Solution space structure of random constraint satisfaction problems with growing domains

In this paper we study the solution space structure of model RB, a standard prototype of Constraint Satisfaction Problem (CSPs) with growing domains. Using rigorous the first and the second moment method, we show that in the solvable phase close to the satisfiability transition, solutions are clustered into exponential number of well-separated clusters, with each cluster contains sub-exponential number of solutions. As a consequence, the system has a clustering (dynamical) transition but no condensation transition. This picture of phase diagram is different from other classic random CSPs with fixed domain size, such as random K-Satisfiability (K-SAT) and graph coloring problems, where condensation transition exists and is distinct from satisfiability transition. Our result verifies the non-rigorous results obtained using cavity method from spin glass theory, and sheds light on the structures of solution spaces of problems with a large number of states.Comment: 8 pages, 1 figure

Simplest random K-satisfiability problem

We study a simple and exactly solvable model for the generation of random satisfiability problems. These consist of $\gamma N$ random boolean constraints which are to be satisfied simultaneously by $N$ 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

Geometrical organization of solutions to random linear Boolean equations

The random XORSAT problem deals with large random linear systems of Boolean variables. The difficulty of such problems is controlled by the ratio of number of equations to number of variables. It is known that in some range of values of this parameter, the space of solutions breaks into many disconnected clusters. Here we study precisely the corresponding geometrical organization. In particular, the distribution of distances between these clusters is computed by the cavity method. This allows to study the `x-satisfiability' threshold, the critical density of equations where there exist two solutions at a given distance.Comment: 20 page

Quantum adiabatic optimization and combinatorial landscapes

In this paper we analyze the performance of the Quantum Adiabatic Evolution algorithm on a variant of Satisfiability problem for an ensemble of random graphs parametrized by the ratio of clauses to variables, $\gamma=M/N$. We introduce a set of macroscopic parameters (landscapes) and put forward an ansatz of universality for random bit flips. We then formulate the problem of finding the smallest eigenvalue and the excitation gap as a statistical mechanics problem. We use the so-called annealing approximation with a refinement that a finite set of macroscopic variables (versus only energy) is used, and are able to show the existence of a dynamic threshold $\gamma=\gamma_d$ starting with some value of K -- the number of variables in each clause. Beyond dynamic threshold, the algorithm should take exponentially long time to find a solution. We compare the results for extended and simplified sets of landscapes and provide numerical evidence in support of our universality ansatz. We have been able to map the ensemble of random graphs onto another ensemble with fluctuations significantly reduced. This enabled us to obtain tight upper bounds on satisfiability transition and to recompute the dynamical transition using the extended set of landscapes.Comment: 41 pages, 10 figures; added a paragraph on paper's organization to the introduction, fixed reference

On product, generic and random generic quantum satisfiability

We report a cluster of results on k-QSAT, the problem of quantum satisfiability for k-qubit projectors which generalizes classical satisfiability with k-bit clauses to the quantum setting. First we define the NP-complete problem of product satisfiability and give a geometrical criterion for deciding when a QSAT interaction graph is product satisfiable with positive probability. We show that the same criterion suffices to establish quantum satisfiability for all projectors. Second, we apply these results to the random graph ensemble with generic projectors and obtain improved lower bounds on the location of the SAT--unSAT transition. Third, we present numerical results on random, generic satisfiability which provide estimates for the location of the transition for k=3 and k=4 and mild evidence for the existence of a phase which is satisfiable by entangled states alone.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures, 1 table. Updated to more closely match published version. New proof in appendi

A Continuous-Discontinuous Second-Order Transition in the Satisfiability of Random Horn-SAT Formulas

We compute the probability of satisfiability of a class of random Horn-SAT formulae, motivated by a connection with the nonemptiness problem of finite tree automata. In particular, when the maximum clause length is 3, this model displays a curve in its parameter space along which the probability of satisfiability is discontinuous, ending in a second-order phase transition where it becomes continuous. This is the first case in which a phase transition of this type has been rigorously established for a random constraint satisfaction problem

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

The Phase Diagram of 1-in-3 Satisfiability Problem

We study the typical case properties of the 1-in-3 satisfiability problem, the boolean satisfaction problem where a clause is satisfied by exactly one literal, in an enlarged random ensemble parametrized by average connectivity and probability of negation of a variable in a clause. Random 1-in-3 Satisfiability and Exact 3-Cover are special cases of this ensemble. We interpolate between these cases from a region where satisfiability can be typically decided for all connectivities in polynomial time to a region where deciding satisfiability is hard, in some interval of connectivities. We derive several rigorous results in the first region, and develop the one-step--replica-symmetry-breaking cavity analysis in the second one. We discuss the prediction for the transition between the almost surely satisfiable and the almost surely unsatisfiable phase, and other structural properties of the phase diagram, in light of cavity method results.Comment: 30 pages, 12 figure

Satisfiability Games for Branching-Time Logics

The satisfiability problem for branching-time temporal logics like CTL*, CTL and CTL+ has important applications in program specification and verification. Their computational complexities are known: CTL* and CTL+ are complete for doubly exponential time, CTL is complete for single exponential time. Some decision procedures for these logics are known; they use tree automata, tableaux or axiom systems. In this paper we present a uniform game-theoretic framework for the satisfiability problem of these branching-time temporal logics. We define satisfiability games for the full branching-time temporal logic CTL* using a high-level definition of winning condition that captures the essence of well-foundedness of least fixpoint unfoldings. These winning conditions form formal languages of \omega-words. We analyse which kinds of deterministic {\omega}-automata are needed in which case in order to recognise these languages. We then obtain a reduction to the problem of solving parity or B\"uchi games. The worst-case complexity of the obtained algorithms matches the known lower bounds for these logics. This approach provides a uniform, yet complexity-theoretically optimal treatment of satisfiability for branching-time temporal logics. It separates the use of temporal logic machinery from the use of automata thus preserving a syntactical relationship between the input formula and the object that represents satisfiability, i.e. a winning strategy in a parity or B\"uchi game. The games presented here work on a Fischer-Ladner closure of the input formula only. Last but not least, the games presented here come with an attempt at providing tool support for the satisfiability problem of complex branching-time logics like CTL* and CTL+