1,211 research outputs found
Improve SAT-solving with Machine Learning
In this project, we aimed to improve the runtime of Minisat, a
Conflict-Driven Clause Learning (CDCL) solver that solves the Propositional
Boolean Satisfiability (SAT) problem. We first used a logistic regression model
to predict the satisfiability of propositional boolean formulae after fixing
the values of a certain fraction of the variables in each formula. We then
applied the logistic model and added a preprocessing period to Minisat to
determine the preferable initial value (either true or false) of each boolean
variable using a Monte-Carlo approach. Concretely, for each Monte-Carlo trial,
we fixed the values of a certain ratio of randomly selected variables, and
calculated the confidence that the resulting sub-formula is satisfiable with
our logistic regression model. The initial value of each variable was set based
on the mean confidence scores of the trials that started from the literals of
that variable. We were particularly interested in setting the initial values of
the backbone variables correctly, which are variables that have the same value
in all solutions of a SAT formula. Our Monte-Carlo method was able to set 78%
of the backbones correctly. Excluding the preprocessing time, compared with the
default setting of Minisat, the runtime of Minisat for satisfiable formulae
decreased by 23%. However, our method did not outperform vanilla Minisat in
runtime, as the decrease in the conflicts was outweighed by the long runtime of
the preprocessing period.Comment: 2 pages, SIGCSE SRC 201
Phase Transition and Network Structure in Realistic SAT Problems
A fundamental question in Computer Science is understanding when a specific
class of problems go from being computationally easy to hard. Because of its
generality and applications, the problem of Boolean Satisfiability (aka SAT) is
often used as a vehicle for investigating this question. A signal result from
these studies is that the hardness of SAT problems exhibits a dramatic
easy-to-hard phase transition with respect to the problem constrainedness. Past
studies have however focused mostly on SAT instances generated using uniform
random distributions, where all constraints are independently generated, and
the problem variables are all considered of equal importance. These assumptions
are unfortunately not satisfied by most real problems. Our project aims for a
deeper understanding of hardness of SAT problems that arise in practice. We
study two key questions: (i) How does easy-to-hard transition change with more
realistic distributions that capture neighborhood sensitivity and
rich-get-richer aspects of real problems and (ii) Can these changes be
explained in terms of the network properties (such as node centrality and
small-worldness) of the clausal networks of the SAT problems. Our results,
based on extensive empirical studies and network analyses, provide important
structural and computational insights into realistic SAT problems. Our
extensive empirical studies show that SAT instances from realistic
distributions do exhibit phase transition, but the transition occurs sooner (at
lower values of constrainedness) than the instances from uniform random
distribution. We show that this behavior can be explained in terms of their
clausal network properties such as eigenvector centrality and small-worldness
(measured indirectly in terms of the clustering coefficients and average node
distance)
Satisfiability, sequence niches, and molecular codes in cellular signaling
Biological information processing as implemented by regulatory and signaling
networks in living cells requires sufficient specificity of molecular
interaction to distinguish signals from one another, but much of regulation and
signaling involves somewhat fuzzy and promiscuous recognition of molecular
sequences and structures, which can leave systems vulnerable to crosstalk. This
paper examines a simple computational model of protein-protein interactions
which reveals both a sharp onset of crosstalk and a fragmentation of the
neutral network of viable solutions as more proteins compete for regions of
sequence space, revealing intrinsic limits to reliable signaling in the face of
promiscuity. These results suggest connections to both phase transitions in
constraint satisfaction problems and coding theory bounds on the size of
communication codes
Proteus: A Hierarchical Portfolio of Solvers and Transformations
In recent years, portfolio approaches to solving SAT problems and CSPs have
become increasingly common. There are also a number of different encodings for
representing CSPs as SAT instances. In this paper, we leverage advances in both
SAT and CSP solving to present a novel hierarchical portfolio-based approach to
CSP solving, which we call Proteus, that does not rely purely on CSP solvers.
Instead, it may decide that it is best to encode a CSP problem instance into
SAT, selecting an appropriate encoding and a corresponding SAT solver. Our
experimental evaluation used an instance of Proteus that involved four CSP
solvers, three SAT encodings, and six SAT solvers, evaluated on the most
challenging problem instances from the CSP solver competitions, involving
global and intensional constraints. We show that significant performance
improvements can be achieved by Proteus obtained by exploiting alternative
view-points and solvers for combinatorial problem-solving.Comment: 11th International Conference on Integration of AI and OR Techniques
in Constraint Programming for Combinatorial Optimization Problems. The final
publication is available at link.springer.co
Quiet Planting in the Locked Constraint Satisfaction Problems
We study the planted ensemble of locked constraint satisfaction problems. We
describe the connection between the random and planted ensembles. The use of
the cavity method is combined with arguments from reconstruction on trees and
first and second moment considerations; in particular the connection with the
reconstruction on trees appears to be crucial. Our main result is the location
of the hard region in the planted ensemble. In a part of that hard region
instances have with high probability a single satisfying assignment.Comment: 21 pages, revised versio
Tricritical Points in Random Combinatorics: the (2+p)-SAT case
The (2+p)-Satisfiability (SAT) problem interpolates between different classes
of complexity theory and is believed to be of basic interest in understanding
the onset of typical case complexity in random combinatorics. In this paper, a
tricritical point in the phase diagram of the random -SAT problem is
analytically computed using the replica approach and found to lie in the range
. These bounds on are in agreement with previous
numerical simulations and rigorous results.Comment: 7 pages, 1 figure, RevTeX, to appear in J.Phys.
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