How do we allocate scarcere sources? How do we fairly allocate costs? These are two pressing challenges facing society today. I discuss two recent projects at NICTA concerning resource and cost allocation. In the first, we have been working with FoodBank Local, a social startup working in collaboration with food bank charities around the world to optimise the logistics of collecting and distributing donated food. Before we can distribute this food, we must decide how to allocate it to different charities and food kitchens. This gives rise to a fair division problem with several new dimensions, rarely considered in the literature. In the second, we have been looking at cost allocation within the distribution network of a large multinational company. This also has several new dimensions rarely considered in the literature.
Finally, computational phase transitions have been observed in a number of related areas including constraint satisfaction @cite_47 @cite_23 @cite_13 @cite_21 @cite_50 , number partitioning @cite_38 @cite_15 , TSP @cite_8 , social choice @cite_39 @cite_46 @cite_4 , and elsewhere @cite_48 @cite_44 @cite_24 @cite_51 @cite_25 . We predict that a similar analysis of phase transitions will provide insight into the precise relationship between equitability and efficiency in allocation problems.
@cite_38 @cite_4 @cite_15 @cite_8 @cite_46 @cite_48 @cite_21 @cite_39 @cite_44 @cite_24 @cite_50 @cite_23 @cite_51 @cite_47 @cite_13 @cite_25
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Phase transitions in constraint satisfaction problems (CSP's) are the subject of intense study. We identify a control parameter for random binary CSP's. There is a rapid transition in the probability of a CSP having a solution at a critical value of this parameter. This parameter allows different phase transition behaviour to be compared in an uniform manner, for example CSP's generated under different regimes. We then show that within classes, the scaling of behaviour can be modelled by a technique called “finite size scaling”. This applies not only to probability of solubility, as has been observed before in other NP-problems, but also to search cost. Furthermore, the technique applies with equal validity to several different methods of varying problem size. As well as contributing to the understanding of phase transitions, we contribute by allowing much finer grained comparison of algorithms, and for accurate empirical extrapolations of behaviour. For many random constraint satisfaction problems, by now there exist asymptotically tight estimates of the largest constraint density for which solutions exist. At the same time, for many of these problems, all known polynomial-time algorithms stop finding solutions at much smaller densities. For example, it is well-known that it is easy to color a random graph using twice as many colors as its chromatic number. Indeed, some of the simplest possible coloring algorithms achieve this goal. Given the simplicity of those algorithms, one would expect room for improvement. Yet, to date, no algorithm is known that uses (2 - epsiv)chi colors, in spite of efforts by numerous researchers over the years. In view of the remarkable resilience of this factor of 2 against every algorithm hurled at it, we find it natural to inquire into its origin. We do so by analyzing the evolution of the set of k-colorings of a random graph, viewed as a subset of 1,...,k n, as edges are added. We prove that the factor of 2 corresponds in a precise mathematical sense to a phase transition in the geometry of this set. Roughly speaking, we prove that the set of k-colorings looks like a giant ball for k ges 2chi, but like an error-correcting code for k les (2 - epsiv)chi. We also prove that an analogous phase transition occurs both in random k-SAT and in random hypergraph 2-coloring. And that for each of these three problems, the location of the transition corresponds to the point where all known polynomial-time algorithms fail. To prove our results we develop a general technique that allows us to establish rigorously much of the celebrated 1-step replica-symmetry-breaking hypothesis of statistical physics for random CSPs. An instance of a random constraint satisfaction problem defines a random subset 𝒮 (the set of solutions) of a large product space X N (the set of assignments). We consider two prototypical problem ensembles (random k -satisfiability and q -coloring of random regular graphs) and study the uniform measure with support on S . As the number of constraints per variable increases, this measure first decomposes into an exponential number of pure states (“clusters”) and subsequently condensates over the largest such states. Above the condensation point, the mass carried by the n largest states follows a Poisson-Dirichlet process. For typical large instances, the two transitions are sharp. We determine their precise location. Further, we provide a formal definition of each phase transition in terms of different notions of correlation between distinct variables in the problem. The degree of correlation naturally affects the performances of many search sampling algorithms. Empirical evidence suggests that local Monte Carlo Markov chain strategies are effective up to the clustering phase transition and belief propagation up to the condensation point. Finally, refined message passing techniques (such as survey propagation) may also beat this threshold. We present a detailed experimental investigation of the easy-hard-easy phase transition for randomly generated instances of satisfiability problems. Problems in the hard part of the phase transition have been extensively used for benchmarking satisfiability algorithms. This study demonstrates that problem classes and regions of the phase transition previously thought to be easy can sometimes be orders of magnitude more difficult than the worst problems in problem classes and regions of the phase transition considered hard. These difficult problems are either hard unsatisfiable problems or are satisfiable problems which give a hard unsatisfiable subproblem following a wrong split. Whilst these hard unsatisfiable problems may have short proofs, these appear to be difficult to find, and other proofs are long and hard.