Learnability of solutions to conjunctive queries

The problem of learning the solution space of an unknown formula has been studied inmultiple embodiments in computational learning theory. In this article, we study a familyof such learning problems; this family contains, for each relational structure, the problem oflearning the solution space of an unknown conjunctive query evaluated on the structure. Aprogression of results aimed to classify the learnability of each of the problems in this family,and thus far a culmination thereof was a positive learnability result generalizing all previousones. This article completes the classification program towards which this progression ofresults strived, by presenting a negative learnability result that complements the mentionedpositive learnability result. In addition, a further negative learnability result is exhibited,which indicates a dichotomy within the problems to which the first negative result applies.In order to obtain our negative results, we make use of universal-algebraic concepts

Delegating computation reliably : paradigms and constructions

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2009.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (p. 285-297).In an emerging computing paradigm, computational capabilities, from processing power to storage capacities, are offered to users over communication networks as a service. This new paradigm holds enormous promise for increasing the utility of computationally weak devices. A natural approach is for weak devices to delegate expensive tasks, such as storing a large file or running a complex computation, to more powerful entities (say servers) connected to the same network. While the delegation approach seems promising, it raises an immediate concern: when and how can a weak device verify that a computational task was completed correctly? This practically motivated question touches on foundational questions in cryptography and complexity theory. The focus of this thesis is verifying the correctness of delegated computations. We construct efficient protocols (interactive proofs) for delegating computational tasks. In particular, we present: e A protocol for delegating any computation, where the work needed to verify the correctness of the output is linear in the input length, polynomial in the computation's depth, and only poly-logarithmic in the computation's size. The space needed for verification is only logarithmic in the computation size. Thus, for any computation of polynomial size and poly-logarithmic depth (the rich complexity class N/C), the work required to verify the correctness of the output is only quasi-linear in the input length. The work required to prove the output's correctness is only polynomial in the original computation's size. This protocol also has applications to constructing one-round arguments for delegating computation, and efficient zero-knowledge proofs. * A general transformation, reducing the parallel running time (or computation depth) of the verifier in protocols for delegating computation (interactive proofs) to be constant. Next, we explore the power of the delegation paradigm in settings where mutually distrustful parties interact. In particular, we consider the settings of checking the correctness of computer programs and of designing error-correcting codes. We show: * A new methodology for checking the correctness of programs (program checking), in which work is delegated from the program checker to the untrusted program being checked. Using this methodology we obtain program checkers for an entire complexity class (the class of N/C¹-computations that are WNC-hard), and for a slew of specific functions such as matrix multiplication, inversion, determinant and rank, as well as graph functions such as connectivity, perfect matching and bounded-degree graph isomorphism. * A methodology for designing error-correcting codes with efficient decoding procedures, in which work is delegated from the decoder to the encoder. We use this methodology to obtain constant-depth (AC⁰) locally decodable and locally-list decodable codes. We also show that the parameters of these codes are optimal (up to polynomial factors) for constant-depth decoding.by Guy N. Rothblum.Ph.D

Dynamic Protocol Reverse Engineering a Grammatical Inference Approach

Round trip engineering of software from source code and reverse engineering of software from binary files have both been extensively studied and the state-of-practice have documented tools and techniques. Forward engineering of protocols has also been extensively studied and there are firmly established techniques for generating correct protocols. While observation of protocol behavior for performance testing has been studied and techniques established, reverse engineering of protocol control flow from observations of protocol behavior has not received the same level of attention. State-of-practice in reverse engineering the control flow of computer network protocols is comprised of mostly ad hoc approaches. We examine state-of-practice tools and techniques used in three open source projects: Pidgin, Samba, and rdesktop . We examine techniques proposed by computational learning researchers for grammatical inference. We propose to extend the state-of-art by inferring protocol control flow using grammatical inference inspired techniques to reverse engineer automata representations from captured data flows. We present evidence that grammatical inference is applicable to the problem domain under consideration

Fine-Grained Complexity: Exploring Reductions and their Properties

Η σχεδίαση αλγορίθμων αποτελεί ένα απο τα κύρια θέματα ενδιαφέροντος για τον τομέα της Πληροφορικής. Παρά τα πολλά αποτελέσματα σε ορισμένους τομείς, η προσέγγιση αυτή έχει πετύχει κάποια πρακτικά αδιέξοδα που έχουν αποδειχτεί προβληματικά στην πρόοδο του τομέα. Επίσης, οι κλασικές πρακτικές Υπολογιστικής Πολυπλοκότητας δεν ήταν σε θέση να παρακάμψουν αυτά τα εμπόδια. Η κατανόηση της δυσκολίας του κάθε προβλήματος δεν είναι τετριμμένη. Η Ραφιναρισμένη Πολυπλοκότητα παρέχει νέες προ-οπτικές για τα κλασικά προβλήματα, με αποτέλεσμα σταθερούς δεσμούς μεταξύ γνωστών εικασιών στην πολυπλοκότητα και την σχεδίαση αλγορίθμων. Χρησιμεύει επίσης ως εργα-λείο για να αποδείξει τα υπο όρους κατώτατα όρια για προβλήματα πολυωνυμικής χρονικής πολυπλοκότητας, ένα πεδίο που έχει σημειώσει πολύ λίγη πρόοδο μέχρι τώρα. Οι δημοφι-λείς υποθέσεις/παραδοχές όπως το SETH, το OVH, το 3SUM, και το APSP, δίνουν πολλά φράγματα που δεν έχουν ακόμα αποδειχθεί με κλασικές τεχνικές και παρέχουν μια νέα κατανόηση της δομής και της εντροπίας των προβλημάτων γενικά. Σκοπός αυτής της εργασίας είναι να συμβάλει στην εδραίωση του πλαισίου για αναγωγές από κάθε εικασία και να διερευνήσει την διαρθρωτική διαφορά μεταξύ των προβλημάτων σε κάθε περίπτωση.Algorithmic design has been one of the main subjects of interest for Computer science. While very effective in some areas, this approach has been met with some practical dead ends that have been very problematic in the progress of the field. Classical Computational Complexity practices have also not been able to bypass these blocks. Understanding the hardness of each problem is not trivial. Fine-Grained Complexity provides new perspectives on classic problems, resulting to solid links between famous conjectures in Complexity, and Algorithmic design. It serves as a tool to prove conditional lower bounds for problems with polynomial time complexity, a field that had seen very little progress until now. Popular conjectures such as SETH, k-OV, 3SUM, and APSP, imply many bounds that have yet to be proven using classic techniques, and provide a new understanding of the structure and entropy of problems in general. The aim of this thesis is to contribute towards solidifying the framework for reductions from each conjecture, and to explore the structural difference between the problems in each cas