Local search for valued constraint satisfaction parameterized by treedepth

Fuente: arXiv
Gespeichert in:
Bibliographische Detailangaben
1. Verfasser: Kaznatcheev, Artem
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2024
Schlagworte:
Online-Zugang:
Tags: Tag hinzufügen
Keine Tags, Fügen Sie den ersten Tag hinzu!
_version_ 1866910453962113024
author Kaznatcheev, Artem
author_facet Kaznatcheev, Artem
contents Sometimes local search algorithms cannot efficiently find even local peaks. To understand why, I look at the structure of ascents in fitness landscapes from valued constraint satisfaction problems (VCSPs). Given a VCSP with a constraint graph of treedepth $d$, I prove that from any initial assignment there always exists an ascent of length $2^{d + 1} \cdot n$ to a local peak. This means that short ascents always exist in fitness landscapes from constraint graphs of logarithmic treedepth, and thus also for all VCSPs of bounded treewidth. But this does not mean that local search algorithms will always find and follow such short ascents in sparse VCSPs. I show that with loglog treedepth, superpolynomial ascents exist; and for polylog treedepth, there are initial assignments from which all ascents are superpolynomial. Together, these results suggest that the study of sparse VCSPs can help us better understand the barriers to efficient local search.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2405_12410
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Local search for valued constraint satisfaction parameterized by treedepth
Kaznatcheev, Artem
Discrete Mathematics
Data Structures and Algorithms
Neural and Evolutionary Computing
Populations and Evolution
Sometimes local search algorithms cannot efficiently find even local peaks. To understand why, I look at the structure of ascents in fitness landscapes from valued constraint satisfaction problems (VCSPs). Given a VCSP with a constraint graph of treedepth $d$, I prove that from any initial assignment there always exists an ascent of length $2^{d + 1} \cdot n$ to a local peak. This means that short ascents always exist in fitness landscapes from constraint graphs of logarithmic treedepth, and thus also for all VCSPs of bounded treewidth. But this does not mean that local search algorithms will always find and follow such short ascents in sparse VCSPs. I show that with loglog treedepth, superpolynomial ascents exist; and for polylog treedepth, there are initial assignments from which all ascents are superpolynomial. Together, these results suggest that the study of sparse VCSPs can help us better understand the barriers to efficient local search.
title Local search for valued constraint satisfaction parameterized by treedepth
topic Discrete Mathematics
Data Structures and Algorithms
Neural and Evolutionary Computing
Populations and Evolution
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2405.12410