Phase transitions and complexity in computer science: an overview of the statistical physics approach to the random satisfiability problem

Giulio Biroli, Simona Cocco and Rémi Monasson

Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, 2002, vol. 306, issue C, 381-394

Abstract: Phase transitions, ubiquitous in condensed matter physics, are encountered in computer science too. The existence of critical phenomena has deep consequences on computational complexity, that is the resolution times of various optimization or decision problems. Concepts and methods borrowed from the statistical physics of disordered and out-of-equilibrium systems shed new light on the dynamical operation of solving algorithms.

Keywords: Statistical physics; Phase transitions; Optimization; Satisfiability; Analysis of algorithm (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2002
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378437102005162
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only. Journal offers the option of making the article available online on Science direct for a fee of $3,000

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:phsmap:v:306:y:2002:i:c:p:381-394

DOI: 10.1016/S0378-4371(02)00516-2

Access Statistics for this article

Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications is currently edited by K. A. Dawson, J. O. Indekeu, H.E. Stanley and C. Tsallis

More articles in Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().