Probabilistic Arc Consistency: A Connection between Constraint Reasoning and Probabilistic Reasoning

We document a connection between constraint reasoning and probabilistic reasoning. We present an algorithm, called probabilistic arc consistency, which is both a generalization of a well known algorithm for arc consistency used in constraint reasoning, and a specialization of the belief updating algorithm for singly-connected networks. Our algorithm is exact for singlyconnected constraint problems, but can work well as an approximation for arbitrary problems. We briefly discuss some empirical results, and related methods.

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2000
• Where: UAI
• Authors: Michael C. Horsch, William S. Havens
• Keywords: Arc Consistency, Constraint Reasoning, Probabilistic Arc Consistency, UAI 2000, UAI 2008