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TR22-061 | 30th April 2022 07:25

#### On Approximability of Satisfiable $k$-CSPs: I

TR22-061
Authors: Amey Bhangale, Subhash Khot, Dor Minzer
Publication: 30th April 2022 13:35
We consider the $P$-CSP problem for $3$-ary predicates $P$ on satisfiable instances. We show that under certain conditions on $P$ and a $(1,s)$ integrality gap instance of the $P$-CSP problem, it can be translated into a dictatorship vs. quasirandomness test with perfect completeness and soundness $s+\varepsilon$, for every constant $\varepsilon>0$. Compared to Ragahvendra's result [STOC, 2008], we do not lose perfect completeness. This is particularly interesting as this test implies new hardness results on satisfiable constraint satisfaction problems, assuming the Rich 2-to-1 Games Conjecture by Braverman, Khot, and Minzer [ITCS, 2021]. Our result can be seen as the first step of a potentially long-term challenging program of characterizing optimal inapproximability of every satisfiable $k$-ary CSP.
At the heart of the reduction is our main analytical lemma for a class of $3$-ary predicates, which is a generalization of a lemma by Mossel [Geometric and Functional Analysis, 2010]. The lemma and a further generalization of it that we propose as a hypothesis may be of independent interest.