All Questions
3,568
questions with no upvoted or accepted answers
50
votes
0
answers
2k
views
Monotone complexity of s-t connectivity
In the problem CONN, we obtain a directed $n$-vertex graph (encoded as a boolean string of $n^2$ bits, one for each potential edge), and want to decide
whether there is a path between all $n^2$ pairs $...
46
votes
0
answers
1k
views
Problem unsolvable in $2^{o(n)}$ on inputs with $n$ bits, assuming ETH?
If we assume the Exponential-Time Hypothesis, then there is no $2^{o(n)}$ algorithm for $n$-variable 3-SAT, and many other natural problems, such as 3-COLORING on graphs with $n$ vertices. Notice ...
33
votes
0
answers
1k
views
Is BPP= P known for ANY uniform model of computation?
Many believe that BPP $=$ P "should" hold for Turing machines. We even have some "witnesses" for this: otherwise some "strange" things would happen; see e.g. this paper by Implagliazzo and Wigderson.
...
32
votes
0
answers
6k
views
Combinatorics of Bellman-Ford or how to make cyclic graphs acyclic?
Roughly speaking, my question is:
How costly is to make a cyclic graph
acyclic while preserving all simple $s$-$t$ paths?
Let $K_n$ be a complete undirected graph on vertices $\{0,1,\ldots,n+1\}$.
(...
30
votes
0
answers
779
views
The complexity of checking whether two DAG have the same number of topological sorts
This problem is highly related to the CNF one.
Here is the problem: given two DAG (directed acyclic graphs), if they have the same counting of topological sorts, answer "Yes", otherwise, answer "No".
...
29
votes
0
answers
1k
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Does $EXP\neq ZPP$ imply sub-exponential simulation of BPP or NP?
By simulation I mean in the Impaglazzio-Widgerson [IW98] sense, i.e. sub-exponential deterministic simulation which appears correct i.o to every efficient adversary.
I think this is a proof: if $EXP\...
28
votes
0
answers
523
views
Adiabatic quantum computing with level crossings
Question.
In adiabatic evolution, to ensure that the ground state high overlap with the unique ground state of the system (i.e. to achieve arbitrarily small error) using adiabatic theorems, it is ...
27
votes
0
answers
721
views
Is Hankelability NP-hard?
I asked this question on SO on April 7 and added a bounty which has now expired but no poly time solution has been found yet.
I am trying to write code to detect if a matrix is a permutation of a ...
27
votes
0
answers
1k
views
Counting Isomorphism Types of Graphs
Polya's counting theorem leads to an algorithm for counting (precisely) the number of isomorphism types of graphs with $n$ vertices in $\exp (\sqrt n )$ steps. From Polya theorem you get a formula ...
26
votes
0
answers
697
views
Rank mod 6 vs rank over the reals
Let $A$ be a boolean matrix (eg with $0,1$ entries). Assume that $A$ has rank $\le r$ both over $\mathbb{F}_2$ and over $\mathbb{F}_3$. Does this imply that $A$ has low rank over the reals? This seems ...
23
votes
0
answers
429
views
Can we do integer addition in linear time?
Why, yes, of course. But I'm actually interested in the cost of computing the sum of multiple integers:
Input: A sequence of nonnegative integers $\langle X_i:i<k\rangle$ written in binary.
Output: ...
23
votes
0
answers
501
views
Fine-grained complexity of BPP
If E does not have i.o.-$2^{o(n)}$ circuits, then P=BPP, but this does not tell us about the fine-grained containments between $\mathrm{Time}(n^a)$ and $\mathrm{BPTime}(n^b)$.
Are there reasonable ...
23
votes
0
answers
2k
views
$\Delta = 57, d=2$ Moore Graph
I am looking into the last open question regarding the existence of Moore Graphs of diameter 2. A problem that has been open in combinatorics for more than 55 years.
You may recall that Hoffman and ...
22
votes
0
answers
773
views
What is the power of general poly-size permutation branching programs?
Call $\mathsf{PPBP}$ the class of languages decided by poly-size families of permutation branching programs, which are layered branching programs (i.e., the ones defined here) whose transitions ...
21
votes
0
answers
277
views
Descriptive complexity characterization of TimeSpace classes
Are there descriptive complexity characterizations for TimeSpace complexity classes like $\mathsf{SC^i}= \mathsf{DTimeSpace}(n^{O(1)},O(\lg^i n))$?
20
votes
0
answers
704
views
Partial circulant matrices: Is there a non-zero vector $v\in \{-1,0,1\}^n$ such that $Mv=0$?
The following question arose as a side product of some work I have been part of recently.
An $m$ by $n$ $(0,1)$-matrix $M$ is partial circulant if it can be formed by taking the first $m$ rows of a ...
20
votes
0
answers
631
views
Identifying Reducible/Irreducible polynomials over $Z[x]$
It is well known LLL algorithm provides a fully polynomial algorithm to factor a reducible primitive polynomial over $\mathbb{Z}[x]$.
Say one only seeks to identify whether a given polynomial over $\...
20
votes
0
answers
478
views
Interesting PCP characterization of classes smaller than P?
The PCP theorem, $\mathsf{NP} = \mathsf{PCP}(\mathsf{log}\, n, 1)$, involves probabilistically checkable proofs with polynomial time verifiers, so the smallest class that can be characterized in this ...
20
votes
0
answers
585
views
Complexity of finding the smallest well-covered completion
This is related to an earlier question on which graphs have the property that all maximal independent sets are maximum — such graphs turn out to be known as the well-covered graphs. Any graph $G$ is ...
20
votes
0
answers
502
views
Model-checking for three-variable logics and restricted structures
Denote the $k$-variable fragment of logic $L$ by $L^{(k)}$. The model-checking problem for a logic $L$ with respect to a class of structures $C$, denoted $MC(L,C)$, is the decision problem
$MC(L,C)...
20
votes
0
answers
808
views
Weighted Hamming distance
Basically my question is, what kind of geometry do we get if we use a "weighted" Hamming distance. This is not necessarily Theoretical Computer Science but I think similar things come up ...
19
votes
0
answers
791
views
Why is the Pumping Lemma sometimes called Bar-Hillel's Lemma?
There are several papers in the literature that refer to the Pumping Lemma for context free languages as Bar-Hillel's Lemma (for example, here, here, and on the Wikipedia page). However, the first ...
19
votes
0
answers
527
views
Courcelle's theorem for bounded clique-width graphs
Courcelle's theorem states that "Every graph property which is expressible in monadic second order logic is decidable in linear time for bounded tree-width graphs". Later it was extended to bounded ...
19
votes
0
answers
1k
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Lower bounds on single-source shortest paths in directed graphs
Are there any non-trivial lower bounds on the complexity of single-source shortest paths (SSSP) in a directed graph, where all edges have non-negative edge weights? Can we rule out the possibility of ...
19
votes
0
answers
517
views
To what extent MSO = WS1S, when adding relations?
[This question has been asked on MathOverflow with no luck a month ago.]
Let me first clarify my definitions. For a word $w \in \Sigma^*$, with $\Sigma =\{a_1,
\ldots, a_n\}$, I define two ...
19
votes
1
answer
305
views
Is there a geometrical picture for adiabatic quantum computation?
In adiabatic quantum computation (AQC), one encodes the solution to an optimization problem in the ground state of a [problem] Hamiltonian $H_p$. To get to this ground state, you start in an easily ...
18
votes
0
answers
461
views
In an $m$ by $n$ Boolean matrix, can you find a square block whose four corners are ones in $O(m \cdot n)$ time?
Decision Problem
Input: An $m$ by $n$ Boolean matrix $M$.
Decision Question: Does there exist a square block within $M$ such that upper-left corner entry == upper-right corner entry == lower-left ...
18
votes
0
answers
545
views
Perfect matching of monotone Boolean function with null Euler characteristic
For a set $V = \{0,\ldots,k\}$ of variables, let $\mathbf{G}_V$ be the undirected graph with set of vertices $\{S \subseteq V\}$ and set of edges $\{\{S,S'\} \mid S \subseteq S' \text{ and }|S'| = |S|+...
18
votes
0
answers
408
views
Complexity of the homomorphism problem parameterized by treewidth
The homomorphism problem $\text{Hom}(\mathcal{G}, \mathcal{H})$ for two
classes $\mathcal{G}$ and $\mathcal{H}$ of graphs is defined as follows:
Input: a graph $G$ in $\mathcal{G}$, a graph $H$ in $...
18
votes
0
answers
369
views
Does Factoring have a Statistical Zero Knowledge Proof?
The title should be pretty self-explanatory, but to be more precise, consider the decision version of factoring, which is given input $(x,k)$, where $x$ and $k$ are binary encodings of integers, to ...
18
votes
0
answers
514
views
Are monotone Boolean functions in P well-approximated by monotone polynomial-size circuits?
Question 1: Is it true that for every polynomial $p(n)$ and $\epsilon >0$ there is a polynomial $q(n)$ such that every monotone Boolean function on $n$ variables that can be expressed by a Boolean ...
18
votes
0
answers
587
views
Sylver Coinage Game
A game in which the players alternately name positive integers that
are not sums of previously named integers (with repetitions being allowed). The person who names 1 (so
ending the game) is the loser....
18
votes
0
answers
545
views
Complexity of the densest $k$-subgraph problem on planar graphs
In the densest $k$-subgraph problem, one is given an undirected graph $G$ and wants to find a set of vertices $N$ with $|N| = k$ such that the number of edges in the subgraph of $G$ induced by $N$ is ...
18
votes
0
answers
369
views
Descriptive complexity of communication complexity classes
It is well known that some major complexity classes, like P or NP, admit a full logical characterization (e.g NP = existential 2nd order logic by Fagin's theorem). On the other hand, one can also ...
18
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Complexity of interval cover problem
Consider the following problem $Q$: We are given an integer $n$, and $k$ intervals $[l_i,r_i]$ with $1\leq l_i\leq r_i\leq 2n$. We are also given $2n$ integers $d_1,…,d_{2n}\geq 0$. The task is to ...
17
votes
0
answers
1k
views
Are theoretical computer science conferences losing touch with reality?
Anonymous account for obvious reasons. I am a researcher in TCS. I have several publications in SODA/STOC/FOCS. I've recently been so disgruntled with the way these conferences are run, and wanted to ...
17
votes
0
answers
598
views
Linear-time algorithm to test if clique number equals degeneracy bound?
Given a connected simple graph $G=(V,E)$, let $d$ denote its degeneracy and let $\omega$ denote the size of a maximum clique.
A well-known bound on the clique number is $\omega\le d+1$, which is ...
17
votes
0
answers
685
views
Did von Neumann answer to Gödel's letter?
On 20 March 1956, Kurt Gödel wrote a famous letter to John von Neumann, in which he formulated the P versus NP question.
Here is a link to that letter: [pdf of letter]
I cant seem to find John von ...
17
votes
0
answers
269
views
Using Dependent Type Theory for Categories that are not LCCC
I have recently been working with polynomial functors and monads based mostly on Gambino-Kock. There they define polynomial functors in a Locally Cartesian Closed Category (LCCC) and extensively use ...
17
votes
0
answers
378
views
Intermediate problems between PSPACE and EXPTIME
Intermediate problems between P and NP are quite famous, and are sometimes considered as complexity classes by themselves.
Do you know of any problem that is known to be PSPACE-hard and in EXPTIME, ...
17
votes
0
answers
929
views
Deeper look at Algorithmica?
Russell Impagliazzo published "A Personal View of Average-Case Complexity" (preprint) back in 1995.
He presented five possible worlds we could be living in, depending on how P and NP were related.
The ...
17
votes
0
answers
491
views
Can short-distance connectivity be harder than connectivity?
Has anybody seen the following (or similar) question being considered:
Can it be easier to determine the presence/absence of $s$-$t$ paths than to determine the
presence/absence of short $s$-$t$ ...
17
votes
0
answers
780
views
Practically Good Algorithms of a Very Low Computational Complexity Class
I am looking for one (or more) examples of a parametric class of algorithms $P_t$ for approximately solving a class $\cal A$ of algorithmic questions with the following properties:
1) Solving the ...
17
votes
0
answers
506
views
What if an $\mathsf L$-complete problem has $\mathsf{NC}^1$ circuits? More generally, what evidence is there against $\mathsf{NC}^1=\mathsf{L}$?
Edit: let me reformulate the question in a more specific way (and change the title accordingly). A slightly edited version of the original question follows.
Is there a result comparable to the Karp-...
17
votes
0
answers
1k
views
Longest geometrically increasing subsequence
Given a sorted array of $n$ positive integers, the problem is to find the longest subsequence so that the progression of differences between consecutive elements of the subsequence is geometrically ...
17
votes
0
answers
1k
views
Tiling a rectangle with the fewest squares
Consider this problem: Find a tiling of an $m \times n$ rectangle by minimum number of integer-sided squares.
Is there any polynomial time (in $m$ and $n$) algorithm to do this? What is the best ...
17
votes
0
answers
428
views
Is Node Multiway Cut NP-complete on planar graphs when all terminals lie on the outer face?
I am interested in the following problem.
Node Multiway Cut on Planar Graphs with terminals on the outer face
Instance: A plane graph G, and integer k, and a set $S \subseteq V(G)$ of terminals which ...
17
votes
0
answers
320
views
Problem-Dependent Derandomization
The famous result of Impagliazzo and Wigderson in '97 cemented our belief that BPP is most likely the same as P; that is, problems that can be efficiently solved with randomness can also be ...
17
votes
0
answers
296
views
Sequences with sublogarithmic concat and approximate split
Is there a data structure for representing sequences that supports the operations:
concat takes two sequences of size $m$ and $n$ and produces a new sequence of size $m+n$ by joining them in time $o(\...
17
votes
0
answers
366
views
complexity of checking if a subspace is a Euclidean section of L1
If $X$ is a linear subspace of ${\mathbb R}^n$, $X$ is high-dimensional, and for every $x\in X$ we have
$(1-\epsilon) \sqrt n ||x||_2 \leq ||x||_1 \leq \sqrt n ||x||_2$
for some small $\epsilon >...