Compact representation of sets of binary constraints

Jussi Rintanen*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

17 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

We address the problem of representing big sets of binary constraints compactly. Binary constraints in the form of 2-literal clauses are ubiquitous in propositional formulae that represent real-world problems ranging from model-checking problems in computer-aided verification to AI planning problems. Current satisfiability and constraint solvers are applicable to very big problems, and in some cases the physical size of the problem representations prevents solving the problems, not their computational difficulty. Our work is motivated by this observation. We propose graph-theoretic techniques based on cliques and bicliques for compactly representing big sets of binary constraints that have the form of 2-literal clauses. An n, m biclique in a graph associated with the constraints can be very compactly represented with only n + m binary constraints and one auxiliary variable. Cliques in the graph are associated with at-most-one constraints, and can be represented with a logarithmic number of binary constraints. The clique representation turns out to be a special case of the biclique representation. We demonstrate the effectiveness of the biclique representation in making the representation of big planning problems practical.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationECAI 2006
Subtitle of host publication17th European Conference on Artificial Intelligence August 29 - September 1, 2006, Riva del Garda, Italy
EditorsGerhard Brewka, Silvia Coradeschi, Anna Perini, Paolo Traverso
PublisherIOS Press BV
Pages143-147
Number of pages5
ISBN (Print)9781586036423
Publication statusPublished - 2006
Externally publishedYes

Publication series

NameFrontiers in Artificial Intelligence and Applications
Volume141
ISSN (Print)0922-6389
ISSN (Electronic)1879-8314

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