Hubie Chen

On the complexity of existential positive queries

We systematically investigate the complexity of model checking the existential positive fragment of first-order logic. In particular, for a set of existential positive sentences, we consider model checking where the sentence is restricted to fall into the set; a natural question is then to classify which sentence sets are tractable and which are intractable. With respect to fixed-parameter tractability, we give a general theorem that reduces this classification question to the corresponding question for primitive positive logic, for a variety of representations of structures. This general theorem allows us to deduce that an existential positive sentence set having bounded arity is fixed-parameter tractable if and only if each sentence is equivalent to one in bounded-variable logic. We then use the lens of classical complexity to study these fixed-parameter tractable sentence sets. We show that such a set can be NP-complete, and consider the length needed by a translation from sentences in such a set to bounded-variable logic; we prove superpolynomial lower bounds on this length using the theory of compilability, obtaining an interesting type of formula size lower bound. Overall, the tools, concepts, and results of this article set the stage for the future consideration of the complexity of model checking on more expressive logics.

A Trichotomy in the Complexity of Counting Answers to Conjunctive Queries

Conjunctive queries are basic and heavily studied database queries; in relational algebra, they are the select-project-join queries. In this article, we study the fundamental problem of counting, given a conjunctive query and a relational database, the number of answers to the query on the database. In particular, we study the complexity of this problem relative to sets of conjunctive queries. We present a trichotomy theorem, which shows essentially that this problem on a set of conjunctive queries is either tractable, equivalent to the parameterized CLIQUE problem, or as hard as the parameterized counting CLIQUE problem; the criteria describing which of these situations occurs is simply stated, in terms of graph-theoretic conditions.

Asking the Metaquestions in Constraint Tractability

The constraint satisfaction problem (CSP) involves deciding, given a set of variables and a set of constraints on the variables, whether or not there is an assignment to the variables satisfying all of the constraints. One formulation of the CSP is as the problem of deciding, given a pair (G ℍ) of relational structures, whether or not there is a homomorphism from the first structure to the second structure. The CSP is generally NP-hard; a common way to restrict this problem is to fix the second structure ℍ so that each structure ℍ gives rise to a problem CSP(ℍ). The problem family CSP(ℍ) has been studied using an algebraic approach, which links the algorithmic and complexity properties of each problem CSP(ℍ) to a set of operations, the so-called polymorphisms of ℍ. Certain types of polymorphisms are known to imply the polynomial-time tractability of CSP(ℍ), and others are conjectured to do so. This article systematically studies—for various classes of polymorphisms—the computational complexity of deciding whether or not a given structure ℍ admits a polymorphism from the class. Among other results, we prove the NP-completeness of deciding a condition conjectured to characterize the tractable problems CSP(ℍ), as well as the NP-completeness of deciding if CSP(ℍ) has bounded width.

The Fine Classification of Conjunctive Queries and Parameterized Logarithmic Space

We perform a fundamental investigation of the complexity of conjunctive query evaluation from the perspective of parameterized complexity. We classify sets of Boolean conjunctive queries according to the complexity of this problem. Previous work showed that a set of conjunctive queries is fixed-parameter tractable precisely when the set is equivalent to a set of queries having bounded treewidth. We present a fine classification of query sets up to parameterized logarithmic space reduction. We show that, in the bounded treewidth regime, there are three complexity degrees and that the properties that determine the degree of a query set are bounded pathwidth and bounded tree depth. We also engage in a study of the two higher degrees via logarithmic space machine characterizations and complete problems. Our work yields a significantly richer perspective on the complexity of conjunctive queries and, at the same time, suggests new avenues of research in parameterized complexity.

The tractability frontier of graph-like first-order query sets

We study first-order model checking, by which we refer to the problem of deciding whether or not a given first-order sentence is satisfied by a given finite structure. In particular, we aim to understand on which sets of sentences this problem is tractable, in the sense of parameterized complexity theory. To this end, we define the notion of a graph-like sentence set, which definition is inspired by previous work on first-order model checking wherein the permitted connectives and quantifiers were restricted. Our main theorem is the complete tractability classification of such graphlike sentence sets, which is (to our knowledge) the first complexity classification theorem concerning a class of sentences that has no restriction on the connectives and quantifiers. To present and prove our classification, we introduce and develop a novel complexity-theoretic framework which is built on parameterized complexity and includes new notions of reduction.

Counting Answers to Existential Positive Queries: A Complexity Classification

Existential positive formulas form a fragment of first-order logic that includes and is semantically equivalent to unions of conjunctive queries, one of the most important and well-studied classes of queries in database theory. We consider the complexity of counting the number of answers to existential positive formulas on finite structures and give a trichotomy theorem on query classes, in the setting of bounded arity. This theorem generalizes and unifies several known results on the complexity of conjunctive queries and unions of conjunctive queries. We prove this trichotomy theorem by establishing a result which we call the equivalence theorem, which shows that for each class of existential positive formulas, there exists a class of conjunctive queries having the same complexity (in a sense made precise).

The logic of counting query answers

We consider the problem of counting the number of answers to a first-order formula on a finite structure. We present and study an extension of first-order logic in which algorithms for this counting problem can be naturally and conveniently expressed, in senses that are made precise and that are motivated by the wish to understand tractable cases of the counting problem.

The Parameterized Space Complexity of Embedding Along a Path

The embedding problem is to decide, given an ordered pair of structures, whether or not there is an injective homomorphism from the first structure to the second. We study this problem using an established perspective in parameterized complexity theory: the universe size of the first structure is taken to be the parameter, and we define the embedding problem relative to a class 𝓐

One Hierarchy Spawns Another: Graph Deconstructions and the Complexity Classification of Conjunctive Queries

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One hierarchy spawns another: graph deconstructions and the complexity classification of conjunctive queries

of structures to be the restricted version of the general problem where the first structure must come from 𝓐