A Simple and Effective ASP-Based Tool for Enumerating Minimal Hitting Sets

Abstract

The hitting set problem is a fundamental problem in computer science and mathematics. Given a family of sets over a universe of elements, a minimal hitting set is a subset-minimal collection of elements that intersects each set in the family. Enumerating all minimal hitting sets is crucial in various real-world applications. In this paper, we address the full enumeration of all minimal hitting sets for a given family of sets. We formulate the problem using Answer Set Programming (ASP) and leverage existing ASP solvers for efficient enumeration. We propose an ASP-based tool, MinHit-ASP, and our empirical evaluation shows that it effectively enumerates minimal hitting sets across benchmarks from diverse problem domains.

In Proceedings ICLP 2025, arXiv:2601.00047