Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Computational Algebra (CIRCA) seminar

Finn Smith will present Constraints in Semigroup Theory

Abstract: A common pattern in Computational Semigroup Theory is that CST problems reduce to a mathematical soup of pleasant group theory and graph theory, cooked in a complicated combinatorial broth. Very often this broth can be seen as a Constraint Satisfaction Problem, though typically it is handled using bespoke algorithms rather than general CSP solvers. I will give a quick introduction to semigroup theory and how this pattern arises, and then discuss a particular problem related to translational hulls of semigroups that might benefit from expert CSP advice.

Ruth Hoffmann will present Analysing different versions of McSplit

Abstract: McSplit is a very fast Maximum Common Subgraph solver (i.e. find the largest subgraph between to graphs). Since 2019 when McSplit was introduced with its branch and bound approach quite a few (occasionally questionable) improvements to the algorithm have been released. These variants include incorporating reinforcement-learning-guided branching, tighter bounding, and structural symmetry reduction.
This talk will introduce McSplit and its variants, and if there is time we will cover why some of the variants are not as good as they claim to be.

Further details about this event, along with information about CIRCA, can be found on the CIRCA website https://circa.st-andrews.ac.uk