205 Search Results for "Beyersdorff, Olaf"

Volume

LIPIcs, Volume 327

42nd International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2025)

STACS 2025, March 4-7, 2025, Jena, Germany

Editors: Olaf Beyersdorff, Michał Pilipczuk, Elaine Pimentel, and Nguyễn Kim Thắng

Volume

LIPIcs, Volume 289

41st International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2024)

STACS 2024, March 12-14, 2024, Clermont-Ferrand, France

Editors: Olaf Beyersdorff, Mamadou Moustapha Kanté, Orna Kupferman, and Daniel Lokshtanov

Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.SAT.2026.3
Proof Systems for QBF Synthesis: Extracting Skolem and Herbrand Functions

Authors: S. Akshay, Olaf Beyersdorff, Supratik Chakraborty, Lea Kasche, Meena Mahajan, and Luc Nicolas Spachmann

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 377, 29th International Conference on Theory and Applications of Satisfiability Testing (SAT 2026)

Abstract
Strategy extraction in QBF proof systems usually attempts to extract winning strategies from valid proofs. However, an alternative (and arguably more powerful) view is to extract Skolem/Herbrand functions, or equivalently synthesis of the game values at all intermediate points. In this paper, we investigate the existence and properties of such proof systems from which one can extract Skolem and Herbrand functions. We propose such a proof system for QBF, which we show is sound and complete, and from which extraction of Skolem/Herbrand functions can be performed, and game values computed, in polynomial time. We also show that this system is optimal among all proof systems that allow efficient extraction of Skolem/Herbrand functions. We provide conditional lower bound results for our new proof system and compare it to several existing/standard proof systems for QBF that have been studied in the literature, showing interesting orthogonality results. Finally, we provide a compilation algorithm that takes an arbitrary QBF and synthesizes a proof in our system, from which Skolem and Herbrand functions can be easily computed.
Cite as

S. Akshay, Olaf Beyersdorff, Supratik Chakraborty, Lea Kasche, Meena Mahajan, and Luc Nicolas Spachmann. Proof Systems for QBF Synthesis: Extracting Skolem and Herbrand Functions. In 29th International Conference on Theory and Applications of Satisfiability Testing (SAT 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 377, pp. 3:1-3:20, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)

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@InProceedings{akshay_et_al:LIPIcs.SAT.2026.3,
  author =	{Akshay, S. and Beyersdorff, Olaf and Chakraborty, Supratik and Kasche, Lea and Mahajan, Meena and Spachmann, Luc Nicolas},
  title =	{{Proof Systems for QBF Synthesis: Extracting Skolem and Herbrand Functions}},
  booktitle =	{29th International Conference on Theory and Applications of Satisfiability Testing (SAT 2026)},
  pages =	{3:1--3:20},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-431-4},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2026},
  volume =	{377},
  editor =	{Ignatiev, Alexey and Szeider, Stefan},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.SAT.2026.3},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-263096},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.SAT.2026.3},
  annote =	{Keywords: Quantified Boolean Formulas, Skolem and Herbrand functions, Automated synthesis, Knowledge compilation, Proof systems and complexity}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.SAT.2026.7
Towards Understanding the Complexity of CAQE: A Proof-Theoretic Analysis of Its Core Procedure

Authors: Benjamin Böhm and Olaf Beyersdorff

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 377, 29th International Conference on Theory and Applications of Satisfiability Testing (SAT 2026)

Abstract
CAQE (Clausal Abstraction for Quantifier Elimination) is currently the most successful algorithmic paradigm for solving Quantified Boolean Formulas (QBF) practice-wise, clearly dominating recent QBF competitions. While apparently being a very strong solver, not much is known about CAQE theory-wise. We propose a framework for formalising runs in the basic CAQE algorithm (where failed assumptions are not considered) as proofs in a proof system CAQE^CORE, which we use to analyse the algorithm proof-theoretically and provide methods for future work to separate it from optimized versions of CAQE that are used in practice. We show that one can perform strategy extraction on the CAQE^CORE proof system in such a way that strategy size serves as a lower bound for basic CAQE runs. Furthermore, we introduce a measure, which we call CAQE width, which not only acts as a lower bound on CAQE^CORE proofs, but - with the quantifier depth as exponent - as an upper bound as well. Using this analysis, we prove that on QBFs of bounded quantifier complexity, both QCDCL (Quantified Conflict Driven Clause Learning, formalised as a proof system) and Q-resolution p-simulate CAQE^CORE and are indeed strictly stronger.
Cite as

Benjamin Böhm and Olaf Beyersdorff. Towards Understanding the Complexity of CAQE: A Proof-Theoretic Analysis of Its Core Procedure. In 29th International Conference on Theory and Applications of Satisfiability Testing (SAT 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 377, pp. 7:1-7:20, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)

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@InProceedings{bohm_et_al:LIPIcs.SAT.2026.7,
  author =	{B\"{o}hm, Benjamin and Beyersdorff, Olaf},
  title =	{{Towards Understanding the Complexity of CAQE: A Proof-Theoretic Analysis of Its Core Procedure}},
  booktitle =	{29th International Conference on Theory and Applications of Satisfiability Testing (SAT 2026)},
  pages =	{7:1--7:20},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-431-4},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2026},
  volume =	{377},
  editor =	{Ignatiev, Alexey and Szeider, Stefan},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.SAT.2026.7},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-263138},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.SAT.2026.7},
  annote =	{Keywords: QBF, CAQE, CDCL, resolution, proof complexity, simulations, lower bounds}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ICDT.2026.11
Factorised Representations of Join Queries: Tight Bounds and a New Dichotomy

Authors: Christoph Berkholz and Harry Vinall-Smeeth

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 365, 29th International Conference on Database Theory (ICDT 2026)

Abstract
A common theme in factorised databases and knowledge compilation is the representation of solution sets in a useful yet succinct data structure. In this paper, we study the representation of the result of join queries (or, equivalently, the set of homomorphisms between two relational structures). We focus on the very general format of {∪,×}-circuits - also known as d-representations or DNNF circuits - and aim to find the limits of this approach. In prior work, it has been shown that there always exists a {∪,×}-circuit of size N^O(subw) representing the query result, where N is the size of the database and subw the submodular width of the query. If the arity of all relations is bounded by a constant, then subw is linear in the treewidth tw of the query. In this setting, the authors of this paper proved a lower bound of N^Ω(tw^ε) on the circuit size (ICALP 2023), where ε > 0 depends on the excluded grid theorem. Our first main contribution is to improve this lower bound to N^Ω(tw), which is tight up to a constant factor in the exponent. Our second contribution is a N^Ω(subw^{1/4}) lower bound on the circuit size for join queries over relations of unbounded arity. Both lower bounds are unconditional lower bounds on the circuit size for well-chosen database instances. Their proofs use a combination of structural (hyper)graph theory with communication complexity in a simple yet novel way. While the second lower bound is asymptotically equivalent to Marx’s conditional bound on the decision complexity (JACM 2013), our N^Θ(tw) bound in the bounded arity setting is tight, while the best conditional bound on the decision complexity is N^Ω(tw/log tw). Note that removing this logarithmic factor in the decision setting is a major open problem.
Cite as

Christoph Berkholz and Harry Vinall-Smeeth. Factorised Representations of Join Queries: Tight Bounds and a New Dichotomy. In 29th International Conference on Database Theory (ICDT 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 365, pp. 11:1-11:20, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)

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@InProceedings{berkholz_et_al:LIPIcs.ICDT.2026.11,
  author =	{Berkholz, Christoph and Vinall-Smeeth, Harry},
  title =	{{Factorised Representations of Join Queries: Tight Bounds and a New Dichotomy}},
  booktitle =	{29th International Conference on Database Theory (ICDT 2026)},
  pages =	{11:1--11:20},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-413-0},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2026},
  volume =	{365},
  editor =	{ten Cate, Balder and Funk, Maurice},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ICDT.2026.11},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-256255},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ICDT.2026.11},
  annote =	{Keywords: join queries, homomorphisms, factorised databases, succinct representation, knowledge compilation, lower bounds}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.STACS.2026.42
Computing Twin-Width via Treedepth and Vertex Integrity

Authors: Robert Ganian and Mathis Rocton

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 364, 43rd International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2026)

Abstract
Twin-width is a graph parameter that has become central to explaining the fixed-parameter tractability of first-order model checking across many graph classes. Despite its algorithmic importance, computing twin-width remains poorly understood: even recognizing graphs of twin-width at most four is NP-hard, and no fixed-parameter approximations parameterized by twin-width itself are known. A recent approach towards breaking this barrier focuses on first developing fixed-parameter algorithms for computing or approximating twin-width under parameterizations distinct from twin-width. Our first result establishes that approximating twin-width is fixed-parameter tractable when parameterized by treedepth, thereby breaking the long-standing barrier that all previous tractable parameterizations were based on deletion distance. The proof proceeds via oriented twin-width, yielding the first constructive evidence that this variant may be easier to handle algorithmically. As our second main result, we show that computing twin-width exactly is fixed-parameter tractable with respect to vertex integrity. This constitutes the first non-trivial parameterized algorithm for computing optimal contraction sequences.
Cite as

Robert Ganian and Mathis Rocton. Computing Twin-Width via Treedepth and Vertex Integrity. In 43rd International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 364, pp. 42:1-42:20, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)

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@InProceedings{ganian_et_al:LIPIcs.STACS.2026.42,
  author =	{Ganian, Robert and Rocton, Mathis},
  title =	{{Computing Twin-Width via Treedepth and Vertex Integrity}},
  booktitle =	{43rd International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2026)},
  pages =	{42:1--42:20},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-412-3},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2026},
  volume =	{364},
  editor =	{Mahajan, Meena and Manea, Florin and McIver, Annabelle and Thắng, Nguy\~{ê}n Kim},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.STACS.2026.42},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-255318},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.STACS.2026.42},
  annote =	{Keywords: twin-width, fixed-parameter algorithms, treedepth, vertex integrity}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.STACS.2026.63
Generalised Quantifiers Based on Rabin-Mostowski Index

Authors: Denis Kuperberg, Damian Niwiński, Paweł Parys, and Michał Skrzypczak

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 364, 43rd International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2026)

Abstract
In this work we introduce new generalised quantifiers which allow us to express the Rabin-Mostowski index of automata. Our main results study expressive power and decidability of the monadic second-order (MSO) logic extended with these quantifiers. We study these problems in the realm of both ω-words and infinite trees. As it turns out, the pictures in these two cases are very different. In the case of ω-words the new quantifiers can be effectively expressed in pure MSO logic. In contrast, in the case of infinite trees, addition of these quantifiers leads to an undecidable formalism. To realise index-quantifier elimination, we consider the extension of MSO by game quantifiers. As a tool, we provide a specific quantifier-elimination procedure for them. Moreover, we introduce a novel construction of transducers realising strategies in ω-regular games with monadic parameters.
Cite as

Denis Kuperberg, Damian Niwiński, Paweł Parys, and Michał Skrzypczak. Generalised Quantifiers Based on Rabin-Mostowski Index. In 43rd International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 364, pp. 63:1-63:22, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)

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@InProceedings{kuperberg_et_al:LIPIcs.STACS.2026.63,
  author =	{Kuperberg, Denis and Niwi\'{n}ski, Damian and Parys, Pawe{\l} and Skrzypczak, Micha{\l}},
  title =	{{Generalised Quantifiers Based on Rabin-Mostowski Index}},
  booktitle =	{43rd International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2026)},
  pages =	{63:1--63:22},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-412-3},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2026},
  volume =	{364},
  editor =	{Mahajan, Meena and Manea, Florin and McIver, Annabelle and Thắng, Nguy\~{ê}n Kim},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.STACS.2026.63},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-255526},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.STACS.2026.63},
  annote =	{Keywords: monadic quantifiers, decidability, quantifier elimination, parity automata, game quantifier, Rabin-Mostowski index}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.STACS.2026.60
The Asymptotic Size of Finite Irreducible Semigroups of Rational Matrices

Authors: Stefan Kiefer and Andrew Ryzhikov

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 364, 43rd International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2026)

Abstract
We study finite semigroups of n × n matrices with rational entries. Such semigroups provide a rich generalization of transition monoids of unambiguous (and, in particular, deterministic) finite automata. In this paper we determine the maximum size of finite semigroups of rational n × n matrices, with the goal of shedding more light on the structure of such matrix semigroups. While in general such semigroups can be arbitrarily large in terms of n, a classical result of Schützenberger from 1962 implies an upper bound of 2^{𝒪(n² log n)} for irreducible semigroups, i.e., the only subspaces of ℚⁿ that are invariant for all matrices in the semigroup are ℚⁿ and the subspace consisting only of the zero vector. Irreducible matrix semigroups can be viewed as the building blocks of general matrix semigroups, and as such play an important role in mathematics and computer science. From the point of view of automata theory, they generalize strongly connected automata. Using a very different technique from that of Schützenberger, we improve the upper bound on the cardinality to 3^{n²}. This is the main result of the paper. The bound is in some sense tight, as we show that there exists, for every n, a finite irreducible semigroup with 3^{⌊ n²/4 ⌋} rational matrices. Our main result also leads to an improvement of a bound, due to Almeida and Steinberg, on the mortality threshold. The mortality threshold is a number 𝓁 such that if the zero matrix is in the semigroup, then the zero matrix can be written as a product of at most 𝓁 matrices from any subset that generates the semigroup.
Cite as

Stefan Kiefer and Andrew Ryzhikov. The Asymptotic Size of Finite Irreducible Semigroups of Rational Matrices. In 43rd International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 364, pp. 60:1-60:20, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)

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@InProceedings{kiefer_et_al:LIPIcs.STACS.2026.60,
  author =	{Kiefer, Stefan and Ryzhikov, Andrew},
  title =	{{The Asymptotic Size of Finite Irreducible Semigroups of Rational Matrices}},
  booktitle =	{43rd International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2026)},
  pages =	{60:1--60:20},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-412-3},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2026},
  volume =	{364},
  editor =	{Mahajan, Meena and Manea, Florin and McIver, Annabelle and Thắng, Nguy\~{ê}n Kim},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.STACS.2026.60},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-255496},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.STACS.2026.60},
  annote =	{Keywords: finite matrix semigroups, irreducible matrix semigroups, matrix mortality, aperiodic semigroups, unambiguous automata, transition monoids}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.46
Symmetric Algebraic Circuits and Homomorphism Polynomials

Authors: Anuj Dawar, Benedikt Pago, and Tim Seppelt

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 362, 17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026)

Abstract
The central open question of algebraic complexity is whether VP ≠ VNP, which is saying that the permanent cannot be represented by families of polynomial-size algebraic circuits. For symmetric algebraic circuits, this has been confirmed by Dawar and Wilsenach (2020), who showed exponential lower bounds on the size of symmetric circuits for the permanent. In this work, we set out to develop a more general symmetric algebraic complexity theory. Our main result is that a family of symmetric polynomials admits small symmetric circuits if and only if they can be written as a linear combination of homomorphism counting polynomials of graphs of bounded treewidth. We also establish a relationship between the symmetric complexity of subgraph counting polynomials and the vertex cover number of the pattern graph. As a concrete example, we examine the symmetric complexity of immanant families (a generalisation of the determinant and permanent) and show that a known conditional dichotomy due to Curticapean (2021) holds unconditionally in the symmetric setting.
Cite as

Anuj Dawar, Benedikt Pago, and Tim Seppelt. Symmetric Algebraic Circuits and Homomorphism Polynomials. In 17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 362, pp. 46:1-46:15, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)

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@InProceedings{dawar_et_al:LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.46,
  author =	{Dawar, Anuj and Pago, Benedikt and Seppelt, Tim},
  title =	{{Symmetric Algebraic Circuits and Homomorphism Polynomials}},
  booktitle =	{17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026)},
  pages =	{46:1--46:15},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-410-9},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2026},
  volume =	{362},
  editor =	{Saraf, Shubhangi},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.46},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-253330},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.46},
  annote =	{Keywords: algebraic complexity, finite model theory, symmetric circuits, homomorphism counting, graph homomorphism, treewidth, counting width, first-order logic with counting quantifiers}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.39
Efficient Algorithms for the Disjoint Shortest Paths Problem and Its Extensions

Authors: Keerti Choudhary, Amit Kumar, and Lakshay Saggi

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 362, 17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026)

Abstract
We study the 2-Disjoint Shortest Paths (2-DSP) problem: given a directed weighted graph and two terminal pairs (s₁,t₁) and (s₂,t₂), decide whether there exist vertex-disjoint shortest paths between each pair. Building on recent advances in disjoint shortest paths for DAGs and undirected graphs (Akmal et al. 2024), we present an O(mn log n)-time algorithm for this problem in weighted directed graphs that do not contain negative or zero weight cycles. This algorithm presents a significant improvement over the previously known O(m⁵n)-time bound (Berczi et al. 2017). Our approach exploits the algebraic structure of polynomials that enumerate shortest paths between terminal pairs. A key insight is that these polynomials admit a recursive decomposition, enabling efficient evaluation via dynamic programming over fields of characteristic two. Furthermore, we demonstrate how to report the corresponding paths in O(mn² log n)-time. In addition, we extend our techniques to a more general setting: given two terminal pairs (s₁, t₁) and (s₂, t₂) in a directed graph, find the minimum possible number of vertex intersections between any shortest path from s₁ to t₁ and s₂ to t₂. We call this the Minimum 2-Disjoint Shortest Paths (Min-2-DSP) problem. We provide in this paper the first efficient algorithm for this problem, including an O(m² n³)-time algorithm for directed graphs with positive edge weights, and an O(m+n)-time algorithm for DAGs and undirected graphs. Moreover, if the number of intersecting vertices is at least one, we show that it is possible to report the paths in the same O(m+n)-time. This is somewhat surprising, as there is no known o(mn) time algorithm for explicitly reporting the paths if they are vertex-disjoint, and is left as an open problem in (Akmal et al. 2024).
Cite as

Keerti Choudhary, Amit Kumar, and Lakshay Saggi. Efficient Algorithms for the Disjoint Shortest Paths Problem and Its Extensions. In 17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 362, pp. 39:1-39:23, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)

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@InProceedings{choudhary_et_al:LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.39,
  author =	{Choudhary, Keerti and Kumar, Amit and Saggi, Lakshay},
  title =	{{Efficient Algorithms for the Disjoint Shortest Paths Problem and Its Extensions}},
  booktitle =	{17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026)},
  pages =	{39:1--39:23},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-410-9},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2026},
  volume =	{362},
  editor =	{Saraf, Shubhangi},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.39},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-253267},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.39},
  annote =	{Keywords: Disjoint paths, Disjoint shortest paths, Algebraic graph algorithms}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.4
Pseudodeterministic Algorithms for Minimum Cut Problems

Authors: Aryan Agarwala and Nithin Varma

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 362, 17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026)

Abstract
In this paper we present efficient pseudodeterministic algorithms for both the global minimum cut and minimum s-t cut problems. The running time of our algorithm for the global minimum cut problem is asymptotically better than the fastest sequential deterministic global minimum cut algorithm (Henzinger, Li, Rao, Wang; SODA 2024). Furthermore, we implement our algorithm in streaming, PRAM, and cut-query models, where no efficient deterministic global minimum cut algorithms are known.
Cite as

Aryan Agarwala and Nithin Varma. Pseudodeterministic Algorithms for Minimum Cut Problems. In 17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 362, pp. 4:1-4:15, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)

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@InProceedings{agarwala_et_al:LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.4,
  author =	{Agarwala, Aryan and Varma, Nithin},
  title =	{{Pseudodeterministic Algorithms for Minimum Cut Problems}},
  booktitle =	{17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026)},
  pages =	{4:1--4:15},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-410-9},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2026},
  volume =	{362},
  editor =	{Saraf, Shubhangi},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.4},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-252917},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.4},
  annote =	{Keywords: Minimum Cut, Pseudodeterministic Algorithms}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.FSTTCS.2025.25
On the Interplay of Cube Learning and Dependency Schemes in {QCDCL} Proof Systems

Authors: Abhimanyu Choudhury and Meena Mahajan

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 360, 45th IARCS Annual Conference on Foundations of Software Technology and Theoretical Computer Science (FSTTCS 2025)

Abstract
Quantified Conflict Driven Clause Leaning (QCDCL) is one of the main approaches to solving Quantified Boolean Formulas (QBF). Cube-learning is employed in this approach to ensure that true formulas can be verified. Dependency Schemes help to detect spurious dependencies that are implied by the variable ordering in the quantifier prefix of QBFs but are not essential for constructing (counter)models. This detection can provably shorten refutations in specific proof systems, and is expected to speed up runs of QBF solvers. The simplest underlying proof system [BeyersdorffBöhm-LMCS2023], formalises the reasoning in the QCDCL approach on false formulas, when neither cube-learning nor dependency schemes is used. The work of [BöhmPeitlBeyersdorff-AI2024] further incorporates cube-learning. The work of [ChoudhuryMahajan-JAR2024] incorporates a limited use of dependency schemes, but without cube-learning. In this work, proof systems underlying the reasoning of QCDCL solvers which use cube learning, and which use dependency schemes at all stages, are formalised. Sufficient conditions for soundness and completeness are presented, and it is shown that using the standard and reflexive resolution path dependency schemes (𝙳^{std} and 𝙳^{rrs}) to relax the decision order provably shortens refutations. When the decisions are restricted to follow quantification order, but dependency schemes are used in propagation and learning, in conjunction with cube-learning, the resulting proof systems using the dependency schemes 𝙳^{std} and 𝙳^{rrs} are investigated in detail and their relative strengths are analysed.
Cite as

Abhimanyu Choudhury and Meena Mahajan. On the Interplay of Cube Learning and Dependency Schemes in {QCDCL} Proof Systems. In 45th IARCS Annual Conference on Foundations of Software Technology and Theoretical Computer Science (FSTTCS 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 360, pp. 25:1-25:19, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

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@InProceedings{choudhury_et_al:LIPIcs.FSTTCS.2025.25,
  author =	{Choudhury, Abhimanyu and Mahajan, Meena},
  title =	{{On the Interplay of Cube Learning and Dependency Schemes in \{QCDCL\} Proof Systems}},
  booktitle =	{45th IARCS Annual Conference on Foundations of Software Technology and Theoretical Computer Science (FSTTCS 2025)},
  pages =	{25:1--25:19},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-406-2},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{360},
  editor =	{Aiswarya, C. and Mehta, Ruta and Roy, Subhajit},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.FSTTCS.2025.25},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-251062},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.FSTTCS.2025.25},
  annote =	{Keywords: QBF, CDCL, Resolution, Dependency schemes}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.FSTTCS.2025.49
On the Hardness of Order Finding and Equivalence Testing for ROABPs

Authors: C. Ramya and Pratik Shastri

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 360, 45th IARCS Annual Conference on Foundations of Software Technology and Theoretical Computer Science (FSTTCS 2025)

Abstract
The complexity of representing a polynomial by a Read-Once Oblivious Algebraic Branching Program (ROABP) is highly dependent on the chosen variable ordering. Bhargava et al. [Bhargava et al., 2024] prove that finding the optimal ordering is NP-hard, and provide some evidence (based on the Small Set Expansion hypothesis) that it is also hard to approximate the optimal ROABP width. In another work, Baraskar et al. [Baraskar et al., 2024] show that it is NP-hard to test whether a polynomial is in the GL_n orbit of a polynomial of sparsity at most s. Building upon these works, we show the following results: first, we prove that approximating the minimum ROABP width up to any constant factor is NP-hard, when the input is presented as a circuit. This removes the reliance on stronger conjectures in the previous work [Bhargava et al., 2024]. Second, we show that testing if an input polynomial given in the sparse representation is in the affine GL_n orbit of a width-w ROABP is NP-hard. Furthermore, we show that over fields of characteristic 0, the problem is NP-hard even when the input polynomial is homogeneous. This provides the first NP-hardness results for membership testing for a dense subclass of polynomial sized algebraic branching programs (VBP). Finally, we locate the source of hardness for the order finding problem at the lowest possible non-trivial degree, proving that the problem is NP-hard even for quadratic forms.
Cite as

C. Ramya and Pratik Shastri. On the Hardness of Order Finding and Equivalence Testing for ROABPs. In 45th IARCS Annual Conference on Foundations of Software Technology and Theoretical Computer Science (FSTTCS 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 360, pp. 49:1-49:13, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

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@InProceedings{ramya_et_al:LIPIcs.FSTTCS.2025.49,
  author =	{Ramya, C. and Shastri, Pratik},
  title =	{{On the Hardness of Order Finding and Equivalence Testing for ROABPs}},
  booktitle =	{45th IARCS Annual Conference on Foundations of Software Technology and Theoretical Computer Science (FSTTCS 2025)},
  pages =	{49:1--49:13},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-406-2},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{360},
  editor =	{Aiswarya, C. and Mehta, Ruta and Roy, Subhajit},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.FSTTCS.2025.49},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-251296},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.FSTTCS.2025.49},
  annote =	{Keywords: ROABP, Order Finding, Equivalence Testing, NP-hardness, Hardness of Approximation}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.FSTTCS.2025.19
Clustering in Varying Metrics

Authors: Deeparnab Chakrabarty, Jonathan Conroy, and Ankita Sarkar

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 360, 45th IARCS Annual Conference on Foundations of Software Technology and Theoretical Computer Science (FSTTCS 2025)

Abstract
We introduce the aggregated clustering problem, where one is given T instances of a center-based clustering task over the same n points, but under different metrics. The goal is to open k centers to minimize an aggregate of the clustering costs - e.g., the average or maximum - where the cost is measured via k-center/median/means objectives. More generally, we minimize a norm Ψ over the T cost values. We show that for T ≥ 3, the problem is inapproximable to any finite factor in polynomial time. For T = 2, we give constant-factor approximations. We also show W[2]-hardness when parameterized by k, but obtain f(k,T)poly(n)-time 3-approximations when parameterized by both k and T. When the metrics have structure, we obtain efficient parameterized approximation schemes (EPAS). If all T metrics have bounded ε-scatter dimension, we achieve a (1+ε)-approximation in f(k,T,ε)poly(n) time. If the metrics are induced by edge weights on a common graph G of bounded treewidth tw, and Ψ is the sum function, we get an EPAS in f(T,ε,tw)poly(n,k) time. Conversely, unless (randomized) ETH is false, any finite factor approximation is impossible if parametrized by only T, even when the treewidth is tw = Ω(polylog n).
Cite as

Deeparnab Chakrabarty, Jonathan Conroy, and Ankita Sarkar. Clustering in Varying Metrics. In 45th IARCS Annual Conference on Foundations of Software Technology and Theoretical Computer Science (FSTTCS 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 360, pp. 19:1-19:21, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

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@InProceedings{chakrabarty_et_al:LIPIcs.FSTTCS.2025.19,
  author =	{Chakrabarty, Deeparnab and Conroy, Jonathan and Sarkar, Ankita},
  title =	{{Clustering in Varying Metrics}},
  booktitle =	{45th IARCS Annual Conference on Foundations of Software Technology and Theoretical Computer Science (FSTTCS 2025)},
  pages =	{19:1--19:21},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-406-2},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{360},
  editor =	{Aiswarya, C. and Mehta, Ruta and Roy, Subhajit},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.FSTTCS.2025.19},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-251007},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.FSTTCS.2025.19},
  annote =	{Keywords: Clustering, approximation algorithms, LP rounding, parameterized and exact algorithms, dynamic programming, fixed parameter tractability, hardness of approximation}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ISAAC.2025.38
Structural Parameters for Steiner Orientation

Authors: Tesshu Hanaka, Michael Lampis, Nikolaos Melissinos, Edouard Nemery, Hirotaka Ono, and Manolis Vasilakis

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 359, 36th International Symposium on Algorithms and Computation (ISAAC 2025)

Abstract
We consider the Steiner Orientation problem, where we are given as input a mixed graph G = (V,E,A) and a set of k demand pairs (s_i,t_i), i ∈ [k]. The goal is to orient the undirected edges of G in a way that the resulting directed graph has a directed path from s_i to t_i for all i ∈ [k]. We adopt the point of view of structural parameterized complexity and investigate the complexity of Steiner Orientation for standard measures, such as treewidth. Our results indicate that Steiner Orientation is a surprisingly hard problem from this point of view. In particular, our main contributions are the following: 1) We show that Steiner Orientation is NP-complete on instances where the underlying graph has feedback vertex number 2, treewidth 2, pathwidth 3, and vertex integrity 6. 2) We present an XP algorithm parameterized by vertex cover number vc of complexity n^O(vc²). Furthermore, we show that this running time is essentially optimal by proving that a running time of n^o(vc²) would refute the ETH. 3) We consider parameterizations by the number of undirected or directed edges (|E| or |A|) and we observe that the trivial 2^|E| n^O(1)-time algorithm for the former parameter is optimal under the SETH. Complementing this, we show that the problem admits a 2^O(|A|) n^O(1)-time algorithm. In addition to the above, we consider the complexity of Steiner Orientation parameterized by tw+k (FPT), distance to clique (FPT), and vc+k (FPT with a polynomial kernel).
Cite as

Tesshu Hanaka, Michael Lampis, Nikolaos Melissinos, Edouard Nemery, Hirotaka Ono, and Manolis Vasilakis. Structural Parameters for Steiner Orientation. In 36th International Symposium on Algorithms and Computation (ISAAC 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 359, pp. 38:1-38:14, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

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@InProceedings{hanaka_et_al:LIPIcs.ISAAC.2025.38,
  author =	{Hanaka, Tesshu and Lampis, Michael and Melissinos, Nikolaos and Nemery, Edouard and Ono, Hirotaka and Vasilakis, Manolis},
  title =	{{Structural Parameters for Steiner Orientation}},
  booktitle =	{36th International Symposium on Algorithms and Computation (ISAAC 2025)},
  pages =	{38:1--38:14},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-408-6},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{359},
  editor =	{Chen, Ho-Lin and Hon, Wing-Kai and Tsai, Meng-Tsung},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ISAAC.2025.38},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-249461},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ISAAC.2025.38},
  annote =	{Keywords: ETH, Steiner Orientation, Treewidth}
}
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