Representation Operators and Computation

Abstract

This paper derives results about the impact of representation and search operators on the Computational Complexity of a problem. A model of computation is introduced based on a directed graph structure, and representation and search are defined to be respectively the vertices and edges of this graph. Changing either the representation or the search algorithm leads to different possible graphs, and hence have different complexity classes. The final section explores the role of representation in reducing time complexity in Artificial Intelligence. Keywords: representation, redescription, recoding June 6, 1998 Page: 2 1.0 Introduction In solving real-world problems, a significant part of the task is finding a good encoding scheme. Another is finding an algorithm which manipulates the data efficiently. While the second enterprise (algorithm design) has been analysed in Computer Science, the first, selection of a representation, has been ignored or grouped with algorithm design. This pap..