On the minimal constraint satisfaction problem: complexity and generation

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Abstract

The Minimal Constraint Satisfaction Problem, or Minimal CSP for short, arises in a number of real-world applications, most notably in constraint-based product configuration. Despite its very permissive structure, it is NP-hard, even when bounding the size of the domains by d≥9. Yet very little is known about the Minimal CSP beyond that. Our contribution through this paper is twofold. Firstly, we generalize the complexity result to any value of d. We prove that the Minimal CSP remains NP-hard for d≥3, as well as for d=2 if the arity k of the instances is strictly greater than 2. Our complexity result can be seen as providing a dichotomy theorem for the Minimal CSP. Secondly, we build a generator that can create Minimal CSP instances of any size, using the constrainedness as a parameter. Our generator can be used to study behaviors that are typical of NP-hard problems, such as the presence of a phase transition, in the case of the Minimal CSP.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationCombinatorial Optimization and Applications - 9th International Conference, COCOA 2015, Proceedings
EditorsDonghyun Kim, Weili Wu, Ding-Zhu Du, Zaixin Lu, Wei Li
PublisherSpringer Verlag
Pages731-745
Number of pages15
ISBN (Print)9783319266251
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2015
Event9th International Conference on Combinatorial Optimization and Applications, COCOA 2015 - Houston, United States
Duration: 18 Dec 201520 Dec 2015

Publication series

NameLecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics)
Volume9486
ISSN (Print)0302-9743
ISSN (Electronic)1611-3349

Conference

Conference9th International Conference on Combinatorial Optimization and Applications, COCOA 2015
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityHouston
Period18/12/1520/12/15

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