Syntactic Characterisations of Polynomial-Time Optimisation Classes (Syntactic Characterizations of Polynomial-Time Optimization Classes)
Abstract
In Descriptive Complexity, there is a vast amount of literature on decision problems, and their classes such as \textbf{P, NP, L and NL}. ~ However, research on the descriptive complexity of optimisation problems has been limited. Optimisation problems corresponding to the \textbf{NP} class have been characterised in terms of logic expressions by Papadimitriou and Yannakakis, Panconesi and Ranjan, Kolaitis and Thakur, Khanna et al, and by Zimand. Gr\"{a}del characterised the polynomial class \textbf{P} of decision problems. In this paper, we attempt to characterise the optimisation versions of \textbf{P} via expressions in second order logic, many of them using universal Horn formulae with successor relations. The polynomially bound versions of maximisation (maximization) and minimisation (minimization) problems are treated first, and then the maximisation problems in the "not necessarily polynomially bound" class.
Cite
@article{arxiv.cs/0606050,
title = {Syntactic Characterisations of Polynomial-Time Optimisation Classes (Syntactic Characterizations of Polynomial-Time Optimization Classes)},
author = {Prabhu Manyem},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:cs/0606050},
year = {2007}
}
Comments
17 pages; presented at the July 2005 ACiD workshop at Durham, England; Included both American and British commonwealth spellings, so as to generate hits from readers in North America as well as from Commonwealth countries and Europe