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I'd like a construction of the following description. Let $V$ be a set of $n$ elements. I'd like a collection $X$ of subsets of $V$ such that for any pair $(P,Q)$ of disjoint subsets of $V$, there is an element $S \in X$ such that $|S \cap P|$ and $|S \cap Q|$ are both odd.

Probabilistic arguments indicate that there exists solutions with $|X|=O(n)$, but I'd like an explicit design. I'd also like to know the best possible constant factor in the size $|X|$.

It sounded basic enough that I thought it should be solved, or easily attackable, but I'm drawing a blank. Any pointers?

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    $\begingroup$ I suppose $P$ and $Q$ should be nonempty? $\endgroup$ Dec 16, 2020 at 13:42
  • $\begingroup$ Right, both are nonempty. $\endgroup$ Dec 22, 2020 at 9:39

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Recall that a distribution $Y$ over $\{0, 1\}^n$ is called $\epsilon$-biased if for every nonempty set $P \subseteq [n]$, we have $$ \left|\mathbb{E}[\oplus_{i \in P} Y_i] - \frac{1}{2}\right| \leq \frac{\epsilon}{2}. $$ In other words, an $\epsilon$-biased distribution is a primitive kind of pseudorandom generator: it fools parity functions with error $\epsilon/2$. I claim that an $\epsilon$-biased distribution automatically also fools functions of the form $\mathsf{AND} \circ \mathsf{PARITY}$. That is:

Claim: Let $f \colon \{0, 1\}^n \to \{0, 1\}$ be of the form $f(x) = \wedge_{i = 1}^m \bigoplus_{j \in P_i} x_j$, where $P_1, \dots, P_m \subseteq [n]$. Let $Y$ be $\epsilon$-biased and let $U$ be uniform random over $\{0, 1\}^n$. Then $$ \left|\mathbb{E}[f(Y)] - \mathbb{E}[f(U)]\right| \leq \epsilon. $$

Proof: We can use the Fourier expansion of the AND function: $$ f(x) = \sum_{T \subseteq [m]} \frac{(-1)^{|T|}}{2^m} \cdot \prod_{i \in T} (-1)^{\oplus_{j \in P_i} x_j} = \sum_{T \subseteq [m]} \frac{(-1)^{|T|}}{2^m} \cdot (-1)^{\bigoplus_{i \in T, j \in P_i} x_j} $$ For a fixed $T \subseteq [m]$, we have $$ |\mathbb{E}[(-1)^{\oplus_{i \in T, j \in P_i} Y_j}] - \mathbb{E}[(-1)^{\oplus_{i \in T, j \in P_i} U_j}]| \leq 2 \cdot |\mathbb{E}[\oplus_{i \in T, j \in P_i} Y_j] - \mathbb{E}[\oplus_{i \in T, j \in P_i} U_j]| \leq \epsilon. $$ Therefore, by the triangle inequality, $$ |\mathbb{E}[f(Y)] - \mathbb{E}[f(U)]| \leq \sum_{T \subseteq [m]} \frac{\epsilon}{2^m} = \epsilon. \qquad \square $$ Your condition, that $|S \cap P|$ and $|S \cap Q|$ are both odd, can be rephrased as a function $f$ as in the claim by considering the indicator vectors of all the sets under consideration. Under the uniform distribution, the condition is satisfied with probability $1/4$. Therefore, it suffices to take $X$ to be the support of an $\epsilon$-biased distribution with $\epsilon < 1/4$. Plugging in known constructions of small-biased distributions gives an explicit construction with $|X| = O(n)$.

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  • $\begingroup$ Thank you! I'll look closer at this. Do you also have an idea of whether it's possible to replicate the same constant factor as in the probabilistic construction? $\endgroup$ Dec 22, 2020 at 11:46
  • $\begingroup$ I'm not sure, but I suspect that getting the right constant factor would be challenging. $\endgroup$ Dec 23, 2020 at 20:22

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