Non-signaling strategies are a generalization of quantum strategies that have been studied in physics for decades, and have recently found applications in theoretical computer science. These applications motivate the study of local-to-global phenomena for *non-signaling functions*.
We prove that low-degree testing in the non-signaling setting is possible, assuming that the locality of the non-signaling function exceeds a threshold. We additionally show that if the locality is below the threshold then the test fails spectacularly, in that there exists a non-signaling function which passes the test with probability 1 and yet is maximally far from being low-degree.
Along the way, we present general results about the local testability of linear codes in the non-signaling setting. These include formulating natural definitions that capture the condition that a non-signaling function "belongs'' to a given code, and characterizing the sets of local constraints that imply membership in the code. We prove these results by formulating a logical inference system for linear constraints on non-signaling functions that is complete and sound.
added new result on low-degree testing
Non-signaling strategies are a generalization of quantum strategies that have been studied in physics for decades, and have recently found applications in theoretical computer science. These applications motivate the study of local-to-global phenomena for non-signaling functions.
We present general results about the local testability of linear codes in the non-signaling setting. Our contributions include formulating natural definitions that capture the condition that a non-signaling function "belongs" to a given code, and characterizing the sets of local constraints that imply membership in the code. We prove these results by relating the Fourier spectrum of non-signaling functions to Cayley hypergraphs induced by local constraints.
We apply the above results to show a separation between locally testable codes in the classical and non-signaling setting by proving that bivariate low-degree testing fails spectacularly in the non-signaling setting. Specifically, we show that there exist non-signaling functions that pass bivariate low-degree tests with probability 1, and yet are maximally far from low-degree.