Witness of unsatisfiability for a random 3-satisfiability formula

Phys Rev E Stat Nonlin Soft Matter Phys. 2013 May;87(5):052807. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevE.87.052807. Epub 2013 May 20.

Abstract

The random 3-satisfiability (3-SAT) problem is in the unsatisfiable (UNSAT) phase when the clause density α exceeds a critical value α(s)≈4.267. Rigorously proving the unsatisfiability of a given large 3-SAT instance is, however, extremely difficult. In this paper we apply the mean-field theory of statistical physics to the unsatisfiability problem, and show that a reduction to 3-XORSAT, which permits the construction of a specific type of UNSAT witnesses (Feige-Kim-Ofek witnesses), is possible when the clause density α>19. We then construct Feige-Kim-Ofek witnesses for single 3-SAT instances through a simple random sampling algorithm and a focused local search algorithm. The random sampling algorithm works only when α scales at least linearly with the variable number N, but the focused local search algorithm works for clause density α>cN(b) with b≈0.59 and prefactor c≈8. The exponent b can be further decreased by enlarging the single parameter S of the focused local search algorithm.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Computer Simulation
  • Data Interpretation, Statistical*
  • Models, Statistical*
  • Sample Size*