Title
Linear-time algorithms for testing the satisfiability of propositional horn formulae
Abstract
New algorithms for deciding whether a (propositional) Horn formula is satisfiable are presented. If the Horn formula A contains K distinct propositional letters and if it is assumed that they are exactly P1,…, PK, the two algorithms presented in this paper run in time O(N), where N is the total number of occurrences of literals in A. By representing a Horn proposition as a graph, the satisfiability problem can be formulated as a data flow problem, a certain type of pebbling. The difference between the two algorithms presented here is the strategy used for pebbling the graph. The first algorithm is based on the principle used for finding the set of nonterminals of a context-free grammar from which the empty string can be derived. The second algorithm is a graph traversal and uses a “call-by-need” strategy. This algorithm uses an attribute grammar to translate a propositional Horn formula to its corresponding graph in linear time. Our formulation of the satisfiability problem as a data flow problem appears to be new and suggests the possibility of improving efficiency using parallel processors.
Year
DOI
Venue
1984
10.1016/0743-1066(84)90014-1
The Journal of Logic Programming
Keywords
Field
DocType
satisfiability
Discrete mathematics,Attribute grammar,Combinatorics,Graph traversal,Horn-satisfiability,Empty string,Boolean satisfiability problem,Satisfiability,Algorithm,Time complexity,Propositional variable,Mathematics
Journal
Volume
Issue
ISSN
1
3
0743-1066
Citations 
PageRank 
References 
429
62.11
8
Authors
2
Search Limit
100429
Name
Order
Citations
PageRank
William F. Dowling142962.79
Jean H. Gallier2749111.86