We introduce the concept of a randomness steward, a tool for saving random bits when executing a randomized estimation algorithm $\mathrm{Est}$ on many adaptively chosen inputs. For each execution, the chosen input to $\mathrm{Est}$ remains hidden from the steward, but the steward chooses the randomness of $\mathrm{Est}$ and, crucially, is ... more >>>

We give the first representation-independent hardness result for agnostically learning halfspaces with respect to the Gaussian distribution. We reduce from the problem of learning sparse parities with noise with respect to the uniform distribution on the hypercube (sparse LPN), a notoriously hard problem in computer science and show that ... more >>>

Fortnow and Klivans proved the following relationship between efficient learning algorithms and circuit lower bounds: if a class $\mathcal{C} \subseteq P/poly$ of Boolean circuits is exactly learnable with membership and equivalence queries in polynomial-time, then $EXP^{NP} \not \subseteq \mathcal{C}$ (the class $EXP^{NP}$ was subsequently improved to $P$ by Hitchcock and ... more >>>

We give a new framework for proving the existence of low-degree, polynomial approximators for Boolean functions with respect to broad classes of non-product distributions. Our proofs use techniques related to the classical moment problem and deviate significantly from known Fourier-based methods, which require the underlying distribution to have some product ... more >>>

Let $X \subseteq \mathbb{R}^{n}$ and let ${\mathcal C}$ be a class of functions mapping $\mathbb{R}^{n} \rightarrow \{-1,1\}.$ The famous VC-Theorem states that a random subset $S$ of $X$ of size $O(\frac{d}{\epsilon^{2}} \log \frac{d}{\epsilon})$, where $d$ is the VC-Dimension of ${\mathcal C}$, is (with constant probability) an $\epsilon$-approximation for ${\mathcal C}$ ... more >>>

We show that all non-negative submodular functions have high noise-stability. As a consequence, we obtain a polynomial-time learning algorithm for this class with respect to any product distribution on $\{-1,1\}^n$ (for any constant accuracy parameter $\epsilon$ ). Our algorithm also succeeds in the agnostic setting. Previous work on learning submodular ... more >>>

We give a deterministic, polynomial-time algorithm for approximately counting the number of {0,1}-solutions to any instance of the knapsack problem. On an instance of length n with total weight W and accuracy parameter eps, our algorithm produces a (1 + eps)-multiplicative approximation in time poly(n,log W,1/eps). We also give algorithms ... more >>>

In 1994, Y. Mansour conjectured that for every DNF formula on $n$ variables with $t$ terms there exists a polynomial $p$ with $t^{O(\log (1/\epsilon))}$ non-zero coefficients such that $\E_{x \in \{0,1\}}[(p(x)-f(x))^2] \leq \epsilon$. We make the first progress on this conjecture and show that it is true for several natural ... more >>>

Let $X$ be randomly chosen from $\{-1,1\}^n$, and let $Y$ be randomly
chosen from the standard spherical Gaussian on $\R^n$. For any (possibly unbounded) polytope $P$
formed by the intersection of $k$ halfspaces, we prove that
$$\left|\Pr\left[X \in P\right] - \Pr\left[Y \in P\right]\right| \leq \log^{8/5}k ... more >>>

We give the first representation-independent hardness results for
PAC learning intersections of halfspaces, a central concept class
in computational learning theory. Our hardness results are derived
from two public-key cryptosystems due to Regev, which are based on the
worst-case hardness of well-studied lattice problems. Specifically, we
prove that a polynomial-time ... more >>>

We show that RL is contained in L/O(n), i.e., any language computable
in randomized logarithmic space can be computed in deterministic
logarithmic space with a linear amount of non-uniform advice. To
prove our result we show how to take an ultra-low space walk on
the Gabber-Galil expander graph.

We prove a new equivalence between the non-uniform and uniform complexity of exponential time. We show that EXP in NP/log if and only if EXP = P^NP|| (polynomial time with non-adaptive queries to SAT). Our equivalence makes use of a recent result due to Shaltiel and Umans showing EXP in ... more >>>

We establish hardness versus randomness trade-offs for a
broad class of randomized procedures. In particular, we create efficient
nondeterministic simulations of bounded round Arthur-Merlin games using
a language in exponential time that cannot be decided by polynomial
size oracle circuits with access to satisfiability. We show that every
language with ... more >>>