We prove the equivalence of two fundamental problems in the theory of computation:

- Existence of one-way functions: the existence of one-way functions (which in turn are equivalent to pseudorandom generators, pseudorandom functions, private-key encryption schemes, digital signatures, commitment schemes, and more).

- Mild average-case hardness of $K^{poly}$-complexity: ... more >>>

Consider the following two fundamental open problems in complexity theory: (a) Does a hard-on-average language in $\NP$ imply the existence of one-way functions?, or (b) Does a hard-on-average language in NP imply a hard-on-average problem in TFNP (i.e., the class of total NP search problem)? Our main result is that ... more >>>

Hardness of computing the Kolmogorov complexity of a given string is closely tied to a security proof of hitting set generators, and thus understanding hardness of Kolmogorov complexity is one of the central questions in complexity theory. In this paper, we develop new proof techniques for showing hardness of computing ... more >>>