Formal models of heavy-tailed behavior in combinatorial search

Chen, Hubie and Gomes, C.P. and Selman, B. (2001) Formal models of heavy-tailed behavior in combinatorial search. In: Walsh, T. (ed.) 7th International Conference: Principles and Practice of Constraint Programming. Lecture Notes in Computer Science 2239. Springer, pp. 408-421. ISBN 9783540428633.

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Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-45578-7_28

Abstract

Recently, it has been found that the cost distributions of randomized backtrack search in combinatorial domains are often heavytailed. Such heavy-tailed distributions explain the high variability observed when using backtrack-style procedures. A good understanding of this phenomenon can lead to better search techniques. For example, restart strategies provide a good mechanism for eliminating the heavytailed behavior and boosting the overall search performance. Several state-of-the-art SAT solvers now incorporate such restart mechanisms. The study of heavy-tailed phenomena in combinatorial search has so far been been largely based on empirical data. We introduce several abstract tree search models, and show formally how heavy-tailed cost distribution can arise in backtrack search. We also discuss how these insights may facilitate the development of better combinatorial search methods.

Metadata

Item Type:	Book Section
School:	Birkbeck Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Science > School of Computing and Mathematical Sciences
Depositing User:	Sarah Hall
Date Deposited:	09 Mar 2021 17:48
Last Modified:	09 Aug 2023 12:50
URI:	https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/43363

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