We study a simple and exactly solvable model for the generation of random
satisfiability problems. These consist of γN 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