Effective problem solving using SAT solvers
This work provides a practical tool for educators and enthusiasts to solve specific puzzles, but it is incremental as it applies an existing SAT solver method to new problem types.
The paper tackles the problem of solving various puzzles and combinatorial problems by encoding them into Boolean logic and using Maple's built-in SAT solver, demonstrating that solutions can be found automatically without implementing custom search algorithms.
In this article we demonstrate how to solve a variety of problems and puzzles using the built-in SAT solver of the computer algebra system Maple. Once the problems have been encoded into Boolean logic, solutions can be found (or shown to not exist) automatically, without the need to implement any search algorithm. In particular, we describe how to solve the $n$-queens problem, how to generate and solve Sudoku puzzles, how to solve logic puzzles like the Einstein riddle, how to solve the 15-puzzle, how to solve the maximum clique problem, and finding Graeco-Latin squares.