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Libor Barto

Publications and source records attributed to Libor Barto.

28 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Promises Make Finite (Constraint Satisfaction) Problems Infinitary

The fixed template Promise Constraint Satisfaction Problem (PCSP) is a recently proposed significant generalization of the fixed template CSP, which includes approximation variants of satisfiability and graph coloring problems. All the currently known tractable (i.e., solvable in polynomial time) PCSPs over finite templates can be reduced, in a certain natural way, to tractable CSPs. However, such CSPs are often over infinite domains. We show that the infinity is in fact necessary by proving that a specific finite-domain PCSP, namely (1-in-3-SAT, Not-All-Equal-3-SAT), cannot be naturally reduced to a tractable finite-domain CSP, unless P=NP.

cs.CC↗

Algebraic approach to promise constraint satisfaction

The complexity and approximability of the constraint satisfaction problem (CSP) has been actively studied over the last 20 years. A new version of the CSP, the promise CSP (PCSP) has recently been proposed, motivated by open questions about the approximability of variants of satisfiability and graph colouring. The PCSP significantly extends the standard decision CSP. The complexity of CSPs with a fixed constraint language on a finite domain has recently been fully classified, greatly guided by the algebraic approach, which uses polymorphisms --- high-dimensional symmetries of solution spaces --- to analyse the complexity of problems. The corresponding classification for PCSPs is wide open and includes some long-standing open questions, such as the complexity of approximate graph colouring, as special cases. The basic algebraic approach to PCSP was initiated by Brakensiek and Guruswami, and in this paper we significantly extend it and lift it from concrete properties of polymorphisms to their abstract properties. We introduce a new class of problems that can be viewed as algebraic versions of the (Gap) Label Cover problem, and show that every PCSP with a fixed constraint language is equivalent to a problem of this form. This allows us to identify a "measure of symmetry" that is well suited for comparing and relating the complexity of different PCSPs via the algebraic approach. We demonstrate how our theory can be applied by improving the state-of-the-art in approximate graph colouring: we show that, for any $k\geq 3$, it is NP-hard to find a $(2k-1)$-colouring of a given $k$-colourable graph.

cs.CC↗

Equations in oligomorphic clones and the Constraint Satisfaction Problem for $ω$-categorical structures

There exist two conjectures for constraint satisfaction problems (CSPs) of reducts of finitely bounded homogeneous structures: the first one states that tractability of the CSP of such a structure is, when the structure is a model-complete core, equivalent to its polymorphism clone satisfying a certain non-trivial linear identity modulo outer embeddings. The second conjecture, challenging the approach via model-complete cores by reflections, states that tractability is equivalent to the linear identities (without outer embeddings) satisfied by its polymorphisms clone, together with the natural uniformity on it, being non-trivial. We prove that the identities satisfied in the polymorphism clone of a structure allow for conclusions about the orbit growth of its automorphism group, and apply this to show that the two conjectures are equivalent. We contrast this with a counterexample showing that $ω$-categoricity alone is insufficient to imply the equivalence of the two conditions above in a model-complete core. Taking a different approach, we then show how the Ramsey property of a homogeneous structure can be utilized for obtaining a similar equivalence under different conditions. We then prove that any polymorphism of sufficiently large arity which is totally symmetric modulo outer embeddings of a finitely bounded structure can be turned into a non-trivial system of linear identities, and obtain non-trivial linear identities for all tractable cases of reducts of the rational order, the random graph, and the random poset. Finally, we provide a new and short proof, in the language of monoids, of the theorem stating that every $ω$-categorical structure is homomorphically equivalent to a model-complete core.

cs.LO↗

The minimal arity of near-unanimity polymorphisms

Dmitriy Zhuk has proved that there exist relational structures which admit near-unanimity polymorphisms, but the minimum arity of such a polymorphism is large and almost matches the known upper bounds. We present a simplified and explicit construction of such structures and a detailed, self-contained proof.

math.LO↗

The wonderland of reflections

A fundamental fact for the algebraic theory of constraint satisfaction problems (CSPs) over a fixed template is that pp-interpretations between at most countable ω-categorical relational structures have two algebraic counterparts for their polymorphism clones: a semantic one via the standard algebraic operators H, S, P, and a syntactic one via clone homomorphisms (capturing identities). We provide a similar characterization which incorporates all relational constructions relevant for CSPs, that is, homomorphic equivalence and adding singletons to cores in addition to pp-interpretations. For the semantic part we introduce a new construction, called reflection, and for the syntactic part we find an appropriate weakening of clone homomorphisms, called h1 clone homomorphisms (capturing identities of height 1). As a consequence, the complexity of the CSP of an at most countable $ω$-categorical structure depends only on the identities of height 1 satisfied in its polymorphism clone as well as the the natural uniformity thereon. This allows us in turn to formulate a new elegant dichotomy conjecture for the CSPs of reducts of finitely bounded homogeneous structures. Finally, we reveal a close connection between h1 clone homomorphisms and the notion of compatibility with projections used in the study of the lattice of interpretability types of varieties.

math.LO↗

The algebraic dichotomy conjecture for infinite domain Constraint Satisfaction Problems

We prove that an $ω$-categorical core structure primitively positively interprets all finite structures with parameters if and only if some stabilizer of its polymorphism clone has a homomorphism to the clone of projections, and that this happens if and only if its polymorphism clone does not contain operations $α$, $β$, $s$ satisfying the identity $αs(x,y,x,z,y,z) \approx βs(y,x,z,x,z,y)$. This establishes an algebraic criterion equivalent to the conjectured borderline between P and NP-complete CSPs over reducts of finitely bounded homogenous structures, and accomplishes one of the steps of a proposed strategy for reducing the infinite domain CSP dichotomy conjecture to the finite case. Our theorem is also of independent mathematical interest, characterizing a topological property of any $ω$-categorical core structure (the existence of a continuous homomorphism of a stabilizer of its polymorphism clone to the projections) in purely algebraic terms (the failure of an identity as above).

cs.LO↗

Deciding absorption in relational structures

We prove that for finite, finitely related algebras the concepts of an absorbing subuniverse and a Jónsson absorbing subuniverse coincide. Consequently, it is decidable whether a given subset is an absorbing subuniverse of the polymorphism algebra of a given relational structure.

math.RA↗

Deciding absorption

We characterize absorption in finite idempotent algebras by means of Jónsson absorption and cube term blockers. As an application we show that it is decidable whether a given subset is an absorbing subuniverse of an algebra given by the tables of its basic operations.

math.RA↗

Robustly Solvable Constraint Satisfaction Problems

An algorithm for a constraint satisfaction problem is called robust if it outputs an assignment satisfying at least $(1-g(\varepsilon))$-fraction of the constraints given a $(1-\varepsilon)$-satisfiable instance, where $g(\varepsilon) \rightarrow 0$ as $\varepsilon \rightarrow 0$. Guruswami and Zhou conjectured a characterization of constraint languages for which the corresponding constraint satisfaction problem admits an efficient robust algorithm. This paper confirms their conjecture.

cs.CC↗

Absorbing Subalgebras, Cyclic Terms, and the Constraint Satisfaction Problem

The Algebraic Dichotomy Conjecture states that the Constraint Satisfaction Problem over a fixed template is solvable in polynomial time if the algebra of polymorphisms associated to the template lies in a Taylor variety, and is NP-complete otherwise. This paper provides two new characterizations of finitely generated Taylor varieties. The first characterization is using absorbing subalgebras and the second one cyclic terms. These new conditions allow us to reprove the conjecture of Bang-Jensen and Hell (proved by the authors) and the characterization of locally finite Taylor varieties using weak near-unanimity terms (proved by McKenzie and Maróti) in an elementary and self-contained way.

cs.LO↗