Antti Hyttinen

A Logical Approach to Context-Specific Independence

Bayesian networks constitute a qualitative representation for conditional independence CI properties of a probability distribution. It is known that every CI statement implied by the topology of a Bayesian network G is witnessed over G under a graph-theoretic criterion called d-separation. Alternatively, all such implied CI statements have been shown to be derivable using the so-called semi-graphoid axioms. In this article we consider Labeled Directed Acyclic Graphs LDAG the purpose of which is to graphically model situations exhibiting context-specific independence CSI. We define an analogue of dependence logic suitable to express context-specific independence and study its basic properties. We also consider the problem of finding inference rules for deriving non-local CSI and CI statements that logically follow from the structure of a LDAG but are not explicitly encoded by it.

A constraint optimization approach to causal discovery from subsampled time series data

We consider causal structure estimation from time series data in which measurements are obtained at a coarser timescale than the causal timescale of the underlying system. Previous work has shown that such subsampling can lead to significant errors about the systems causal structure if not properly taken into account. In this paper, we first consider the search for system timescale causal structures that correspond to a given measurement timescale structure. We provide a constraint satisfaction procedure whose computational performance is several orders of magnitude better than previous approaches. We then consider finite-sample data as input, and propose the first constraint optimization approach for recovering system timescale causal structure. This algorithm optimally recovers from possible conflicts due to statistical errors. We then apply the method to real-world data, investigate the robustness and scalability of our method, consider further approaches to reduce underdetermination in the output, and perform an extensive comparison between different solvers on this inference problem. Overall, these advances build towards a full understanding of non-parametric estimation of system timescale causal structures from sub-sampled time series data.

Reduced Cost Fixing in MaxSAT

We investigate utilizing the integer programming (IP) technique of reduced cost fixing to improve maximum satisfiability (MaxSAT) solving. In particular, we show how reduced cost fixing can be used within the implicit hitting set approach (IHS) for solving MaxSAT. Solvers based on IHS have proved to be quite effective for MaxSAT, especially on problems with a variety of clause weights. The unique feature of IHS solvers is that they utilize both SAT and IP techniques. We show how reduced cost fixing can be used in this framework to conclude that some soft clauses can be left falsified or forced to be satisfied without influencing the optimal cost. Applying these forcings simplifies the remaining problem. We provide an extensive empirical study showing that reduced cost fixing employed in this manner can be useful in improving the state-of-the-art in MaxSAT solving especially on hard instances arising from real-world application domains.

Reduced Cost Fixing for Maximum Satisfiability.

Maximum satisfiability (MaxSAT) offers a competitive approach to solving NP-hard real-world optimization problems. While state-of-the-art MaxSAT solvers rely heavily on Boolean satisfiability (SAT) solvers, a recent trend, brought on by MaxSAT solvers implementing the so-called implicit hitting set (IHS) approach, is to integrate techniques from the realm of integer programming (IP) into the solving process. This allows for making use of additional IP solving techniques to further speed up MaxSAT solving. In this line of work, we investigate the integration of the technique of reduced cost fixing from the IP realm into IHS solvers, and empirically show that reduced cost fixing considerable speeds up a state-of-the-art MaxSAT solver implementing the IHS approach.

A Core-Guided Approach to Learning Optimal Causal Graphs

Discovery of causal relations is an important part of data analysis. Recent exact Boolean optimization approaches enable tackling very general search spaces of causal graphs with feedback cycles and latent confounders, simultaneously obtaining high accuracy by optimally combining conflicting independence information in sample data. We propose several domain-specific techniques and integrate them into a core-guided maximum satisfiability solver, thereby speeding up current state of the art in exact search for causal graphs with cycles and latent confounders on simulated and real-world data.