479 research outputs found
Polynomial-time Solvable #CSP Problems via Algebraic Models and Pfaffian Circuits
A Pfaffian circuit is a tensor contraction network where the edges are
labeled with changes of bases in such a way that a very specific set of
combinatorial properties are satisfied. By modeling the permissible changes of
bases as systems of polynomial equations, and then solving via computation, we
are able to identify classes of 0/1 planar #CSP problems solvable in
polynomial-time via the Pfaffian circuit evaluation theorem (a variant of L.
Valiant's Holant Theorem). We present two different models of 0/1 variables,
one that is possible under a homogeneous change of basis, and one that is
possible under a heterogeneous change of basis only. We enumerate a series of
1,2,3, and 4-arity gates/cogates that represent constraints, and define a class
of constraints that is possible under the assumption of a ``bridge" between two
particular changes of bases. We discuss the issue of planarity of Pfaffian
circuits, and demonstrate possible directions in algebraic computation for
designing a Pfaffian tensor contraction network fragment that can simulate a
swap gate/cogate. We conclude by developing the notion of a decomposable
gate/cogate, and discuss the computational benefits of this definition
A Pfaffian formula for monomer-dimer partition functions
We consider the monomer-dimer partition function on arbitrary finite planar
graphs and arbitrary monomer and dimer weights, with the restriction that the
only non-zero monomer weights are those on the boundary. We prove a Pfaffian
formula for the corresponding partition function. As a consequence of this
result, multipoint boundary monomer correlation functions at close packing are
shown to satisfy fermionic statistics. Our proof is based on the celebrated
Kasteleyn theorem, combined with a theorem on Pfaffians proved by one of the
authors, and a careful labeling and directing procedure of the vertices and
edges of the graph.Comment: Added referenc
Even circuits of prescribed clockwise parity
We show that a graph has an orientation under which every circuit of even
length is clockwise odd if and only if the graph contains no subgraph which is,
after the contraction of at most one circuit of odd length, an even subdivision
of K_{2,3}. In fact we give a more general characterisation of graphs that have
an orientation under which every even circuit has a prescribed clockwise
parity. This problem was motivated by the study of Pfaffian graphs, which are
the graphs that have an orientation under which every alternating circuit is
clockwise odd. Their significance is that they are precisely the graphs to
which Kasteleyn's powerful method for enumerating perfect matchings may be
applied
Permanents, Pfaffian orientations, and even directed circuits
Given a 0-1 square matrix A, when can some of the 1's be changed to -1's in
such a way that the permanent of A equals the determinant of the modified
matrix? When does a real square matrix have the property that every real matrix
with the same sign pattern (that is, the corresponding entries either have the
same sign or are both zero) is nonsingular? When is a hypergraph with n
vertices and n hyperedges minimally nonbipartite? When does a bipartite graph
have a "Pfaffian orientation"? Given a digraph, does it have no directed
circuit of even length? Given a digraph, does it have a subdivision with no
even directed circuit?
It is known that all of the above problems are equivalent. We prove a
structural characterization of the feasible instances, which implies a
polynomial-time algorithm to solve all of the above problems. The structural
characterization says, roughly speaking, that a bipartite graph has a Pfaffian
orientation if and only if it can be obtained by piecing together (in a
specified way) planar bipartite graphs and one sporadic nonplanar bipartite
graph.Comment: 47 pages, published versio
On the expressive power of planar perfect matching and permanents of bounded treewidth matrices
Valiant introduced some 25 years ago an algebraic model of computation along
with the complexity classes VP and VNP, which can be viewed as analogues of the
classical classes P and NP. They are defined using non-uniform sequences of
arithmetic circuits and provides a framework to study the complexity for
sequences of polynomials. Prominent examples of difficult (that is,
VNP-complete) problems in this model includes the permanent and hamiltonian
polynomials. While the permanent and hamiltonian polynomials in general are
difficult to evaluate, there have been research on which special cases of these
polynomials admits efficient evaluation. For instance, Barvinok has shown that
if the underlying matrix has bounded rank, both the permanent and the
hamiltonian polynomials can be evaluated in polynomial time, and thus are in
VP. Courcelle, Makowsky and Rotics have shown that for matrices of bounded
treewidth several difficult problems (including evaluating the permanent and
hamiltonian polynomials) can be solved efficiently. An earlier result of this
flavour is Kasteleyn's theorem which states that the sum of weights of perfect
matchings of a planar graph can be computed in polynomial time, and thus is in
VP also. For general graphs this problem is VNP-complete. In this paper we
investigate the expressive power of the above results. We show that the
permanent and hamiltonian polynomials for matrices of bounded treewidth both
are equivalent to arithmetic formulas. Also, arithmetic weakly skew circuits
are shown to be equivalent to the sum of weights of perfect matchings of planar
graphs.Comment: 14 page
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