In 2010, Patrascu proposed a dynamic set-disjointness problem, known as the Multiphase problem, as a candidate for proving $polynomial$ lower bounds on the operational time of dynamic data structures. Patrascu conjectured that any data structure for the Multiphase problem must make $n^\epsilon$ cell-probes in either the update or query phase, ... more >>>

Recently, Dvir, Golovnev, and Weinstein have shown that sufficiently strong lower bounds for linear data structures would imply new bounds for rigid matrices. However, their result utilizes an algorithm that requires an $NP$ oracle, and hence, the rigid matrices are not explicit. In this work, we derive an equivalence between ... more >>>

We introduce the `binary value principle' which is a simple subset-sum instance expressing that a natural number written in binary cannot be negative, relating it to central problems in proof and algebraic complexity. We prove conditional superpolynomial lower bounds on the Ideal Proof System (IPS) refutation size of this instance, ... more >>>