On bounded occurrence constraint satisfaction

An approximation algorithm for a constraint satisfaction problem is said to be nontrivial if its performance ratio is strictly superior to the expected performance of the algorithm which simply chooses a random assignment. We prove that any constraint satisfaction problem where each variable appears a bounded number of times admits a nontrivial polynomial time approximation algorithm.

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2000
• Where: IPL
• Authors: Johan Håstad
• Keywords: Approximation Algorithm, Constraint Satisfaction Problem, IPL 2000, Nontrivial Polynomial Time