REU Supplement to RI: Small: Automated Optimization of Programs and Processing Tools in Answer Set Programming

The main goal of the overarching project is to develop automated, integrated methods and algo- rithms to optimize answer set programs, select appropriate solvers, and optimally con?gure their pa- rameters, each task mindful of and informed by the two others. One of the main components of the project is to implement a set of software tools to support these tasks. The primary assignment for the undergraduate mentees selected for funding will be to contribute to this task by researching and imple- menting tools to support generation of multiple equivalent rewritings of an answer-set program, and in designing and running experiments aiming at the ef?cacy of these encodings on a broad range of test problems. The objective will be to identify features of programs, problems and instances that could be exploited by an automated process of building ef?cient answer set programming solutions. Two students will work in the research facilities of the University of Nebraska at Omaha, Depart- ment of Computer Science. They will work for 10 hours/week for 30 weeks during Fall and Spring semesters and for 20 hrs/week for 10 weeks during Summer. Students will meet with the PI: Yuliya Lierler weekly to report on their activities, discuss problems and develop work plans. Two students will work in the research facilities of the Uninversity of Kentucky, Department of Computer Science. They will work for 10 hours/week for 28 weeks during Fall and Spring semesters and for 20 hrs/week for 9 weeks during Summer. The mentees will meet with the PI: Miroslaw Truszczynski twice a week to report on their activities, discuss problems and develop work plans. The request is for funds for two students per institution for one year, the total amount of the request is $29,952.