arXiv subjects

Michael Pinsker

Publications and source records attributed to Michael Pinsker.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2016

Distance Constraint Satisfaction Problems

We study the complexity of constraint satisfaction problems for templates $Γ$ that are first-order definable in $(\Bbb Z; succ)$, the integers with the successor relation. Assuming a widely believed conjecture from finite domain constraint satisfaction (we require the tractability conjecture by Bulatov, Jeavons and Krokhin in the special case of transitive finite templates), we provide a full classification for the case that Gamma is locally finite (i.e., the Gaifman graph of $Γ$ has finite degree). We show that one of the following is true: The structure Gamma is homomorphically equivalent to a structure with a d-modular maximum or minimum polymorphism and $\mathrm{CSP}(Γ)$ can be solved in polynomial time, or $Γ$ is homomorphically equivalent to a finite transitive structure, or $\mathrm{CSP}(Γ)$ is NP-complete.

cs.CC↗

arXiv2016

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↗

arXiv2015

Algebraic and model theoretic methods in constraint satisfaction

This text is related to the tutorials I gave at the Banff International Research Station and within a "Doc-course" at Charles University Prague in the fall of 2014. It describes my current research and some of the most important open questions related to it.

math.LO↗

arXiv2015

The 42 reducts of the random ordered graph

The random ordered graph is the up to isomorphism unique countable homogeneous linearly ordered graph that embeds all finite linearly ordered graphs. We determine the reducts of the random ordered graph up to first-order interdefinability.

math.LO↗

arXiv2015

Schaefer's theorem for graphs

Schaefer's theorem is a complexity classification result for so-called Boolean constraint satisfaction problems: it states that every Boolean constraint satisfaction problem is either contained in one out of six classes and can be solved in polynomial time, or is NP-complete. We present an analog of this dichotomy result for the propositional logic of graphs instead of Boolean logic. In this generalization of Schaefer's result, the input consists of a set W of variables and a conjunction Φ of statements ("constraints") about these variables in the language of graphs, where each statement is taken from a fixed finite set Ψ of allowed quantifier-free first-order formulas; the question is whether Φ is satisfiable in a graph. We prove that either Ψ is contained in one out of 17 classes of graph formulas and the corresponding problem can be solved in polynomial time, or the problem is NP-complete. This is achieved by a universal-algebraic approach, which in turn allows us to use structural Ramsey theory. To apply the universal-algebraic approach, we formulate the computational problems under consideration as constraint satisfaction problems (CSPs) whose templates are first-order definable in the countably infinite random graph. Our method to classify the computational complexity of those CSPs is based on a Ramsey-theoretic analysis of functions acting on the random graph, and we develop general tools suitable for such an analysis which are of independent mathematical interest.

cs.CC↗

arXiv2014

Permutations on the random permutation

The random permutation is the Fraïssé limit of the class of finite structures with two linear orders. Answering a problem stated by Peter Cameron in 2002, we use a recent Ramsey-theoretic technique to show that there exist precisely 39 closed supergroups of the automorphism group of the random permutation, and thereby expose all symmetries of this structure. Equivalently, we classify all structures which have a first-order definition in the random permutation.

math.LO↗

arXiv2012

Minimal functions on the random graph

We show that there is a system of 14 non-trivial finitary functions on the random graph with the following properties: Any non-trivial function on the random graph generates one of the functions of this system by means of composition with automorphisms and by topological closure, and the system is minimal in the sense that no subset of the system has the same property. The theorem is obtained by proving a Ramsey-type theorem for colorings of tuples in finite powers of the random graph, and by applying this to find regular patterns in the behavior of any function on the random graph. As model-theoretic corollaries of our methods we re-derive a theorem of Simon Thomas classifying the first-order closed reducts of the random graph, and prove some refinements of this theorem; also, we obtain a classification of the minimal reducts closed under primitive positive definitions, and prove that all reducts of the random graph are model-complete.

math.LO↗

arXiv2012

Topological Birkhoff

One of the most fundamental mathematical contributions of Garrett Birkhoff is the HSP theorem, which implies that a finite algebra B satisfies all equations that hold in a finite algebra A of the same signature if and only if B is a homomorphic image of a subalgebra of a finite power of A. On the other hand, if A is infinite, then in general one needs to take an infinite power in order to obtain a representation of B in terms of A, even if B is finite. We show that by considering the natural topology on the functions of A and B in addition to the equations that hold between them, one can do with finite powers even for many interesting infinite algebras A. More precisely, we prove that if A and B are at most countable algebras which are oligomorphic, then the mapping which sends each function from A to the corresponding function in B preserves equations and is continuous if and only if B is a homomorphic image of a subalgebra of a finite power of A. Our result has the following consequences in model theory and in theoretical computer science: two ω-categorical structures are primitive positive bi-interpretable if and only if their topological polymorphism clones are isomorphic. In particular, the complexity of the constraint satisfaction problem of an ω-categorical structure only depends on its topological polymorphism clone.

math.LO↗

arXiv2012

A new operation on partially ordered sets

Recently it has been shown that all non-trivial closed permutation groups containing the automorphism group of the random poset are generated by two types of permutations: the first type are permutations turning the order upside down, and the second type are permutations induced by so-called rotations. In this paper we introduce rotations for finite posets, which can be seen as the poset counterpart of Seidel-switch for finite graphs. We analyze some of their combinatorial properties, and investigate in particular the question of when two finite posets are rotation-equivalent. We moreover give an explicit combinatorial construction of a rotation of the random poset whose image is again isomorphic to the random poset. As an corollary of our results on rotations of finite posets, we obtain that the group of rotating permutations of the random poset is the automorphism group of a homogeneous structure in a finite language.

math.CO↗

arXiv2012

Reducts of the random partial order

We determine, up to the equivalence of first-order interdefinability, all structures which are first-order definable in the random partial order. It turns out that these structures fall into precisely five equivalence classes. We achieve this result by showing that there exist exactly five closed permutation groups which contain the automorphism group of the random partial order, and thus expose all symmetries of this structure. Our classification lines up with previous similar classifications, such as the structures definable in the random graph or the order of the rationals; it also provides further evidence for a conjecture due to Simon Thomas which states that the number of structures definable in a homogeneous structure in a finite relational language is, up to first-order interdefinability, always finite. The method we employ is based on a Ramsey-theoretic analysis of functions acting on the random partial order, which allows us to find patterns in such functions and make them accessible to finite combinatorial arguments.

math.LO↗

arXiv2012

Decidability of definability

For a fixed countably infinite structure Γ with finite relational signature τ, we study the following computational problem: input are quantifier-free τ-formulas ϕ_0,ϕ_1,...,ϕ_n that define relations R_0,R_1,...,R_n over Γ. The question is whether the relation R_0 is primitive positive definable from R_1,...,R_n, i.e., definable by a first-order formula that uses only relation symbols for R_1,..., R_n, equality, conjunctions, and existential quantification (disjunction, negation, and universal quantification are forbidden). We show decidability of this problem for all structures Γ that have a first-order definition in an ordered homogeneous structure Δ with a finite relational signature whose age is a Ramsey class and determined by finitely many forbidden substructures. Examples of structures Γ with this property are the order of the rationals, the random graph, the homogeneous universal poset, the random tournament, all homogeneous universal C-relations, and many more. We also obtain decidability of the problem when we replace primitive positive definability by existential positive, or existential definability. Our proof makes use of universal algebraic and model theoretic concepts, Ramsey theory, and a recent characterization of Ramsey classes in topological dynamics.

math.LO↗

arXiv2011

A closed algebra with a non-Borel clone and an ideal with a Borel clone

Algebras on the natural numbers and their clones of term operations can be classified according to their descriptive complexity. We give an example of a closed algebra which has only unary operations and whose clone of term operations is not Borel. Moreover, we provide an example of a coatom in the clone lattice whose obvious definition via an ideal of subsets of natural numbers would suggest that it is complete coanalytic, but which turns out to be a rather simple Borel set.

math.RA↗

arXiv2011

Universality of the lattice of transformation monoids

The set of all transformation monoids on a fixed set of infinite cardinality λ, equipped with the order of inclusion, forms a complete algebraic lattice Mon(λ) with 2^λ compact elements. We show that this lattice is universal with respect to closed sublattices, i.e., the closed sublattices of Mon(λ) are, up to isomorphism, precisely the complete algebraic lattices with at most 2^λ compact elements.

math.RA↗

arXiv2011

Reducts of Ramsey structures

One way of studying a relational structure is to investigate functions which are related to that structure and which leave certain aspects of the structure invariant. Examples are the automorphism group, the self-embedding monoid, the endomorphism monoid, or the polymorphism clone of a structure. Such functions can be particularly well understood when the relational structure is countably infinite and has a first-order definition in another relational structure which has a finite language, is totally ordered and homogeneous, and has the Ramsey property. This is because in this situation, Ramsey theory provides the combinatorial tool for analyzing these functions -- in a certain sense, it allows to represent such functions by functions on finite sets. This is a survey of results in model theory and theoretical computer science obtained recently by the authors in this context. In model theory, we approach the problem of classifying the reducts of countably infinite ordered homogeneous Ramsey structures in a finite language, and certain decidability questions connected with such reducts. In theoretical computer science, we use the same combinatorial methods in order to classify the computational complexity for various classes of infinite-domain constraint satisfaction problems. While the first set of applications is obviously of an infinitary character, the second set concerns genuinely finitary problems -- their unifying feature is that the same tools from Ramsey theory are used in their solution.

math.LO↗

arXiv2010

More sublattices of the lattice of local clones

We investigate the complexity of the lattice of local clones over a countably infinite base set. In particular, we prove that this lattice contains all algebraic lattices with at most countably many compact elements as complete sublattices, but that the class of lattices embeddable into the local clone lattice is strictly larger than that: For example, the lattice $M_{2^ω}$ is a sublattice of the local clone lattice.

math.RA↗

arXiv2010

All reducts of the random graph are model-complete

We study locally closed transformation monoids which contain the automorphism group of the random graph. We show that such a transformation monoid is locally generated by the permutations in the monoid, or contains a constant operation, or contains an operation that maps the random graph injectively to an induced subgraph which is a clique or an independent set. As a corollary, our techniques yield a new proof of Simon Thomas' classification of the five closed supergroups of the automorphism group of the random graph; our proof uses different Ramsey-theoretic tools than the one given by Thomas, and is perhaps more straightforward. Since the monoids under consideration are endomorphism monoids of relational structures definable in the random graph, we are able to draw several model-theoretic corollaries: One consequence of our result is that all structures with a first-order definition in the random graph are model-complete. Moreover, we obtain a classification of these structures up to existential interdefinability.

math.LO↗

arXiv2010

The reducts of equality up to primitive positive interdefinability

We initiate the study of reducts of relational structures up to primitive positive interdefinability: After providing the tools for such a study, we apply these tools in order to obtain a classification of the reducts of the logic of equality. It turns out that there exists a continuum of such reducts. Equivalently, expressed in the language of universal algebra, we classify those locally closed clones over a countable domain which contain all permutations of the domain.

math.LO↗

arXiv2008

Clones from ideals

On an infinite base set X, every ideal of subsets of X can be associated with the clone of those operations on X which map small sets to small sets. We continue earlier investigations on the position of such clones in the clone lattice.

math.RA↗