摘要：The algebraic dichotomy conjecture of Bulatov, Krokhin and Jeavons yields an elegant characterization of the complexity of constraint satisfaction problems. Roughly speaking, the characterization asserts that a CSP L is tractable if and only if there exist certain non-trivial operations known as polymorphisms to combine solutions to L to create new ones. In this work, we study the dynamical system associated with repeated applications of a polymorphism to a distribution over assignments. Specifically, we exhibit a correlation decay phenomenon that makes two variables or groups of variables that are not perfectly correlated become independent after repeated applications of a polymorphism. We show that this correlation decay phenomenon can be utilized in designing algorithms for CSPs by exhibiting two applications: 1. A simple randomized algorithm to solve linear equations over a prime field, whose analysis crucially relies on correlation decay. 2. A sufficient condition for the simple linear programming relaxation for a 2-CSP to be sound (have no integrality gap) on a given instance.
关键词：Constraint Satisfaction; Polymorphisms; Linear Equations; Correlation Decay
