Lower bounds against strong algebraic proof systems and specifically fragments of the Ideal Proof System (IPS), have been obtained in an ongoing line of work. All of these bounds, however, are proved only over large (or characteristic 0) fields,1 yet finite fields are the more natural setting for propositional proof ... more >>>

We prove super-polynomial lower bounds on the size of propositional proof systems operating with constant-depth algebraic circuits over fields of zero characteristic. Specifically, we show that the subset-sum variant $\sum_{i,j,k,l\in[n]} z_{ijkl}x_ix_jx_kx_l-\beta = 0$, for Boolean variables, does not have polynomial-size IPS refutations where the refutations are multilinear and written as ... more >>>