Some subsystems of constant-depth Frege with parity

We consider three relatively strong families of subsystems of AC0[2]-Frege proof systems, i.e., propositional proof systems using constant-depth formulas with an additional parity connective, for which exponential lower bounds on proof size are known. In order of increasing strength, the subsystems are (i) constant-depth proof systems with parity axioms and the (ii) treelike and (iii) daglike versions of systems introduced by Krajíček which we call PKcd(⊕). In a PKcd(⊕)-proof, lines are disjunctions (cedents) in which all disjuncts have depth at most d, parities can only appear as the outermost connectives of disjuncts, and all but c disjuncts contain no parity connective at all. We prove that treelike PKO(1)O(1)(⊕) is quasipolynomially but not polynomially equivalent to constant-depth systems with parity axioms. We also verify that the technique for separating parity axioms from parity connectives due to Impagliazzo and Segerlind can be adapted to give a superpolynomial separation between daglike PKO(1)O(1)(⊕) and AC0[2]-Frege; the technique is inherently unable to prove superquasipolynomial separations. We also study proof systems related to the system Res-Lin introduced by Itsykson and Sokolov. We prove that an extension of treelike Res-Lin is polynomially simulated by a system related to daglike PKO(1)O(1)(⊕), and obtain an exponential lower bound for this system.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Nullstellensatz Size-Degree Trade-offs from Reversible Pebbling

We establish an exactly tight relation between reversible pebblings of graphs and Nullstellensatz refutations of pebbling formulas, showing that a graph $G$ can be reversibly pebbled in time $t$ and space $s$ if and only if there is a Nullstellensatz refutation of the pebbling formula over $G$ in size $t+1$ and degree $s$ (independently of the field in which the Nullstellensatz refutation is made). We use this correspondence to prove a number of strong size-degree trade-offs for Nullstellensatz, which to the best of our knowledge are the first such results for this proof system

Nullstellensatz Size-Degree Trade-offs from Reversible Pebbling

We establish an exactly tight relation between reversible pebblings of graphs and Nullstellensatz refutations of pebbling formulas, showing that a graph G can be reversibly pebbled in time t and space s if and only if there is a Nullstellensatz refutation of the pebbling formula over G in size t+1 and degree s (independently of the field in which the Nullstellensatz refutation is made). We use this correspondence to prove a number of strong size-degree trade-offs for Nullstellensatz, which to the best of our knowledge are the first such results for this proof system

On the Complexity of Hilbert Refutations for Partition

Given a set of integers W, the Partition problem determines whether W can be divided into two disjoint subsets with equal sums. We model the Partition problem as a system of polynomial equations, and then investigate the complexity of a Hilbert's Nullstellensatz refutation, or certificate, that a given set of integers is not partitionable. We provide an explicit construction of a minimum-degree certificate, and then demonstrate that the Partition problem is equivalent to the determinant of a carefully constructed matrix called the partition matrix. In particular, we show that the determinant of the partition matrix is a polynomial that factors into an iteration over all possible partitions of W.Comment: Final versio

The Power of Negative Reasoning

Semialgebraic proof systems have been studied extensively in proof complexity since the late 1990s to understand the power of Gröbner basis computations, linear and semidefinite programming hierarchies, and other methods. Such proof systems are defined alternately with only the original variables of the problem and with special formal variables for positive and negative literals, but there seems to have been no study how these different definitions affect the power of the proof systems. We show for Nullstellensatz, polynomial calculus, Sherali-Adams, and sums-of-squares that adding formal variables for negative literals makes the proof systems exponentially stronger, with respect to the number of terms in the proofs. These separations are witnessed by CNF formulas that are easy for resolution, which establishes that polynomial calculus, Sherali-Adams, and sums-of-squares cannot efficiently simulate resolution without having access to variables for negative literals

Representations of Monotone Boolean Functions by Linear Programs

We introduce the notion of monotone linear-programming circuits (MLP circuits), a model of computation for partial Boolean functions. Using this model, we prove the following results. 1. MLP circuits are superpolynomially stronger than monotone Boolean circuits. 2. MLP circuits are exponentially stronger than monotone span programs. 3. MLP circuits can be used to provide monotone feasibility interpolation theorems for Lovasz-Schrijver proof systems, and for mixed Lovasz-Schrijver proof systems. 4. The Lovasz-Schrijver proof system cannot be polynomially simulated by the cutting planes proof system. This is the first result showing a separation between these two proof systems. Finally, we discuss connections between the problem of proving lower bounds on the size of MLPs and the problem of proving lower bounds on extended formulations of polytopes

Gr\"obner Bases and Nullstellens\"atze for Graph-Coloring Ideals

We revisit a well-known family of polynomial ideals encoding the problem of graph-$k$-colorability. Our paper describes how the inherent combinatorial structure of the ideals implies several interesting algebraic properties. Specifically, we provide lower bounds on the difficulty of computing Gr\"obner bases and Nullstellensatz certificates for the coloring ideals of general graphs. For chordal graphs, however, we explicitly describe a Gr\"obner basis for the coloring ideal, and provide a polynomial-time algorithm.Comment: 16 page

Graphs with large girth and chromatic number are hard for Nullstellensatz

We study the computational efficiency of approaches, based on Hilbert's Nullstellensatz, which use systems of linear equations for detecting non-colorability of graphs having large girth and chromatic number. We show that for every non-$k$-colorable graph with $n$ vertices and girth $g>4k$, the algorithm is required to solve systems of size at least $n^{\Omega(g)}$ in order to detect its non-$k$-colorability

Iterated lower bound formulas: a diagonalization-based approach to proof complexity

We propose a diagonalization-based approach to several important questions in proof complexity. We illustrate this approach in the context of the algebraic proof system IPS and in the context of propositional proof systems more generally. We use the approach to give an explicit sequence of CNF formulas {φn} such that VNP ≠ VP iff there are no polynomial-size IPS proofs for the formulas φn. This provides a natural equivalence between proof complexity lower bounds and standard algebraic complexity lower bounds. Our proof of this fact uses the implication from IPS lower bounds to algebraic complexity lower bounds due to Grochow and Pitassi together with a diagonalization argument: the formulas φn themselves assert the non-existence of short IPS proofs for formulas encoding VNP ≠ VP at a different input length. Our result also has meta-mathematical implications: it gives evidence for the difficulty of proving strong lower bounds for IPS within IPS. For any strong enough propositional proof system R, we define the *iterated R-lower bound formulas*, which inductively assert the non-existence of short R proofs for formulas encoding the same statement at a different input length, and propose them as explicit hard candidates for the proof system R. We observe that this hypothesis holds for Resolution following recent results of Atserias and Muller and of Garlik, and give evidence in favour of it for other proof systems