1,949 research outputs found
Functional lower bounds for arithmetic circuits and connections to boolean circuit complexity
We say that a circuit over a field functionally computes an
-variate polynomial if for every we have that . This is in contrast to syntactically computing , when as
formal polynomials. In this paper, we study the question of proving lower
bounds for homogeneous depth- and depth- arithmetic circuits for
functional computation. We prove the following results :
1. Exponential lower bounds homogeneous depth- arithmetic circuits for a
polynomial in .
2. Exponential lower bounds for homogeneous depth- arithmetic circuits
with bounded individual degree for a polynomial in .
Our main motivation for this line of research comes from our observation that
strong enough functional lower bounds for even very special depth-
arithmetic circuits for the Permanent imply a separation between and
. Thus, improving the second result to get rid of the bounded individual
degree condition could lead to substantial progress in boolean circuit
complexity. Besides, it is known from a recent result of Kumar and Saptharishi
[KS15] that over constant sized finite fields, strong enough average case
functional lower bounds for homogeneous depth- circuits imply
superpolynomial lower bounds for homogeneous depth- circuits.
Our proofs are based on a family of new complexity measures called shifted
evaluation dimension, and might be of independent interest
Functional Lower Bounds for Restricted Arithmetic Circuits of Depth Four
Recently, Forbes, Kumar and Saptharishi [CCC, 2016] proved that there exists
an explicit -variate and degree polynomial such
that if any depth four circuit of bounded formal degree which computes
a polynomial of bounded individual degree , that is functionally
equivalent to , then must have size .
The motivation for their work comes from Boolean Circuit Complexity. Based on
a characterization for circuits by Yao [FOCS, 1985] and Beigel and
Tarui [CC, 1994], Forbes, Kumar and Saptharishi [CCC, 2016] observed that
functions in can also be computed by algebraic
circuits (i.e., circuits of the form -- sums
of powers of polynomials) of size. Thus they argued that a
"functional" lower bound for an explicit
polynomial against circuits would imply a
lower bound for the "corresponding Boolean function" of against non-uniform
. In their work, they ask if their lower bound be extended to
circuits.
In this paper, for large integers and such that , we show that any circuit of
bounded individual degree at most that
functionally computes Iterated Matrix Multiplication polynomial
() over must have size . Since Iterated
Matrix Multiplication over is functionally in
, improvement of the afore mentioned lower bound to hold for
quasipolynomially large values of individual degree would imply a fine-grained
separation of from
Three Puzzles on Mathematics, Computation, and Games
In this lecture I will talk about three mathematical puzzles involving
mathematics and computation that have preoccupied me over the years. The first
puzzle is to understand the amazing success of the simplex algorithm for linear
programming. The second puzzle is about errors made when votes are counted
during elections. The third puzzle is: are quantum computers possible?Comment: ICM 2018 plenary lecture, Rio de Janeiro, 36 pages, 7 Figure
Resolution over Linear Equations and Multilinear Proofs
We develop and study the complexity of propositional proof systems of varying
strength extending resolution by allowing it to operate with disjunctions of
linear equations instead of clauses. We demonstrate polynomial-size refutations
for hard tautologies like the pigeonhole principle, Tseitin graph tautologies
and the clique-coloring tautologies in these proof systems. Using the
(monotone) interpolation by a communication game technique we establish an
exponential-size lower bound on refutations in a certain, considerably strong,
fragment of resolution over linear equations, as well as a general polynomial
upper bound on (non-monotone) interpolants in this fragment.
We then apply these results to extend and improve previous results on
multilinear proofs (over fields of characteristic 0), as studied in
[RazTzameret06]. Specifically, we show the following:
1. Proofs operating with depth-3 multilinear formulas polynomially simulate a
certain, considerably strong, fragment of resolution over linear equations.
2. Proofs operating with depth-3 multilinear formulas admit polynomial-size
refutations of the pigeonhole principle and Tseitin graph tautologies. The
former improve over a previous result that established small multilinear proofs
only for the \emph{functional} pigeonhole principle. The latter are different
than previous proofs, and apply to multilinear proofs of Tseitin mod p graph
tautologies over any field of characteristic 0.
We conclude by connecting resolution over linear equations with extensions of
the cutting planes proof system.Comment: 44 page
A Logical Characterization of Constant-Depth Circuits over the Reals
In this paper we give an Immerman's Theorem for real-valued computation. We
define circuits operating over real numbers and show that families of such
circuits of polynomial size and constant depth decide exactly those sets of
vectors of reals that can be defined in first-order logic on R-structures in
the sense of Cucker and Meer. Our characterization holds both non-uniformily as
well as for many natural uniformity conditions.Comment: 24 pages, submitted to WoLLIC 202
Algebraic and Combinatorial Methods in Computational Complexity
Computational Complexity is concerned with the resources that are required for algorithms to detect properties of combinatorial objects and structures. It has often proven true that the best way to argue about these combinatorial objects is by establishing a connection (perhaps approximate) to a more well-behaved algebraic setting. Indeed, many of the deepest and most powerful results in Computational Complexity rely on algebraic proof techniques. The Razborov-Smolensky polynomial-approximation method for proving constant-depth circuit lower bounds, the PCP characterization of NP, and the Agrawal-Kayal-Saxena polynomial-time primality test are some of the most prominent examples. The algebraic theme continues in some of the most exciting recent progress in computational complexity. There have been significant recent advances in algebraic circuit lower bounds, and the so-called chasm at depth 4 suggests that the restricted models now being considered are not so far from ones that would lead to a general result. There have been similar successes concerning the related problems of polynomial identity testing and circuit reconstruction in the algebraic model (and these are tied to central questions regarding the power of randomness in computation). Another surprising connection is that the algebraic techniques invented to show lower bounds now prove useful to develop efficient algorithms. For example, Williams showed how to use the polynomial method to obtain faster all-pair-shortest-path algorithms. This emphases once again the central role of algebra in computer science. The seminar aims to capitalize on recent progress and bring together researchers who are using a diverse array of algebraic methods in a variety of settings. Researchers in these areas are relying on ever more sophisticated and specialized mathematics and this seminar can play an important role in educating a diverse community about the latest new techniques, spurring further progress
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