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On the Complexity of Hmelevskii’s Theorem and Satisfiability of Three Unknown Equations

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Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNTCS,volume 5583))

Abstract

We analyze Hmelevskii’s theorem, which states that the general solutions of constant-free equations on three unknowns are expressible by a finite collection of formulas of word and numerical parameters. We prove that the size of the finite representation is bounded by an exponential function on the size of the equation. We also prove that the shortest nontrivial solution of the equation, if it exists, is exponential, and that its existence can be solved in nondeterministic polynomial time.

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Saarela, A. (2009). On the Complexity of Hmelevskii’s Theorem and Satisfiability of Three Unknown Equations. In: Diekert, V., Nowotka, D. (eds) Developments in Language Theory. DLT 2009. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 5583. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-02737-6_36

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-02737-6_36

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-02736-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-02737-6

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