The maximum satisfiability problem that is known to be nondeterministic polynomial (NP) complete plays a central role problem in many applications in the fields of very large-scale integration (VLSI) computer-aided design, computing theory, artificial intelligence, and defense. Given a set of m clauses and n Boolean variables, the maximum satisfiability problem refers to the task of finding an assignment of values to the variables that maximizes the number of satisfied clauses (or minimizes the number of unsatisfied clauses) In this chapter, a multilevel evolutionary algorithm is proposed for the maximum satisfiability problem. The multilevel process works by grouping the variables defining the problem to form clusters, uses the clusters to define a new problem, and is repeated until the problem size falls below some threshold. The coarsest problem is then given an initial assignment of values to variables and the assignment is successively refined on all the problems starting with the coarsest and ending with the original.
Part of the book: Machine Learning
Genetic algorithms (GA) which belongs to the class of evolutionary algorithms are regarded as highly successful algorithms when applied to a broad range of discrete as well continuous optimization problems. This chapter introduces a hybrid approach combining genetic algorithm with the multilevel paradigm for solving the maximum constraint satisfaction problem (Max-CSP). The multilevel paradigm refers to the process of dividing large and complex problems into smaller ones, which are hopefully much easier to solve, and then work backward toward the solution of the original problem, using the solution reached from a child level as a starting solution for the parent level. The promising performances achieved by the proposed approach are demonstrated by comparisons made to solve conventional random benchmark problems.
Part of the book: Artificial Intelligence