42 research outputs found
The Power of Linear Programming for Valued CSPs
A class of valued constraint satisfaction problems (VCSPs) is characterised
by a valued constraint language, a fixed set of cost functions on a finite
domain. An instance of the problem is specified by a sum of cost functions from
the language with the goal to minimise the sum. This framework includes and
generalises well-studied constraint satisfaction problems (CSPs) and maximum
constraint satisfaction problems (Max-CSPs).
Our main result is a precise algebraic characterisation of valued constraint
languages whose instances can be solved exactly by the basic linear programming
relaxation. Using this result, we obtain tractability of several novel and
previously widely-open classes of VCSPs, including problems over valued
constraint languages that are: (1) submodular on arbitrary lattices; (2)
bisubmodular (also known as k-submodular) on arbitrary finite domains; (3)
weakly (and hence strongly) tree-submodular on arbitrary trees.Comment: Corrected a few typo
Generic Expression Hardness Results for Primitive Positive Formula Comparison
We study the expression complexity of two basic problems involving the
comparison of primitive positive formulas: equivalence and containment. In
particular, we study the complexity of these problems relative to finite
relational structures. We present two generic hardness results for the studied
problems, and discuss evidence that they are optimal and yield, for each of the
problems, a complexity trichotomy
An Algebraic Preservation Theorem for Aleph-Zero Categorical Quantified Constraint Satisfaction
We prove an algebraic preservation theorem for positive Horn definability in
aleph-zero categorical structures. In particular, we define and study a
construction which we call the periodic power of a structure, and define a
periomorphism of a structure to be a homomorphism from the periodic power of
the structure to the structure itself. Our preservation theorem states that,
over an aleph-zero categorical structure, a relation is positive Horn definable
if and only if it is preserved by all periomorphisms of the structure. We give
applications of this theorem, including a new proof of the known complexity
classification of quantified constraint satisfaction on equality templates
MAL’TSEV CONDITIONS, LACK OF ABSORPTION, AND SOLVABILITY
Abstract. We provide a new characterization of several Mal’tsev conditions for locally finite varieties using hereditary term properties. We show a particular example how lack of absorption causes collapse in the Mal’tsev hierarchy, and point out a connection between solvability and lack of absorption. As a consequence, we provide a new and conceptually simple proof of a result of Hobby and McKenzie, saying that locally finite varieties with a Taylor term possess a term which is Mal’tsev on blocks of every solvable congruence in every finite algebra in the variety. 1