We show that, for fixed dimension $n$, the approximation of
inner and outer $j$-radii of polytopes in ${\Re}^n$, endowed
with the Euclidean norm, is polynomial.

We consider noninteractive zero-knowledge proofs in the shared random
string model proposed by Blum, Feldman and Micali \cite{bfm}. Until
recently there was a sizable polynomial gap between the most
efficient noninteractive proofs for {\sf NP} based on general
complexity assumptions \cite{fls} versus those based on specific
algebraic assumptions \cite{Da}. ... more >>>

Branching programs (b.p.'s) or decision diagrams are a general
graph-based model of sequential computation. B.p.'s of polynomial
size are a nonuniform counterpart of LOG. Lower bounds for
different kinds of restricted b.p.'s are intensively investigated.
An important restriction are so called 1-b.p.'s, where each
computation reads each input bit at ... more >>>

In the manuscript F. Ablayev and M. Karpinski, On the power of
randomized branching programs (generalization of ICALP'96 paper
results for the case of pure boolean function, available at
http://www.ksu.ru/~ablayev) we exhibited a simple boolean functions
$f_n$ in $n$ variables such that:

1) $f_{n}$ can be computed ... more >>>

This is a research-expository paper. It deals with
complexity issues in the theory of linear block codes. The main
emphasis is on the theoretical performance limits of the
best known codes. Therefore, the main subject of the paper are
families of asymptotically good codes, i.e., codes whose rate and
relative ... more >>>

For any Boolean function $f$ let $L(f)$ be its formula size
complexity in the basis $\{\land,\oplus,1\}$. For every $n$ and
every $k\le n/2$, we describe a probabilistic distribution
on formulas in the basis $\{\land,\oplus,1\}$ in some given set of
$n$ variables and of the ... more >>>

We show that every language in NP has a probablistic verifier
that checks membership proofs for it using
logarithmic number of random bits and by examining a
<em> constant </em> number of bits in the proof.
If a string is in the language, then there exists a proof ... more >>>

It is known that there exists a PCP characterization of NP
where the verifier makes 3 queries and has a {\em one-sided}
error that is bounded away from 1; and also that 2 queries
do not suffice for such a characterization. Thus PCPs with
3 ... more >>>

The error probability of Probabilistically Checkable Proof (PCP)
systems can be made exponentially small in the number of queries
by using sequential repetition. In this paper we are interested
in determining the precise rate at which the error goes down in
an optimal protocol, and we make substantial progress toward ... more >>>

The width of a Resolution proof is defined to be the maximal number of
literals in any clause of the proof. In this paper we relate proof width
to proof length (=size), in both general Resolution, and its tree-like
variant. The following consequences of these relations reveal width as ... more >>>

We consider combinatorial avoidance and achievement games
based on graph Ramsey theory: The players take turns in coloring
still uncolored edges of a graph G, each player being assigned a
distinct color, choosing one edge per move. In avoidance games,
completing a monochromatic subgraph isomorphic to ... more >>>

Some operations over Boolean functions are considered. It is shown that
the operation of the geometrical projection and the operation of the
monotone extension can increase the complexity of Boolean functions for
formulas in each finite basis, for switching networks, for branching
programs, and read-$k$-times ... more >>>

We prove that, with high probability, the space complexity of refuting
a random unsatisfiable boolean formula in $k$-CNF on $n$
variables and $m = \Delta n$ clauses is
$O(n \cdot \Delta^{-\frac{1}{k-2}})$.

The Constraint Satisfaction Problem (CSP) provides a common framework for many combinatorial problems. The general CSP is known to be NP-complete; however, certain restrictions on a possible form of constraints may affect the complexity, and lead to tractable problem classes. There is, therefore, a fundamental research direction, aiming to separate ... more >>>

A wide variety of combinatorial problems can be represented in the form of the Constraint Satisfaction Problem (CSP). The general CSR is known to be NP-complete, however, some restrictions on the possible form of constraints may lead to a tractable subclass. Jeavons and coauthors have shown that the complexity of ... more >>>

The satisfiability problem of Boolean Formulae in 3-CNF (3-SAT)
is a well known NP-complete problem and the development of faster
(moderately exponential time) algorithms has received much interest
in recent years. We show that the 3-SAT problem can be solved by a
probabilistic algorithm in expected time O(1,3290^n).
more >>>

We study the problem of representing symmetric Boolean functions as symmetric polynomials over Z_m. We show an equivalence between such
representations and simultaneous communication protocols. Computing a function with a polynomial of degree d modulo m=pq is equivalent to a two player protocol where one player is given the first ... more >>>

This paper presents a new upper bound for the
$k$-satisfiability problem. For small $k$'s, especially for $k=3$,
there have been a lot of algorithms which run significantly faster
than the trivial $2^n$ bound. The following list summarizes those
algorithms where a constant $c$ means that the algorithm runs in time
more >>>

In constraint satisfaction problems over finite domains, some variables
can be frozen, that is, they take the same value in all possible solutions. We study the complexity of the problem of recognizing frozen variables with restricted sets of constraint relations allowed in the
instances. We show that the complexity of ... more >>>

We consider the ``minor'' and ``homeomorphic'' analogues of the maximum clique problem, i.e., the problems of determining the largest $h$ such that the input graph has a minor isomorphic to $K_h$ or a subgraph homeomorphic to $K_h,$ respectively.We show the former to be approximable within $O(\sqrt {n} \log^{1.5} n)$ by ... more >>>

In1985, Shmuley proposed a theorem about intractability of Composite Diffie-Hellman [Sh85]. The Theorem of Shmuley may be paraphrased as saying that if there exist a probabilistic poly-time oracle machine which solves the Diffie-Hellman modulo an
RSA-number with odd-order base then there exist a probabilistic algorithm which factors the modulo. ... more >>>

We give a dichotomy theorem for the problem of counting homomorphisms to
directed acyclic graphs. $H$ is a fixed directed acyclic graph.
The problem is, given an input digraph $G$, how many homomorphisms are there
from $G$ to $H$. We give a graph-theoretic classification, showing that
for some digraphs $H$, ... more >>>

Diagonalization is a powerful technique in recursion theory and in
computational complexity \cite{For00}. The limits of this technique are
not clear. On the one hand, many people argue that conflicting
relativizations mean a complexity question cannot be resolved using only
diagonalization. On the other hand, it is not clear that ... more >>>

Boolean satisfiability problems are an important benchmark for questions about complexity, algorithms, heuristics and threshold phenomena. Recent work on heuristics, and the satisfiability threshold has centered around the structure and connectivity of the solution space. Motivated by this work, we study structural and connectivity-related properties of the space of solutions ... more >>>

Combinatorial property testing deals with the following relaxation
of decision problems: Given a fixed property and an input $x$, one
wants to decide whether $x$ satisfies the property or is ``far''
from satisfying it. The main focus of property testing is in
identifying large families of properties that can be ... more >>>

Living cells function according to complex mechanisms that operate in different ways depending on conditions. Evolutionary theory suggests that such mechanisms evolved as a result of a random search guided by selection and realized by genetic mutations. However, as some observers have noted, there has existed no theory that would ... more >>>

We survey time hierarchies, with an emphasis on recent attempts to prove hierarchies for semantic classes.

The Counting Constraint Satisfaction Problem (#CSP(H)) over a finite
relational structure H can be expressed as follows: given a
relational structure G over the same vocabulary,
determine the number of homomorphisms from G to H.
In this paper we characterize relational structures H for which
#CSP(H) can be solved in ... more >>>

We consider bounded depth circuits over an arbitrary field $K$. If the field $K$ is finite, then we allow arbitrary gates $K^n\to K$. For instance, in the case of field $GF(2)$ we allow any Boolean gates. If the field $K$ is infinite, then we allow only polinomials.

For every fixed ... more >>>

We develop new tools to study the relative complexities of secure
multi-party computation tasks (functionalities) in the Universal
Composition framework. When one task can be securely realized using
another task as a black-box, we interpret this as a
qualitative, complexity-theoretic reduction between the two tasks.
Virtually all previous characterizations of ... more >>>

We propose a generalization of the traditional algorithmic space and
time complexities. Using the concept introduced, we derive an
unified proof for the deterministic time and space hierarchy
theorems, now stated in a much more general setting. This opens the
possibility for the unification and generalization of other results
that ... more >>>

We prove that Polynomial Calculus and Polynomial Calculus with Resolution are not automatizable, unless W[P]-hard problems are fixed parameter tractable by one-side error randomized algorithms. This extends to Polynomial Calculus the analogous result obtained for Resolution by Alekhnovich and Razborov (SIAM J. Computing, 38(4), 2008).

Many commonly-used auction mechanisms are ``maximal-in-range''. We show that any maximal-in-range mechanism for $n$ bidders and $m$ items cannot both approximate the social welfare with a ratio better than $\min(n, m^\eta)$ for any constant $\eta < 1/2$ and run in polynomial time, unless $NP \subseteq P/poly$. This significantly improves upon ... more >>>

We consider the reachability problem for a certain class of directed acyclic graphs embedded on surfaces. Let ${\cal G}(m,g)$ be the class of directed acyclic graphs with $m = m(n)$ source vertices embedded on a surface (orientable or non-orientable) of genus $g = g(n)$. We give a log-space reduction that ... more >>>

In this paper we suggest a modification of classical Lupanov's method [Lupanov1958]
that allows building circuits over the basis $\{\&,\vee,\neg\}$ for Boolean functions of $n$ variables with size at most
$$
\frac{2^n}{n}\left(1+\frac{3\log n + O(1)}{n}\right),
$$
and with more uniform distribution of outgoing arcs by circuit gates.

For almost all ... more >>>

We consider the complexity of determining the winner of a finite, two-level poset game.
This is a natural question, as it has been shown recently that determining the winner of a finite, three-level poset game is PSPACE-complete.
We give a simple formula allowing one to compute the status ... more >>>

It is shown that complexity of implementation of prefix sums of $m$ variables (i.e. functions $x_1 \cdot \ldots\cdot x_i$, $1\le i \le m$) by circuits of depth $\lceil \log_2 m \rceil$ in the case $m=2^n$ is exactly $$3.5\cdot2^n - (8.5+3.5(n \bmod 2))2^{\lfloor n/2\rfloor} + n + 5.$$ As a consequence, ... more >>>

Abstract. The old intuitive question "what does the machine think" at
different stages of its computation is examined. Our paper is based on
the formal de nitions and results which are collected in the branching
program theory around the intuitive question "what does the program
know about the contents of ... more >>>

It is well known that problems encoded with circuits or formulas generally gain an exponential complexity blow-up compared to their original complexity.

We introduce a new way for encoding graph problems, based on $\textrm{CNF}$ or $\textrm{DNF}$ formulas. We show that contrary to the other existing succinct models, there are ... more >>>

The first part of this thesis strengthens the low-error PCP
characterization of NP, coming closer to the upper limit of the
conjecture of~\cite{BGLR}.

In the second part we show that a boolean function over
$n$ variables can be tested for the property of depending ... more >>>

The topic of this paper is a game on graphs called Edge Hop. The game's goal is to move a marked token from a specific starting node to a specific target node. Further, there are other tokens on some nodes which can be moved by the player under suitable conditions. ... more >>>

In quantum computational complexity theory, the class QMA models the set of problems efficiently verifiable by a quantum computer the same way that NP models this for classical computation. Vyalyi proved that if $\text{QMA}=\text{PP}$ then $\text{PH}\subseteq \text{QMA}$. In this note, we give a simple, self-contained proof of the theorem, using ... more >>>

We investigate the number of pairwise comparisons sufficient to sort $n$ elements chosen from a linearly ordered set. This number is shown to be $\log_2(n!) + o(n)$ thus improving over the previously known upper bounds of the form $\log_2(n!) + \Theta(n)$. The new bound is achieved by the proposed group ... more >>>

We identify several genres of search problems beyond NP for which existence of solutions is guaranteed. One class that seems especially rich in such problems is PEPP (for "polynomial empty pigeonhole principle"), which includes problems related to existence theorems proved through the union bound, such as finding a bit string ... more >>>