Synonyms
Definition
Combinatorial search involves the systematic exploration of the space of configurations, or states, of a problem domain. A set of operators can transform a given state to a series of successor states. The objective of the exploration is to find one, all, or optimal goal states satisfying certain desired properties, possibly along with a path from the start state to each goal. Combinatorial search has widespread applications in optimization, logic programming, and artificial intelligence.
Discussion
Given an implicitly defined set, combinatorial search involves finding one or more of its members that satisfy specific properties. More formally, it entails the systematic assignment of discrete values from a finite range to each of a collection of variables. Each member of the set represents a configuration or state that the basic elements of the problem domain can assume. Therefore, the set is also called a state space....
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Kalé, L.V., Jetley, P. (2011). Combinatorial Search. In: Padua, D. (eds) Encyclopedia of Parallel Computing. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-09766-4_241
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-09766-4_241
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
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