AC-3 algorithm

In constraint satisfaction, the AC-3 algorithm (short for Arc Consistency Algorithm #3) is one of a series of algorithms used for the solution of constraint satisfaction problems (or CSPs). It was developed by Alan Mackworth in 1977. The earlier AC algorithms are often considered too inefficient, and many of the later ones are difficult to implement, and so AC-3 is the one most often taught and used in very simple constraint solvers. The AC-3 algorithm is not to be confused with the similarly named A3C algorithm in machine learning.

In constraint satisfaction, the AC-3 algorithm (short for Arc Consistency Algorithm #3) is one of a series of algorithms used for the solution of constraint satisfaction problems (or CSPs). It was developed by Alan Mackworth in 1977. The earlier AC algorithms are often considered too inefficient, and many of the later ones are difficult to implement, and so AC-3 is the one most often taught and used in very simple constraint solvers. The AC-3 algorithm is not to be confused with the similarly named A3C algorithm in machine learning. X (a variable) has the possible values {0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5}—the set of these values are the domain of X, or D(X). The variable Y has the domain D(Y) = {0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9}. Together with the constraints C1 = "X must be even" and C2 = "X + Y must equal 4" we have a CSP that AC-3 can solve. Notice that the actual constraint graph representing this problem must contain two edges between X and Y since C2 is undirected but the graph representation being used by AC-3 is directed. AC-3 solves the problem by first removing the non-even values from of the domain of X as required by C1, leaving D(X) = { 0, 2, 4 }. It then examines the arcs between X and Y implied by C2. Only the pairs (X=0, Y=4), (X=2, Y=2), and (X=4, Y=0) match the constraint C2. AC-3 then terminates, with D(X) = {0, 2, 4} and D(Y) = {0, 2, 4}. AC-3 is expressed in pseudocode as follows: Input: A set of variables X A set of domains D(x) for each variable x in X. D(x) contains vx0, vx1... vxn, the possible values of x A set of unary constraints R1(x) on variable x that must be satisfied A set of binary constraints R2(x, y) on variables x and y that must be satisfied Output: Arc consistent domains for each variable. function ac3(X, D, R1, R2) // Initial domains are made consistent with unary constraints. for each x in X D(x) := { vx in D(x) | vx satisfies R1(x) } // 'worklist' contains all arcs we wish to prove consistent or not. worklist := { (x, y) | there exists a relation R2(x, y) or a relation R2(y, x) } do select any arc (x, y) from worklist worklist := worklist - (x, y) if arc-reduce (x, y) if D(x) is empty return failure else worklist := worklist + { (z, x) | z != y and there exists a relation R2(x, z) or a relation R2(z, x) } while worklist not empty function arc-reduce(x, y) bool change = false for each vx in D(x) find a value vy in D(y) such that vx and vy satisfy the constraint R2(x, y) if there is no such vy { D(x) := D(x) - vx change := true } return change The algorithm has a worst-case time complexity of O(ed 3 ) and space complexity of O(e), where e is the number of arcs and d is the size of the largest domain.

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