Constraint satisfaction problems and finite algebras

Abstract

Many natural combinatorial problems can be expressed as constraint satisfaction problems. This class of problems is known to be NP-complete in general, but certain restrictions on the form of the constraints can ensure tractability. In this paper we show that any restricted set of constraint types can be associated with a finite universal algebra. We explore how the computational complexity of a restricted constraint satisfaction problem is connected to properties of the corresponding algebra. Using these results we exhibit a common structural property of all known intractable constraint satisfaction problems. Finally, we classify all finite strictly simple surjective algebras with respect to tractability. The result is a dichotomy theorem which significantly generalises Schaefer’s dichotomy for the Generalised Satisfiability problem.