An error-correcting code is said to be {\em locally testable} if it has an
efficient spot-checking procedure that can distinguish codewords
from strings that are far from every codeword, looking at very few
locations of the input in doing so. Locally testable codes (LTCs) have
generated ... more >>>

The notion of promise problems was introduced and initially studied
by Even, Selman and Yacobi
(Information and Control, Vol.~61, pages 159-173, 1984).
In this article we survey some of the applications that this
notion has found in the twenty years that elapsed.
These include the notion ... more >>>

We introduce ``minimal'' two--sorted first--order theories VL, VSL, VNL and VP
that characterize the classes L, SL, NL and P in the same
way that Buss's $S^i_2$ hierarchy characterizes the polynomial time hierarchy.
Our theories arise from natural combinatorial problems, namely the st-Connectivity
Problem and the Circuit Value Problem.
It ... more >>>