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What is the phase transition in random satisfiability problems?

  • A.The formula changes from conjunctive to disjunctive normal form
  • B.The problem becomes decidable above a certain number of variables
  • C.Hard instances cluster at a critical ratio of clauses to variables
  • D.The solver switches from systematic to local search at a threshold

Answer: C

Random three literal formulas are almost always satisfiable below about four point two clauses per variable and almost always unsatisfiable above it, with the hard instances concentrated at the boundary. Far from the ratio the answer is easy either way. The other options describe unrelated changes. That difficulty depends on a single structural ratio, and peaks where the answer is genuinely in doubt, is both a useful benchmarking fact and an appealing piece of science.

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