Breaking conditional symmetry in automated constraint modelling with CONJURE
Abstract
Many constraint problems contain symmetry, which can lead to redundant search. If a partial assignment is shown to be invalid, we are wasting time if we ever consider a symmetric equivalent of it. A particularly important class of symmetries are those introduced by the constraint modelling process: model symmetries. We present a systematic method by which the automated constraint modelling tool CONJURE can break conditional symmetry as it enters a model during refinement. Our method extends, and is compatible with, our previous work on automated symmetry breaking in CONJURE. The result is the automatic and complete removal of model symmetries for the entire problem class represented by the input specification. This applies to arbitrarily nested conditional symmetries and represents a significant step forward for automated constraint modelling.
Citation
Akgün , Ö , Gent , I , Jefferson , C , Miguel , I & Nightingale , P 2014 , Breaking conditional symmetry in automated constraint modelling with CONJURE . in T Schaub , G Friedrich & B O'Sullivan (eds) , ECAI 2014 . Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence and Applications , vol. 263 , IOS Press , pp. 3-8 . https://doi.org/10.3233/978-1-61499-419-0-3
Publication
ECAI 2014
ISSN
0922-6389Type
Book item
Rights
© 2014 The Authors and IOS Press. This article is published online with Open Access by IOS Press and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/deed.en_US).
Description
This work was supported by UK EPSRC EP/K015745/1. Jefferson is supported by a Royal Society University Research Fellowship.Collections
Items in the St Andrews Research Repository are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.