model for the generation of random
satisfiability problems. These consist of random boolean constraints
which are to be satisfied simultaneously by logical variables. In
statistical-mechanics language, the considered model can be seen as a diluted
p-spin model at zero temperature. While such problems become extraordinarily
hard to solve by local search methods in a large region of the parameter space,
still at least one solution may be superimposed by construction. The
statistical properties of the model can be studied exactly by the replica
method and each single instance can be analyzed in polynomial time by a simple
global solution method. The geometrical/topological structures responsible for
dynamic and static phase transitions as well as for the onset of computational
complexity in local search method are thoroughly analyzed. Numerical analysis
on very large samples allows for a precise characterization of the critical
scaling behaviour.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figures, to appear in Phys. Rev. E (Feb 2001). v2: minor
errors and references correcte
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