Enhanced Forma Analysis of Permutation Problems

Forma analysis provides an approach to formally derive domain specific operators based on domain-independent operator templates by manipulating a set of equivalence relations (i.e., the basis), which is used to describe the search space. In the case of permutation problems, where the basis is highly constrained, the declarative nature of forma, analysis encounters some difficulties which give rise to some additional issues, such as the interpretation of declarative constraints and the complexity of the application of operator. This paper anus to address these issues by introducing Enhanced Forma Analysis that explores a broader view of forma analysis by using ideas from constraint satisfaction.