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Paper:

TR26-029 | 24th February 2026 12:46

Polynomial Identity Testing and Reconstruction for Depth-4 Powering Circuits of High Degree

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TR26-029
Authors: Amir Shpilka, Yann Tal
Publication: 24th February 2026 12:49
Downloads: 52
Keywords: 


Abstract:

We study deterministic polynomial identity testing (PIT) and reconstruction algorithms for depth-$4$ arithmetic circuits of the form
\[
\Sigma^{[r]}\!\wedge^{[d]}\!\Sigma^{[s]}\!\Pi^{[\delta]}.
\]
This model generalizes Waring decompositions and diagonal circuits, and captures sums of powers of low-degree sparse polynomials. Specifically, each circuit computes a sum of $r$ terms, where each term is a $d$-th power of an $s$-sparse polynomial of degree $\delta$. This model also includes algebraic representations that arise in tensor decomposition and moment-based learning tasks such as mixture models and subspace learning.

We give deterministic worst-case algorithms for PIT and reconstruction in this model. Our PIT construction applies when $d>r^2$ and yields explicit hitting sets of size $O(r^4 s^4 n^2 d \delta^3)$. The reconstruction algorithm runs in time $\textrm{poly}(n,s,d)$ under the condition $d=\Omega(r^4\delta)$, and in particular it tolerates polynomially large top fan-in $r$ and bottom degree $\delta$.

Both results hold over fields of characteristic zero and over fields of sufficiently large characteristic. These algorithms provide the first polynomial-time deterministic solutions for depth-$4$ powering circuits with unbounded top fan-in. In particular, the reconstruction result improves upon previous work which required non-degeneracy or average-case assumptions.

The PIT construction relies on the ABC theorem for function fields (Mason-Stothers theorem), which ensures linear independence of high-degree powers of sparse polynomials after a suitable projection. The reconstruction algorithm combines this with Wronskian-based differential operators, structural properties of their kernels, and a robust version of the Klivans-Spielman hitting set.



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