The current proof of the PCP Theorem (i.e., NP=PCP(log,O(1)))
is very complicated.
One source of difficulty is the technically involved
analysis of low-degree tests.
Here, we refer to the difficulty of obtaining strong results
regarding low-degree tests; namely, results of the type obtained and
used by ... more >>>

Locally testable codes are error-correcting codes that admit
very efficient codeword tests. Specifically, using a constant
number of (random) queries, non-codewords are rejected with
probability proportional to their distance from the code.

Locally testable codes are believed to be the combinatorial
core of PCPs. However, the relation is ... more >>>

We survey known results regarding locally testable codes
and locally testable proofs (known as PCPs),
with emphasis on the length of these constructs.
Locally testability refers to approximately testing
large objects based on a very small number of probes,
each retrieving a single bit in the ... more >>>