Scalable Algorithms for Approximate DNF Model Counting

Fuente: arXiv
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Auteurs principaux: Burkhardt, Paul, Harris, David G., Schmitt, Kevin T
Format: Preprint
Publié: 2026
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author Burkhardt, Paul
Harris, David G.
Schmitt, Kevin T
author_facet Burkhardt, Paul
Harris, David G.
Schmitt, Kevin T
contents Model counting of Disjunctive Normal Form (DNF) formulas is a critical problem in applications such as probabilistic inference and network reliability. For example, it is often used for query evaluation in probabilistic databases. Due to the computational intractability of exact DNF counting, there has been a line of research into a variety of approximation algorithms. These include Monte Carlo approaches such as the classical algorithms of Karp, Luby, and Madras (1989), as well as methods based on hashing (Soos et al. 2023), and heuristic approximations based on Neural Nets (Abboud, Ceylan, and Lukasiewicz 2020). We develop a new Monte Carlo approach with an adaptive stopping rule and short-circuit formula evaluation. We prove it achieves Probably Approximately Correct (PAC) learning bounds and is asymptotically more efficient than the previous methods. We also show experimentally that it out-performs prior algorithms by orders of magnitude, and can scale to much larger problems with millions of variables.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2601_10511
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Scalable Algorithms for Approximate DNF Model Counting
Burkhardt, Paul
Harris, David G.
Schmitt, Kevin T
Data Structures and Algorithms
Artificial Intelligence
Model counting of Disjunctive Normal Form (DNF) formulas is a critical problem in applications such as probabilistic inference and network reliability. For example, it is often used for query evaluation in probabilistic databases. Due to the computational intractability of exact DNF counting, there has been a line of research into a variety of approximation algorithms. These include Monte Carlo approaches such as the classical algorithms of Karp, Luby, and Madras (1989), as well as methods based on hashing (Soos et al. 2023), and heuristic approximations based on Neural Nets (Abboud, Ceylan, and Lukasiewicz 2020). We develop a new Monte Carlo approach with an adaptive stopping rule and short-circuit formula evaluation. We prove it achieves Probably Approximately Correct (PAC) learning bounds and is asymptotically more efficient than the previous methods. We also show experimentally that it out-performs prior algorithms by orders of magnitude, and can scale to much larger problems with millions of variables.
title Scalable Algorithms for Approximate DNF Model Counting
topic Data Structures and Algorithms
Artificial Intelligence
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.10511