The Network Satisfaction Problem for Relation Algebras with at most 4 Atoms

Andréka and Maddux classified the relation algebras with at most 3 atoms, and in particular they showed that all of them are representable. Hirsch and Cristiani showed that the network satisfaction problem (NSP) for each of these algebras is in P or NP-hard. There are relation algebras with 4 atoms that are not representable, and there are many results in the literature about representations and non-representability of relation algebras with at most 4 atoms. We extend the result of Hirsch and Cristiani to relation algebras with at most 4 atoms: the NSP is always either in P or NP-hard. To this end, we construct universal, fully universal, or even normal representations for these algebras, whenever possible.

Publication Details

Journal
ArXiv.org
Published
2025-07-12
Primary Topic
Constraint Satisfaction and Optimization
Type
article
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article

The Network Satisfaction Problem for Relation Algebras with at most 4 Atoms

ArXiv.org
Constraint Satisfaction and Optimization
article

The Network Satisfaction Problem for Relation Algebras with at most 4 Atoms

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Abstract

Andréka and Maddux classified the relation algebras with at most 3 atoms, and in particular they showed that all of them are representable. Hirsch and Cristiani showed that the network satisfaction problem (NSP) for each of these algebras is in P or NP-hard. There are relation algebras with 4 atoms that are not representable, and there are many results in the literature about representations and non-representability of relation algebras with at most 4 atoms. We extend the result of Hirsch and Cristiani to relation algebras with at most 4 atoms: the NSP is always either in P or NP-hard. To this end, we construct universal, fully universal, or even normal representations for these algebras, whenever possible.

ArXiv.org
Openalex Percentile: Top 46%
Constraint Satisfaction and Optimization
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The Network Satisfaction Problem for Relation Algebras with at most 4 Atoms · ArXiv.org (2025) | TGRS Research Map | TGRS