On Singleton Arc Consistency for CSPs Defined by Monotone Patterns

Algorithmica. 2019;81(4):1699-1727. doi: 10.1007/s00453-018-0498-2. Epub 2018 Aug 13.

Abstract

Singleton arc consistency is an important type of local consistency which has been recently shown to solve all constraint satisfaction problems (CSPs) over constraint languages of bounded width. We aim to characterise all classes of CSPs defined by a forbidden pattern that are solved by singleton arc consistency and closed under removing constraints. We identify five new patterns whose absence ensures solvability by singleton arc consistency, four of which are provably maximal and three of which generalise 2-SAT. Combined with simple counter-examples for other patterns, we make significant progress towards a complete classification.

Keywords: Constraint satisfaction problems; Forbidden patterns; Singleton arc consistency.