Synthesis of local search algorithms by algebraic means

Algebraic techniques have been applied successfully to algorithm synthesis by the use of algorithm theories and design tactics, an approach pioneered in the KIDS system but described and implemented only partly in algebraic terms. Local search is an effective and popular algorithmic approach to solving optimization problems, so that a formal characterization of this family is desirable. This paper describes a more purely algebraic approach to algorithm design and its application to the synthesis of local search algorithms