2,549 research outputs found
Satisfiability with exponential families
Fix a set S⊆{0,1}∗ of exponential size, e.g. |S∩{0,1}^n|∈Ω(α^n),α>1. The S-SAT problem asks whether a propositional formula F over variables v_1, ..., v_n has a satisfying assignment (v_1,…,v_n)∈{0,1}^n∩S. Our interest is in determining the complexity of S-SAT. We prove that S-SAT is NP-complete for all context-free sets S. Furthermore, we show that if S-SAT is in P for some exponential S, then SAT and all problems in NP have polynomial circuits. This strongly indicates that satisfiability with exponential families is a hard problem. However, we also give an example of an exponential set S for which the S-SAT problem is not NP-hard, provided P≠NP
A Casual Tour Around a Circuit Complexity Bound
I will discuss the recent proof that the complexity class NEXP
(nondeterministic exponential time) lacks nonuniform ACC circuits of polynomial
size. The proof will be described from the perspective of someone trying to
discover it.Comment: 21 pages, 2 figures. An earlier version appeared in SIGACT News,
September 201
On Tackling the Limits of Resolution in SAT Solving
The practical success of Boolean Satisfiability (SAT) solvers stems from the
CDCL (Conflict-Driven Clause Learning) approach to SAT solving. However, from a
propositional proof complexity perspective, CDCL is no more powerful than the
resolution proof system, for which many hard examples exist. This paper
proposes a new problem transformation, which enables reducing the decision
problem for formulas in conjunctive normal form (CNF) to the problem of solving
maximum satisfiability over Horn formulas. Given the new transformation, the
paper proves a polynomial bound on the number of MaxSAT resolution steps for
pigeonhole formulas. This result is in clear contrast with earlier results on
the length of proofs of MaxSAT resolution for pigeonhole formulas. The paper
also establishes the same polynomial bound in the case of modern core-guided
MaxSAT solvers. Experimental results, obtained on CNF formulas known to be hard
for CDCL SAT solvers, show that these can be efficiently solved with modern
MaxSAT solvers
Relativized Propositional Calculus
Proof systems for the Relativized Propositional Calculus are defined and
compared.Comment: 8 page
Recompression: a simple and powerful technique for word equations
In this paper we present an application of a simple technique of local
recompression, previously developed by the author in the context of compressed
membership problems and compressed pattern matching, to word equations. The
technique is based on local modification of variables (replacing X by aX or Xa)
and iterative replacement of pairs of letters appearing in the equation by a
`fresh' letter, which can be seen as a bottom-up compression of the solution of
the given word equation, to be more specific, building an SLP (Straight-Line
Programme) for the solution of the word equation.
Using this technique we give a new, independent and self-contained proofs of
most of the known results for word equations. To be more specific, the
presented (nondeterministic) algorithm runs in O(n log n) space and in time
polynomial in log N, where N is the size of the length-minimal solution of the
word equation. The presented algorithm can be easily generalised to a generator
of all solutions of the given word equation (without increasing the space
usage). Furthermore, a further analysis of the algorithm yields a doubly
exponential upper bound on the size of the length-minimal solution. The
presented algorithm does not use exponential bound on the exponent of
periodicity. Conversely, the analysis of the algorithm yields an independent
proof of the exponential bound on exponent of periodicity.
We believe that the presented algorithm, its idea and analysis are far
simpler than all previously applied. Furthermore, thanks to it we can obtain a
unified and simple approach to most of known results for word equations.
As a small additional result we show that for O(1) variables (with arbitrary
many appearances in the equation) word equations can be solved in linear space,
i.e. they are context-sensitive.Comment: Submitted to a journal. Since previous version the proofs were
simplified, overall presentation improve
An Introduction to Quantum Complexity Theory
We give a basic overview of computational complexity, query complexity, and
communication complexity, with quantum information incorporated into each of
these scenarios. The aim is to provide simple but clear definitions, and to
highlight the interplay between the three scenarios and currently-known quantum
algorithms.Comment: 28 pages, LaTeX, 11 figures within the text, to appear in "Collected
Papers on Quantum Computation and Quantum Information Theory", edited by C.
Macchiavello, G.M. Palma, and A. Zeilinger (World Scientific
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