English
Related papers

Related papers: Statistical Physics of Hard Optimization Problems

200 papers

Consider the regularized sparse minimization problem, which involves empirical sums of loss functions for $n$ data points (each of dimension $d$) and a nonconvex sparsity penalty. We prove that finding an…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2017-06-20 Yichen Chen , Dongdong Ge , Mengdi Wang , Zizhuo Wang , Yinyu Ye , Hao Yin

Many key problems in machine learning and data science are routinely modeled as optimization problems and solved via optimization algorithms. With the increase of the volume of data and the size and complexity of the statistical models used…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2020-08-28 Filip Hanzely

We describe simple algebraic and combinatorial characterisations of finite relational core structures admitting finitely many obstructions. As a consequence, we show that it is decidable to determine whether a constraint satisfaction…

Logic in Computer Science · Computer Science 2015-07-01 Benoit Larose , Cynthia Loten , Claude Tardif

Many practical problems in almost all scientific and technological disciplines have been classified as computationally hard (NP-hard or even NP-complete). In life sciences, combinatorial optimization problems frequently arise in molecular…

Data Structures and Algorithms · Computer Science 2015-03-19 H. Jose Antonio Martin

Limited resources motivate decomposing large-scale problems into smaller,``local" subsystems and stitching together the so-found solutions. We explore the physics underlying this approach and discuss the concept of ``local hardness", i.e.,…

Disordered Systems and Neural Networks · Physics 2025-12-24 Mutian Shen , Gerardo Ortiz , Zhiqiao Dong , Martin Weigel , Zohar Nussinov

We study statistical properties of an NP-complete problem, the subset sum, using the methods and concepts of statistical mechanics. The problem is a generalization of the number partitioning problem, which is also an NP-complete problem and…

Statistical Mechanics · Physics 2007-05-23 T. Sasamoto , T. Toyoizumi , H. Nishimori

This thesis explores algorithmic applications and limitations of convex relaxation hierarchies for approximating some discrete and continuous optimization problems. - We show a dichotomy of approximability of constraint satisfaction…

Computational Complexity · Computer Science 2025-09-01 Mrinalkanti Ghosh

Graphs are widely used to model execution dependencies in applications. In particular, the NP-complete problem of partitioning a graph under constraints receives enormous attention by researchers because of its applicability in…

Data Structures and Algorithms · Computer Science 2017-04-04 Orlando Moreira , Merten Popp , Christian Schulz

Optimization problems with both control variables and environmental variables arise in many fields. This paper introduces a framework of personalized optimization to han- dle such problems. Unlike traditional robust optimization,…

Computation · Statistics 2016-07-07 Shifeng Xiong

We study a simple and exactly solvable model for the generation of random satisfiability problems. These consist of $\gamma N$ random boolean constraints which are to be satisfied simultaneously by $N$ logical variables. In…

Disordered Systems and Neural Networks · Physics 2009-10-31 F. Ricci-Tersenghi , M. Weigt , R. Zecchina

The constraint satisfaction problem (CSP) is a computational problem that includes a range of important problems in computer science. We point out that fundamental concepts of the CSP, such as the solution set of an instance and…

Category Theory · Mathematics 2022-11-04 Soichiro Fujii , Yuni Iwamasa , Kei Kimura

We continue the investigation of polynomial-time sparsification for NP-complete Boolean Constraint Satisfaction Problems (CSPs). The goal in sparsification is to reduce the number of constraints in a problem instance without changing the…

Computational Complexity · Computer Science 2018-09-18 Hubie Chen , Bart M. P. Jansen , Astrid Pieterse

Cutting and packing problems are present in many, at first glance unconnected, areas, therefore it's beneficial to have a good understanding of their underlying structure, to select proper techniques for finding solutions. Cutting and…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2023-11-14 Szymon Wróbel

Optimization is a key task in a number of applications. When the set of feasible solutions under consideration is of combinatorial nature and described in an implicit way as a set of constraints, optimization is typically NP-hard.…

Artificial Intelligence · Computer Science 2014-10-27 Daniel Le Berre , Emmanuel Lonca , Pierre Marquis

Theoretical complexity is a vital subfield of computer science that enables us to mathematically investigate computation and answer many interesting queries about the nature of computational problems. It provides theoretical tools to assess…

Computational Complexity · Computer Science 2021-12-23 Mohamed Ghanem , Dauod Siniora

Optimization under uncertainty deals with the problem of optimizing stochastic cost functions given some partial information on their inputs. These problems are extremely difficult to solve and yet pervade all areas of technological and…

Statistical Mechanics · Physics 2015-03-13 Fabrizio Altarelli , Alfredo Braunstein , Abolfazl Ramezanpour , Riccardo Zecchina

Constraint satisfaction problems are computational problems that naturally appear in many areas of theoretical computer science. One of the central themes is their computational complexity, and in particular the border between…

Computational Complexity · Computer Science 2026-04-28 Manuel Bodirsky

Many researchers in artificial intelligence are beginning to explore the use of soft constraints to express a set of (possibly conflicting) problem requirements. A soft constraint is a function defined on a collection of variables which…

Artificial Intelligence · Computer Science 2011-07-04 D. Cohen , M. Cooper , P. Jeavons , A. Krokhin

Algorithms for continuous optimization problems have a rich history of design and innovation over the past several decades, in which mathematical analysis of their convergence and complexity properties plays a central role. Besides their…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2025-12-03 Stephen J. Wright

The question if a given partial solution to a problem can be extended reasonably occurs in many algorithmic approaches for optimization problems. For instance, when enumerating minimal dominating sets of a graph $G=(V,E)$, one usually…

Computational Complexity · Computer Science 2018-10-11 Katrin Casel , Henning Fernau , Mehdi Khosravian Ghadikolaei , Jérôme Monnot , Florian Sikora