Towards an algebraic approach to the reconfiguration CSP

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Author: Kimura, Kei
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Kimura, Kei
author_facet Kimura, Kei
contents This paper investigates the reconfiguration variant of the Constraint Satisfaction Problem (CSP), referred to as the Reconfiguration CSP (RCSP). Given a CSP instance and two of its solutions, RCSP asks whether one solution can be transformed into the other via a sequence of intermediate solutions, each differing by the assignment of a single variable. RCSP has attracted growing interest in theoretical computer science, and when the variable domain is Boolean, the computational complexity of RCSP exhibits a dichotomy depending on the allowed constraint types. A notable special case is the reconfiguration of graph homomorphisms -- also known as graph recoloring -- which has been studied using topological methods. We propose a novel algebraic approach to RCSP, inspired by techniques used in classical CSP complexity analysis. Unlike traditional methods based on total operations, our framework employs partial operations to capture a reduction involving equality constraints. This perspective facilitates the extension of complexity results from Boolean domains to more general settings, demonstrating the versatility of partial operations in identifying tractable RCSP instances.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2511_22914
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Towards an algebraic approach to the reconfiguration CSP
Kimura, Kei
Data Structures and Algorithms
This paper investigates the reconfiguration variant of the Constraint Satisfaction Problem (CSP), referred to as the Reconfiguration CSP (RCSP). Given a CSP instance and two of its solutions, RCSP asks whether one solution can be transformed into the other via a sequence of intermediate solutions, each differing by the assignment of a single variable. RCSP has attracted growing interest in theoretical computer science, and when the variable domain is Boolean, the computational complexity of RCSP exhibits a dichotomy depending on the allowed constraint types. A notable special case is the reconfiguration of graph homomorphisms -- also known as graph recoloring -- which has been studied using topological methods. We propose a novel algebraic approach to RCSP, inspired by techniques used in classical CSP complexity analysis. Unlike traditional methods based on total operations, our framework employs partial operations to capture a reduction involving equality constraints. This perspective facilitates the extension of complexity results from Boolean domains to more general settings, demonstrating the versatility of partial operations in identifying tractable RCSP instances.
title Towards an algebraic approach to the reconfiguration CSP
topic Data Structures and Algorithms
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.22914