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

The Scaling Window of the 2-SAT Transition

We consider the random 2-satisfiability problem, in which each instance is a formula that is the conjunction of m clauses of the form (x or y), chosen uniformly at random from among all 2-clauses on n Boolean variables and their negations. As m and n tend to infinity in the ratio m/n --> alpha, the problem is known to have a phase transition at alpha_c = 1, below which the probability that the formula is satisfiable tends to one and above which it tends to zero. We determine the finite-size scaling about this transition, namely the scaling of the maximal window W(n,delta) = (alpha_-(n,delta),alpha_+(n,delta)) such that the probability of satisfiability is greater than 1-delta for alpha < alpha_- and is less than delta for alpha > alpha_+. We show that W(n,delta)=(1-Theta(n^{-1/3}),1+Theta(n^{-1/3})), where the constants implicit in Theta depend on delta. We also determine the rates at which the probability of satisfiability approaches one and zero at the boundaries of the window. Namely, for m=(1+epsilon)n, where epsilon may depend on n as long as |epsilon| is sufficiently small and |epsilon|*n^(1/3) is sufficiently large, we show that the probability of satisfiability decays like exp(-Theta(n*epsilon^3)) above the window, and goes to one like 1-Theta(1/(n*|epsilon|^3)) below the window. We prove these results by defining an order parameter for the transition and establishing its scaling behavior in n both inside and outside the window. Using this order parameter, we prove that the 2-SAT phase transition is continuous with an order parameter critical exponent of 1. We also determine the values of two other critical exponents, showing that the exponents of 2-SAT are identical to those of the random graph.Comment: 57 pages. This version updates some reference

A new upper bound for 3-SAT

We show that a randomly chosen 3-CNF formula over n variables with clauses-to-variables ratio at least 4.4898 is, as n grows large, asymptotically almost surely unsatisfiable. The previous best such bound, due to Dubois in 1999, was 4.506. The first such bound, independently discovered by many groups of researchers since 1983, was 5.19. Several decreasing values between 5.19 and 4.506 were published in the years between. The probabilistic techniques we use for the proof are, we believe, of independent interest.Comment: 20 page

Finding cores of random 2-SAT formulae via Poisson cloning

For the random 2-SAT formula $F(n,p)$, let $F_C (n,p)$ be the formula left after the pure literal algorithm applied to $F(n,p)$ stops. Using the recently developed Poisson cloning model together with the cut-off line algorithm (COLA), we completely analyze the structure of $F_{C} (n,p)$. In particular, it is shown that, for \gl:= p(2n-1) = 1+\gs with \gs\gg n^{-1/3}, the core of $F(n,p)$ has \thl^2 n +O((\thl n)^{1/2}) variables and \thl^2 \gl n+O((\thl n))^{1/2} clauses, with high probability, where \thl is the larger solution of the equation \th- (1-e^{-\thl \gl})=0. We also estimate the probability of $F(n,p)$ being satisfiable to obtain \pr[ F_2(n, \sfrac{\gl}{2n-1}) is satisfiable ] = \caseth{1-\frac{1+o(1)}{16\gs^3 n}}{if $\gl= 1-\gs$ with $\gs\gg n^{-1/3}$}{}{}{e^{-\Theta(\gs^3n)}}{if $\gl=1+\gs$ with $\gs\gg n^{-1/3}$,} where $o(1)$ goes to 0 as \gs goes to 0. This improves the bounds of Bollob\'as et al. \cite{BBCKW}