A monotone Boolean $(\lor,\land)$ circuit $F$ computing a Boolean function $f$ is a read-$k$ circuit if the polynomial produced (purely syntactically) by the arithmetic $(+,\times)$ version of $F$ has the property that for every prime implicant of $f$, the polynomial contains a monomial with the same set of variables, each ... more >>>

It is known that the size of monotone arithmetic $(+,\ast)$ circuits can be exponentially decreased by allowing just one division "at the very end," at the output gate. A natural question is: can the size of $(+,\ast)$ circuits be substantially reduced if we allow divisions "at the very beginning," that ... more >>>

The problem of constructing hazard-free Boolean circuits (those avoiding electronic glitches) dates back to the 1940s and is an important problem in circuit design. Recently, Ikenmeyer et al. [J. ACM, 66:4 (2019), Article 25] have shown that the hazard-free circuit complexity of any Boolean function $f(x)$ is lower-bounded by the ... more >>>

Many discrete minimization problems, including various versions of the shortest path problem, can be efficiently solved by dynamic programming (DP) algorithms that are ``pure'' in that they only perform basic operations, as $\min$, $\max$, $+$, but no conditional branchings via if-then-else in their recursion equations. It is known that any ... more >>>

We consider Boolean circuits over $\{\lor,\land,\neg\}$ with negations applied only to input variables. To measure the ``amount of negation'' in such circuits, we introduce the concept of their ``negation width.'' In particular, a circuit computing a monotone Boolean function $f(x_1,\ldots,x_n)$ has negation width $w$ if no nonzero term produced (purely ... more >>>

We develop general lower bound arguments for approximating tropical
(min,+) and (max,+) circuits, and use them to prove the
first non-trivial, even super-polynomial, lower bounds on the size
of such circuits approximating some explicit optimization
problems. In particular, these bounds show that the approximation
powers of pure dynamic programming algorithms ... more >>>

We consider probabilistic circuits working over the real numbers, and using arbitrary semialgebraic functions of bounded description complexity as gates. We show that such circuits can be simulated by deterministic circuits with an only polynomial blowup in size. An algorithmic consequence is that randomization cannot substantially speed up dynamic programming. ... more >>>

Many dynamic programming algorithms are ``pure'' in that they only use min or max and addition operations in their recursion equations. The well known greedy algorithm of Kruskal solves the minimum weight spanning tree problem on $n$-vertex graphs using only $O(n^2\log n)$ operations. We prove that any pure DP algorithm ... more >>>

Many dynamic programming algorithms for discrete optimization problems are "pure" in that they only use min/max and addition operations in their recursions. Some of them, in particular those for various shortest path problems, are even "incremental" in that one of the inputs to the addition operations is a variable. We ... more >>>

Many dynamic programming algorithms for discrete 0-1 optimization problems are just special (recursively constructed) tropical (min,+) or (max,+) circuits. A problem is homogeneous if all its feasible solutions have the same number of 1s. Jerrum and Snir [JACM 29 (1982), pp. 874-897] proved that tropical circuit complexity of homogeneous problems ... more >>>

We prove a general lower bound on the size of branching programs over any semiring of zero characteristic, including the (min,+) semiring. Using it, we show that the classical dynamic programming algorithm of Bellman, Ford and Moore for the shortest s-t path problem is optimal, if only Min and Sum ... more >>>

A {+,x}-circuit counts a given multivariate polynomial f, if its values on 0-1 inputs are the same as those of f; on other inputs the circuit may output arbitrary values. Such a circuit counts the number of monomials of evaluated to 1 by a given 0-1 input vector (with multiplicities ... more >>>

Tropical circuits are circuits with Min and Plus, or Max and Plus operations as gates. Their importance stems from their intimate relation to dynamic programming algorithms. The power of tropical circuits lies somewhere between that of monotone boolean circuits and monotone arithmetic circuits. In this paper we present some lower ... more >>>

We consider so-called ``incremental'' dynamic programming (DP) algorithms, and are interested in the number of subproblems produced by them. The standard DP algorithm for the n-dimensional Knapsack problem is incremental, and produces nK subproblems, where K is the capacity of the knapsack. We show that any incremental algorithm for this ... more >>>

Motivated by its relation to the length of cutting plane proofs for the Maximum Biclique problem, here we consider the following communication game on a given graph G, known to both players. Let K be the maximal number of vertices in a complete bipartite subgraph of G (which is not ... more >>>

Khrapchenko's classical lower bound $n^2$ on the formula size of the
parity function~$f$ can be interpreted as designing a suitable
measure of subrectangles of the combinatorial rectangle
$f^{-1}(0)\times f^{-1}(1)$. Trying to generalize this approach we
arrived at the concept of \emph{convex measures}. We prove the
more >>>

A completion of an m-by-n matrix A with entries in {0,1,*} is obtained
by setting all *-entries to constants 0 or 1. A system of semi-linear
equations over GF(2) has the form Mx=f(x), where M is a completion of
A and f:{0,1}^n --> {0,1}^m is an operator, the i-th coordinate ... more >>>

In this note we consider unbounded fanin depth-2 circuits with arbitrary boolean functions as gates.

We define the entropy of an operator f:{0,1}^n --> {0,1}^m is as the logarithm of the maximum number of vectors distinguishable by at least one special subfunction of f. Then we prove that every ... more >>>

The \emph{replication number} of a branching program is the minimum
number R such that along every accepting computation at most R
variables are tested more than once. Hence 0\leq R\leq n for every
branching program in n variables. The best results so far were
exponential ... more >>>

We consider the minimal number of AND and OR gates in monotone
circuits for quadratic boolean functions, i.e. disjunctions of
length-$2$ monomials. The single level conjecture claims that
monotone single level circuits, i.e. circuits which have only one
level of AND gates, for quadratic functions ... more >>>

We consider the P versus NP\cap coNP question for the classical two-party communication protocols: if both a boolean function and its negation have small nondeterministic communication complexity, what is then its deterministic and/or probabilistic communication complexity? In the fixed (worst) partition case this question was answered by Aho, Ullman and ... more >>>

A boolean circuit $f(x_1,\ldots,x_n)$ \emph{represents} a graph $G$
on $n$ vertices if for every input vector $a\in\{0,1\}^n$ with
precisely two $1$'s in, say, positions $i$ and $j$, $f(a)=1$
precisely when $i$ and $j$ are adjacent in $G$; on inputs with more
or less than two ... more >>>

We study k-partition communication protocols, an extension
of the standard two-party best-partition model to k input partitions.
The main results are as follows.

1. A strong explicit hierarchy on the degree of
non-obliviousness is established by proving that,
using k+1 partitions instead of k may decrease
the communication complexity from ... more >>>

In 1957 Markov proved that every circuit in $n$ variables
can be simulated by a circuit with at most $\log(n+1)$ negations.
In 1974 Fischer has shown that this can be done with only
polynomial increase in size.

In this note we observe that some explicit monotone functions ... more >>>

We show that recognizing the $K_3$-freeness and $K_4$-freeness of
graphs is hard, respectively, for two-player nondeterministic
communication protocols with exponentially many partitions and for
nondeterministic (syntactic) read-$s$ times branching programs.

The key ingradient is a generalization of a coloring lemma, due to
Papadimitriou and Sipser, which says that for every ... more >>>

We propose an information-theoretic approach to proving lower
bounds on the size of branching programs. The argument is based on
Kraft-McMillan type inequalities for the average amount of
uncertainty about (or entropy of) a given input during the various
stages of computation. The uncertainty is measured by the average
more >>>

We consider a general model of monotone circuits, which
we call d-local. In these circuits we allow as gates:
(i) arbitrary monotone Boolean functions whose minterms or
maxterms (or both) have length at most <i>d</i>, and
(ii) arbitrary real-valued non-decreasing functions on ... more >>>

We propose an information-theoretic approach to proving
lower bounds on the size of branching programs (b.p.). The argument
is based on Kraft-McMillan type inequalities for the average amount of
uncertainty about (or entropy of) a given input during various
stages of the computation. ... more >>>

In a semantic resolution proof we operate with clauses only
but allow {\em arbitrary} rules of inference:

C_1 C_2 ... C_m
__________________
C

Consistency is the only requirement. We prove a very simple
exponential lower bound for the size ... more >>>

We first consider so-called {\em $(1,+s)$-branching programs}
in which along every consistent path at most $s$ variables are tested
more than once. We prove that any such program computing a
characteristic function of a linear code $C$ has size at least
more >>>

We prove a general combinatorial lower bound on the
size of monotone circuits. The argument is different from
Razborov's method of approximation, and is based on Sipser's
notion of `finite limit' and Haken's `counting bottlenecks' idea.
We then apply this criterion to the ... more >>>

We introduce the model of conservative one-way multiparty complexity
and prove lower and upper bounds on the complexity of pointer jumping.

The pointer jumping function takes as its input a directed layered
graph with a starting node and layers of nodes, and a single edge ... more >>>

A syntactic read-k times branching program has the restriction
that no variable occurs more than k times on any path (whether or not
consistent). We exhibit an explicit Boolean function f which cannot
be computed by nondeterministic syntactic read-k times branching programs
of size less than exp(\sqrt{n}}k^{-2k}), ... more >>>