The Complexity of Boolean Connectivity Problem of $k$-Horn Formulas

Abstract: The Boolean connectivity problem asks whether the set of satisfying assignments of a given Boolean formula forms a connected subgraph in the $n$-dimensional hypercube. This problem is known to be $\mathsf{coNP}$-complete, even when restricted to $k$-Horn formulas for $k \geq 3$, as shown by Makino, Tamaki, and Yamamoto. In this paper, we further investigate the computational complexity of {\sc Conn $k$-Horn}, the Boolean connectivity problem for $k$-Horn formulas. We provide algorithmic and hardness results for {\sc Conn $k$-Horn}. On the algorithmic side, we first present an exact exponential-time algorithm for arbitrary $k$ without any structural restrictions. Our algorithm builds on the deterministic PPZ algorithm proposed by Paturi, Pudlák, and Zane. It runs in $O^{*(2^{(1} - 1/2k)n})$ time and polynomial space, achieving an exponential improvement over the previously known algorithm for the Boolean connectivity problem of $k$-CNF formulas, shown by Makino, Tamaki, and Yamamoto. We next give two polynomial-time algorithms for arbitrary $k$ under the following two restrictions: (i) each variable appears at most twice, and (ii) each clause has length exactly $k$ and each variable appears at most $k$ times. On the hardness side, we prove that {\sc Conn $3$-Horn} remains $\mathsf{coNP}$-complete even when each variable appears exactly three times.