53 research outputs found
Low-level dichotomy for Quantified Constraint Satisfaction Problems
Building on a result of Larose and Tesson for constraint satisfaction
problems (CSP s), we uncover a dichotomy for the quantified constraint
satisfaction problem QCSP(B), where B is a finite structure that is a core.
Specifically, such problems are either in ALogtime or are L-hard. This involves
demonstrating that if CSP(B) is first-order expressible, and B is a core, then
QCSP(B) is in ALogtime.
We show that the class of B such that CSP(B) is first-order expressible
(indeed, trivially true) is a microcosm for all QCSPs. Specifically, for any B
there exists a C such that CSP(C) is trivially true, yet QCSP(B) and QCSP(C)
are equivalent under logspace reductions
The complexity of quantified constraints using the algebraic formulation
Peer reviewedFinal Published versio
Beyond Hypertree Width: Decomposition Methods Without Decompositions
The general intractability of the constraint satisfaction problem has
motivated the study of restrictions on this problem that permit polynomial-time
solvability. One major line of work has focused on structural restrictions,
which arise from restricting the interaction among constraint scopes. In this
paper, we engage in a mathematical investigation of generalized hypertree
width, a structural measure that has up to recently eluded study. We obtain a
number of computational results, including a simple proof of the tractability
of CSP instances having bounded generalized hypertree width
Beyond Q-Resolution and Prenex Form: A Proof System for Quantified Constraint Satisfaction
We consider the quantified constraint satisfaction problem (QCSP) which is to
decide, given a structure and a first-order sentence (not assumed here to be in
prenex form) built from conjunction and quantification, whether or not the
sentence is true on the structure. We present a proof system for certifying the
falsity of QCSP instances and develop its basic theory; for instance, we
provide an algorithmic interpretation of its behavior. Our proof system places
the established Q-resolution proof system in a broader context, and also allows
us to derive QCSP tractability results
QCSP on partially reflexive forests
We study the (non-uniform) quantified constraint satisfaction problem QCSP(H)
as H ranges over partially reflexive forests. We obtain a complexity-theoretic
dichotomy: QCSP(H) is either in NL or is NP-hard. The separating condition is
related firstly to connectivity, and thereafter to accessibility from all
vertices of H to connected reflexive subgraphs. In the case of partially
reflexive paths, we give a refinement of our dichotomy: QCSP(H) is either in NL
or is Pspace-complete
Constraint Satisfaction with Counting Quantifiers
We initiate the study of constraint satisfaction problems (CSPs) in the
presence of counting quantifiers, which may be seen as variants of CSPs in the
mould of quantified CSPs (QCSPs). We show that a single counting quantifier
strictly between exists^1:=exists and exists^n:=forall (the domain being of
size n) already affords the maximal possible complexity of QCSPs (which have
both exists and forall), being Pspace-complete for a suitably chosen template.
Next, we focus on the complexity of subsets of counting quantifiers on clique
and cycle templates. For cycles we give a full trichotomy -- all such problems
are in L, NP-complete or Pspace-complete. For cliques we come close to a
similar trichotomy, but one case remains outstanding. Afterwards, we consider
the generalisation of CSPs in which we augment the extant quantifier
exists^1:=exists with the quantifier exists^j (j not 1). Such a CSP is already
NP-hard on non-bipartite graph templates. We explore the situation of this
generalised CSP on bipartite templates, giving various conditions for both
tractability and hardness -- culminating in a classification theorem for
general graphs. Finally, we use counting quantifiers to solve the complexity of
a concrete QCSP whose complexity was previously open
Quantified Constraints in Twenty Seventeen
I present a survey of recent advances in the algorithmic and computational complexity theory of non-Boolean Quantified Constraint Satisfaction Problems, incorporating some more modern research directions
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