43 Search Results for "Bläser, Markus"


Volume

LIPIcs, Volume 187

38th International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2021)

STACS 2021, March 16-19, 2021, Saarbrücken, Germany (Virtual Conference)

Editors: Markus Bläser and Benjamin Monmege

Volume

LIPIcs, Volume 154

37th International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2020)

STACS 2020, March 10-13, 2020, Montpellier, France

Editors: Christophe Paul and Markus Bläser

Document
When Hilbert Approximates: A Strong Nullstellensatz for Approximate Polynomial Satisfiability

Authors: Sanyam Agarwal, Sagnik Dutta, Anurag Pandey, and Himanshu Shukla

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 383, 41st Computational Complexity Conference (CCC 2026)


Abstract
Guo, Saxena, and Sinhababu (TOC'18, CCC'18) defined a natural, approximative analog of the polynomial system satisfiability problem, which they called approximate polynomial satisfiability (APS). They proved algebraic and geometric properties of it and showed an NP-hardness lower bound and a PSPACE upper bound for it. They further established how the problem naturally occurs in border complexity and Geometric complexity theory (GCT) and used the problem to construct hitting sets for ̅{VP} in PSPACE, hence greatly mitigating the GCT chasm. The starting point of this work is the observation that Guo, Saxena, and Sinhababu’s criterion for non-existence of approximative solution can be interpreted as an analog of Weak Hilbert’s Nullstellensatz in the approximative setting. We extend their work by proving an analog of Strong Hilbert’s Nullstellensatz in the approximative setting. Concretely, we give an algebraic criterion for containment between approximative solution sets defined by systems of polynomials. In fact, this characterization turns out to be equivalent to membership in the integral closure over a maximal ideal of a local subring of ℂ(x₁,…, x_n) determined by the given polynomials. In addition, we use our proof to provide a PSPACE algorithm for testing this containment, exponentially better than the EXPSPACE bounds for polynomial subalgebra membership testing and the polynomial integral closure membership testing, hence matching the complexity bound of Guo, Saxena, and Sinhababu’s Weak Approximative Nullstellensatz.

Cite as

Sanyam Agarwal, Sagnik Dutta, Anurag Pandey, and Himanshu Shukla. When Hilbert Approximates: A Strong Nullstellensatz for Approximate Polynomial Satisfiability. In 41st Computational Complexity Conference (CCC 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 383, pp. 19:1-19:18, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)


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@InProceedings{agarwal_et_al:LIPIcs.CCC.2026.19,
  author =	{Agarwal, Sanyam and Dutta, Sagnik and Pandey, Anurag and Shukla, Himanshu},
  title =	{{When Hilbert Approximates: A Strong Nullstellensatz for Approximate Polynomial Satisfiability}},
  booktitle =	{41st Computational Complexity Conference (CCC 2026)},
  pages =	{19:1--19:18},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-437-6},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2026},
  volume =	{383},
  editor =	{Moshkovitz, Dana},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.CCC.2026.19},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-270618},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.CCC.2026.19},
  annote =	{Keywords: Approximate Polynomial Satisfiability, Algebraic Geometry, PSPACE}
}
Document
Track B: Automata, Logic, Semantics, and Theory of Programming
The Complexity of Bisimilarity and Model Checking in Finitary Diagrams

Authors: Markus Bläser, Sagnik Dutta, and Samuel Okyay

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 374, 53rd International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2026)


Abstract
Inspired by the work of Dubut, Goubault, and Goubault-Larrecq (ICALP 2015) on natural homology, Dubut (RAMiCS 2020) introduces finitary diagrams and studies bisimilarity and diagrammatic path logics for them. To this aim, he defines a fragment of the existential theory of the reals, called the existential theory of invertible matrices (ETIM). Using a PSPACE upper bound for this fragment, he proves that for finitary diagrams, bisimilarity can be decided in EXPSPACE and model checking for diagrammatic path logic in PSPACE. We significantly improve both these bounds and settle the complexity of model checking for finitary diagrams. As our first main result, we show that there is an efficient randomized algorithm for ETIM. Combining this with the previous work by Dubut, we obtain an NEXP upper bound for bisimilarity of finitary diagrams and an NP upper bound for diagrammatic path logic. We also provide a matching NP-hardness proof for the latter. The hardness proof introduces constrained layered poset problems, which may be of independent interest, and connects them to finitary diagrams using Gabriel’s theorem for representations of path quivers. For bisimilarity over finite fields, we further improve the upper bound to PSPACE. In ETIM, we quantify over invertible matrices. We finally ask what happens if we instead quantify over matrices from the special linear group, that is, of determinant one. We show that in this case, the resulting fragment is equivalent to the existential theory of the reals, under a mild generalization of the allowed linear constraints.

Cite as

Markus Bläser, Sagnik Dutta, and Samuel Okyay. The Complexity of Bisimilarity and Model Checking in Finitary Diagrams. In 53rd International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 374, pp. 166:1-166:21, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)


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@InProceedings{blaser_et_al:LIPIcs.ICALP.2026.166,
  author =	{Bl\"{a}ser, Markus and Dutta, Sagnik and Okyay, Samuel},
  title =	{{The Complexity of Bisimilarity and Model Checking in Finitary Diagrams}},
  booktitle =	{53rd International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2026)},
  pages =	{166:1--166:21},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-428-4},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2026},
  volume =	{374},
  editor =	{Bhattacharya, Sayan and Nanongkai, Danupon and Benedikt, Michael and Puppis, Gabriele},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2026.166},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-265548},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2026.166},
  annote =	{Keywords: Bisimilarity, Finitary diagrams, Model checking, Existential Theory of the Reals}
}
Document
Conditional Complexity Hardness: Monotone Circuit Size, Matrix Rigidity, and Tensor Rank

Authors: Nikolai Chukhin, Alexander S. Kulikov, Ivan Mihajlin, and Arina Smirnova

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


Abstract
Proving complexity lower bounds remains a challenging task: currently, we only know how to prove conditional uniform (algorithm) lower bounds and nonuniform (circuit) lower bounds in restricted circuit models. About a decade ago, Williams (STOC 2010) showed how to derive nonuniform lower bounds from uniform upper bounds: roughly, by designing a fast algorithm for checking satisfiability of circuits, one gets a lower bound for this circuit class. Since then, a number of results of this kind have been proved. For example, Jahanjou et al. (ICALP 2015) and Carmosino et al. (ITCS 2016) proved that if NSETH fails, then E^{NP} has series-parallel circuit size ω(n). One can also derive nonuniform lower bounds from nondeterministic uniform lower bounds. Perhaps the most well-known example is the Karp-Lipton theorem (STOC 1980): if Σ₂ ≠ Π₂, then NP ⊄ P/poly. Some recent examples include the following. Nederlof (STOC 2020) proved a lower bound on the matrix multiplication tensor rank under an assumption that TSP cannot be solved faster than in 2ⁿ time. Belova et al. (SODA 2024) proved that there exists an explicit polynomial family of arithmetic circuit size Ω(n^{δ}), for any δ > 0, assuming that MAX-3-SAT cannot be solved faster than in 2ⁿ nondeterministic time. Williams (FOCS 2024) proved an exponential lower bound for ETHR ∘ ETHR circuits under the Orthogonal Vectors conjecture. Whereas all the lower bounds above are proved under strong assumptions that might eventually be refuted, the revealed connections are of great interest and may still give further insights: one may be able to weaken the used assumptions or to construct generators from other fine-grained reductions. In this paper, we continue developing this line of research and show how uniform nondeterministic lower bounds can be used to construct generators of various types of combinatorial objects that are notoriously hard to analyze: Boolean functions of high circuit size, matrices of high rigidity, and tensors of high rank. Specifically, we prove the following. - If, for some ε and k, k-SAT cannot be solved in input-oblivious co-nondeterministic time O(2^{(1/2+ε)n}), then there exists a monotone Boolean function family in coNP of monotone circuit size 2^{Ω(n / log n)}. Combining this with the result above, we get win-win circuit lower bounds: either E^{NP{}} requires series-parallel circuits of size ω(n) or coNP requires monotone circuits of size 2^{Ω(n / log n)}. - If, for all ε > 0, MAX-3-SAT cannot be solved in co-nondeterministic time O(2^{(1 - ε)n}), then there exist small families of matrices with rigidity exceeding the best known constructions as well as small families of three-dimensional tensors of rank n^{1+Δ}, for some Δ > 0.

Cite as

Nikolai Chukhin, Alexander S. Kulikov, Ivan Mihajlin, and Arina Smirnova. Conditional Complexity Hardness: Monotone Circuit Size, Matrix Rigidity, and Tensor Rank. In 43rd International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 364, pp. 28:1-28:21, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)


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@InProceedings{chukhin_et_al:LIPIcs.STACS.2026.28,
  author =	{Chukhin, Nikolai and Kulikov, Alexander S. and Mihajlin, Ivan and Smirnova, Arina},
  title =	{{Conditional Complexity Hardness: Monotone Circuit Size, Matrix Rigidity, and Tensor Rank}},
  booktitle =	{43rd International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2026)},
  pages =	{28:1--28:21},
  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.2026.28},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-255177},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.STACS.2026.28},
  annote =	{Keywords: computational complexity, circuit complexity, lower bounds, conditional lower bounds, monotone circuits, matrix rigidity, tensor rank, arithmetic circuits, fine-grained complexity}
}
Document
Diffie-Hellman Key Exchange from Commutativity to Group Laws

Authors: Dung Hoang Duong, Youming Qiao, and Chuanqi Zhang

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


Abstract
In Diffie-Hellman key exchange, the commutativity of power operations is instrumental in the agreement of keys. Viewing commutativity as a law in abelian groups, we propose Diffie-Hellman key exchange in the group action framework (Brassard-Yung, Crypto'90; Ji-Qiao-Song-Yun, TCC'19), for actions of non-abelian groups with laws. The security of this protocol is shown, following Fischlin, Günther, Schmidt, and Warinschi (IEEE S&P'16), based on a pseudorandom group action assumption. A concrete instantiation is proposed based on the monomial code equivalence problem.

Cite as

Dung Hoang Duong, Youming Qiao, and Chuanqi Zhang. Diffie-Hellman Key Exchange from Commutativity to Group Laws. In 17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 362, pp. 52:1-52:20, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)


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@InProceedings{duong_et_al:LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.52,
  author =	{Duong, Dung Hoang and Qiao, Youming and Zhang, Chuanqi},
  title =	{{Diffie-Hellman Key Exchange from Commutativity to Group Laws}},
  booktitle =	{17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026)},
  pages =	{52:1--52:20},
  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.2026.52},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-253396},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.52},
  annote =	{Keywords: Diffie-Hellman, Key Exchange, Group Laws, Group Actions, Code Equivalence}
}
Document
On Closure Properties of Read-Once Oblivious Algebraic Branching Programs

Authors: Robert Andrews, Jules Armand, Prateek Dwivedi, Magnus Rahbek Dalgaard Hansen, Nutan Limaye, Srikanth Srinivasan, and Sébastien Tavenas

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


Abstract
We investigate the closure properties of read-once oblivious Algebraic Branching Programs (roABPs) under various natural algebraic operations and prove the following. - Non-closure under factoring: There is a sequence of explicit polynomials (f_n(x₁,…, x_n))_n that have poly(n)-sized roABPs such that some irreducible factor of f_n requires roABPs of superpolynomial size in any order. - Non-closure under powering: There is a sequence of polynomials (f_n(x₁,…, x_n))_n with poly(n)-sized roABPs such that any super-constant power of f_n does not have roABPs of polynomial size in any order (and f_nⁿ requires exponential size in any order). - Non-closure under symmetric operations: There are symmetric polynomials (f_n(e₁,…, e_n))_n that have roABPs of polynomial size such that f_n(x₁,…, x_n) do not have roABPs of subexponential size. (Here, e₁,…, e_n denote the elementary symmetric polynomials in n variables.) These results should be viewed in light of known results on models such as algebraic circuits, (general) algebraic branching programs, formulas and constant-depth circuits, all of which are known to be closed under these operations. To prove non-closure under factoring, we construct hard polynomials based on expander graphs using gadgets that lift their hardness from sparse polynomials to roABPs. For symmetric compositions, we show that the circulant polynomial requires roABPs of exponential size in every variable order.

Cite as

Robert Andrews, Jules Armand, Prateek Dwivedi, Magnus Rahbek Dalgaard Hansen, Nutan Limaye, Srikanth Srinivasan, and Sébastien Tavenas. On Closure Properties of Read-Once Oblivious Algebraic Branching Programs. In 17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 362, pp. 9:1-9:21, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)


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@InProceedings{andrews_et_al:LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.9,
  author =	{Andrews, Robert and Armand, Jules and Dwivedi, Prateek and Hansen, Magnus Rahbek Dalgaard and Limaye, Nutan and Srinivasan, Srikanth and Tavenas, S\'{e}bastien},
  title =	{{On Closure Properties of Read-Once Oblivious Algebraic Branching Programs}},
  booktitle =	{17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026)},
  pages =	{9:1--9:21},
  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.2026.9},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-252964},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.9},
  annote =	{Keywords: Factoring, Closure Properties, Sparsity Bounds, Symmetric Polynomials, roABP, Expander Graphs}
}
Document
Amnesiac Flooding: Easy to Break, Hard to Escape

Authors: Henry Austin, Maximilien Gadouleau, George B. Mertzios, and Amitabh Trehan

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 356, 39th International Symposium on Distributed Computing (DISC 2025)


Abstract
Broadcast is a central problem in distributed computing. Recently, Hussak and Trehan [PODC'19/ STACS'20/DC'23] proposed a stateless broadcasting protocol (Amnesiac Flooding), which was surprisingly proven to terminate in asymptotically optimal time (linear in the diameter of the network). However, it remains unclear: (i) Are there other stateless terminating broadcast algorithms with the desirable properties of Amnesiac Flooding, (ii) How robust is Amnesiac Flooding with respect to faults? In this paper we make progress on both of these fronts. Under a reasonable restriction (obliviousness to message content) additional to the fault-free synchronous model, we prove that Amnesiac Flooding is the only strictly stateless deterministic protocol that can achieve terminating broadcast. We achieve this by identifying four natural properties of a terminating broadcast protocol that Amnesiac Flooding uniquely satisfies. In contrast, we prove that even minor relaxations of any of these four criteria allow the construction of other terminating broadcast protocols. On the other hand, we prove that Amnesiac Flooding can become non-terminating or non-broadcasting, even if we allow just one node to drop a single message on a single edge in a single round. As a tool for proving this, we focus on the set of all configurations of transmissions between nodes in the network, and obtain a dichotomy characterizing the configurations, starting from which, Amnesiac Flooding terminates. Additionally, we characterise the structure of sets of Byzantine agents capable of forcing non-termination or non-broadcast of the protocol on arbitrary networks.

Cite as

Henry Austin, Maximilien Gadouleau, George B. Mertzios, and Amitabh Trehan. Amnesiac Flooding: Easy to Break, Hard to Escape. In 39th International Symposium on Distributed Computing (DISC 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 356, pp. 10:1-10:23, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)


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@InProceedings{austin_et_al:LIPIcs.DISC.2025.10,
  author =	{Austin, Henry and Gadouleau, Maximilien and Mertzios, George B. and Trehan, Amitabh},
  title =	{{Amnesiac Flooding: Easy to Break, Hard to Escape}},
  booktitle =	{39th International Symposium on Distributed Computing (DISC 2025)},
  pages =	{10:1--10:23},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-402-4},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{356},
  editor =	{Kowalski, Dariusz R.},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.DISC.2025.10},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-248273},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.DISC.2025.10},
  annote =	{Keywords: Amnesiac flooding, Terminating protocol, Algorithm state, Stateless protocol, Flooding algorithm, Network algorithms, Graph theory, Termination, Communication, Broadcast}
}
Document
Constructing Long Paths in Graph Streams

Authors: Christian Konrad and Chhaya Trehan

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 351, 33rd Annual European Symposium on Algorithms (ESA 2025)


Abstract
In the graph stream model of computation, an algorithm processes the edges of an n-vertex input graph in one or more sequential passes while using a memory that is sublinear in the input size. The streaming model poses significant challenges for algorithmically constructing long paths. Many known algorithms that are tasked with extending an existing path as a subroutine require an entire pass over the input to add a single additional edge. This raises a fundamental question: Are multiple passes inherently necessary to construct paths of non-trivial lengths, or can a single pass suffice? To address this question, we systematically study the Longest Path problem in the one-pass streaming model. In this problem, given a desired approximation factor α, the objective is to compute a path of length at least lp(G)/α, where lp(G) is the length of a longest path in the input graph G. We study the problem in the insertion-only and the insertion-deletion streaming models, and we give algorithms as well as space lower bounds for both undirected and directed graphs. Our results are: 1) We show that for undirected graphs, in both the insertion-only and the insertion-deletion models, there are semi-streaming algorithms, i.e., algorithms that use space O(n poly log n), that compute a path of length at least d/3 with high probability, where d is the average degree of the input graph. These algorithms can also yield an α-approximation to Longest Path using space Õ(n²/α). 2) Next, we show that such a result cannot be achieved for directed graphs, even in the insertion-only model. We show that computing a (n^{1-o(1)})-approximation to Longest Path in directed graphs in the insertion-only model requires space Ω(n²). This result is in line with recent results that demonstrate that processing directed graphs is often significantly harder than undirected graphs in the streaming model. 3) We further complement our results with two additional lower bounds. First, we show that semi-streaming space is insufficient for small constant factor approximations to Longest Path for undirected graphs in the insertion-only model. Last, in undirected graphs in the insertion-deletion model, we show that computing an α-approximation requires space Ω(n²/α³).

Cite as

Christian Konrad and Chhaya Trehan. Constructing Long Paths in Graph Streams. In 33rd Annual European Symposium on Algorithms (ESA 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 351, pp. 22:1-22:19, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)


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@InProceedings{konrad_et_al:LIPIcs.ESA.2025.22,
  author =	{Konrad, Christian and Trehan, Chhaya},
  title =	{{Constructing Long Paths in Graph Streams}},
  booktitle =	{33rd Annual European Symposium on Algorithms (ESA 2025)},
  pages =	{22:1--22:19},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-395-9},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{351},
  editor =	{Benoit, Anne and Kaplan, Haim and Wild, Sebastian and Herman, Grzegorz},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ESA.2025.22},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-244902},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ESA.2025.22},
  annote =	{Keywords: Longest Path Problem, Streaming Algorithms, One-way Two-party Communication Complexity}
}
Document
Tight Bounds for Some Classical Problems Parameterized by Cutwidth

Authors: Narek Bojikian, Vera Chekan, and Stefan Kratsch

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 351, 33rd Annual European Symposium on Algorithms (ESA 2025)


Abstract
Cutwidth is a widely studied parameter and it quantifies how well a graph can be decomposed along small edge-cuts. It complements pathwidth, which captures decomposition by small vertex separators, and it is well-known that cutwidth upper-bounds pathwidth. The SETH-tight parameterized complexity of problems on graphs of bounded pathwidth (and treewidth) has been actively studied over the past decade while for cutwidth the complexity of many classical problems remained open. For Hamiltonian Cycle, it is known that a (2+√2)^{pw} n^𝒪(1) algorithm is optimal for pathwidth under SETH [Cygan et al. JACM 2018]. Van Geffen et al. [J. Graph Algorithms Appl. 2020] and Bojikian et al. [STACS 2023] asked which running time is optimal for this problem parameterized by cutwidth. We answer this question with (1+√2)^{ctw} n^𝒪(1) by providing matching upper and lower bounds. Second, as our main technical contribution, we close the gap left by van Heck [2018] for Partition Into Triangles (and Triangle Packing) by improving both upper and lower bound and getting a tight bound of ∛{3}^{ctw} n^𝒪(1), which to our knowledge exhibits the only known tight non-integral basis apart from Hamiltonian Cycle [Cygan et al. JACM 2018] and C₄-Hitting Set [SODA 2025]. We show that the cuts inducing a disjoint union of paths of length three (unions of so-called Z-cuts) lie at the core of the complexity of the problem - usually lower-bound constructions use simpler cuts inducing either a matching or a disjoint union of bicliques. Finally, we determine the optimal running times for Max Cut (2^{ctw} n^𝒪(1)) and Induced Matching (3^{ctw} n^𝒪(1)) by providing matching lower bounds for the existing algorithms - the latter result also answers an open question for treewidth by Chaudhary and Zehavi [WG 2023].

Cite as

Narek Bojikian, Vera Chekan, and Stefan Kratsch. Tight Bounds for Some Classical Problems Parameterized by Cutwidth. In 33rd Annual European Symposium on Algorithms (ESA 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 351, pp. 13:1-13:17, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)


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@InProceedings{bojikian_et_al:LIPIcs.ESA.2025.13,
  author =	{Bojikian, Narek and Chekan, Vera and Kratsch, Stefan},
  title =	{{Tight Bounds for Some Classical Problems Parameterized by Cutwidth}},
  booktitle =	{33rd Annual European Symposium on Algorithms (ESA 2025)},
  pages =	{13:1--13:17},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-395-9},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{351},
  editor =	{Benoit, Anne and Kaplan, Haim and Wild, Sebastian and Herman, Grzegorz},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ESA.2025.13},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-244815},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ESA.2025.13},
  annote =	{Keywords: Parameterized complexity, cutwidth, Hamiltonian cycle, triangle packing, max cut, induced matching}
}
Document
APPROX
QSETH Strikes Again: Finer Quantum Lower Bounds for Lattice Problem, Strong Simulation, Hitting Set Problem, and More

Authors: Yanlin Chen, Yilei Chen, Rajendra Kumar, Subhasree Patro, and Florian Speelman

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 353, Approximation, Randomization, and Combinatorial Optimization. Algorithms and Techniques (APPROX/RANDOM 2025)


Abstract
Despite the wide range of problems for which quantum computers offer a computational advantage over their classical counterparts, there are also many problems for which the best known quantum algorithm provides a speedup that is only quadratic, or even subquadratic. Such a situation could also be desirable if we don't want quantum computers to solve certain problems fast - say problems relevant to post-quantum cryptography. When searching for algorithms and when analyzing the security of cryptographic schemes, we would like to have evidence that these problems are difficult to solve on quantum computers; but how do we assess the exact complexity of these problems? For most problems, there are no known ways to directly prove time lower bounds, however it can still be possible to relate the hardness of disparate problems to show conditional lower bounds. This approach has been popular in the classical community, and is being actively developed for the quantum case [Aaronson et al., 2020; Buhrman et al., 2021; Harry Buhrman et al., 2022; Andris Ambainis et al., 2022]. In this paper, by the use of the QSETH framework [Buhrman et al., 2021] we are able to understand the quantum complexity of a few natural variants of CNFSAT, such as parity-CNFSAT or counting-CNFSAT, and also are able to comment on the non-trivial complexity of approximate versions of counting-CNFSAT. Without considering such variants, the best quantum lower bounds will always be quadratically lower than the equivalent classical bounds, because of Grover’s algorithm; however, we are able to show that quantum algorithms will likely not attain even a quadratic speedup for many problems. These results have implications for the complexity of (variations of) lattice problems, the strong simulation and hitting set problems, and more. In the process, we explore the QSETH framework in greater detail and present a useful guide on how to effectively use the QSETH framework.

Cite as

Yanlin Chen, Yilei Chen, Rajendra Kumar, Subhasree Patro, and Florian Speelman. QSETH Strikes Again: Finer Quantum Lower Bounds for Lattice Problem, Strong Simulation, Hitting Set Problem, and More. In Approximation, Randomization, and Combinatorial Optimization. Algorithms and Techniques (APPROX/RANDOM 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 353, pp. 6:1-6:24, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)


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@InProceedings{chen_et_al:LIPIcs.APPROX/RANDOM.2025.6,
  author =	{Chen, Yanlin and Chen, Yilei and Kumar, Rajendra and Patro, Subhasree and Speelman, Florian},
  title =	{{QSETH Strikes Again: Finer Quantum Lower Bounds for Lattice Problem, Strong Simulation, Hitting Set Problem, and More}},
  booktitle =	{Approximation, Randomization, and Combinatorial Optimization. Algorithms and Techniques (APPROX/RANDOM 2025)},
  pages =	{6:1--6:24},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-397-3},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{353},
  editor =	{Ene, Alina and Chattopadhyay, Eshan},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.APPROX/RANDOM.2025.6},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-243723},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.APPROX/RANDOM.2025.6},
  annote =	{Keywords: Quantum conditional lower bounds, Fine-grained complexity, Lattice problems, Quantum strong simulation, Hitting set problem, QSETH}
}
Document
Hamiltonian Locality Testing via Trotterized Postselection

Authors: John Kallaugher and Daniel Liang

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 350, 20th Conference on the Theory of Quantum Computation, Communication and Cryptography (TQC 2025)


Abstract
The (tolerant) Hamiltonian locality testing problem, introduced in [Bluhm, Caro, Oufkir '24], is to determine whether a Hamiltonian H is ε₁-close to being k-local (i.e. can be written as the sum of weight-k Pauli operators) or ε₂-far from any k-local Hamiltonian, given access to its time evolution operator and using as little total evolution time as possible, with distance typically defined by the normalized Frobenius norm. We give the tightest known bounds for this problem, proving an O(√(ε₂/((ε₂-ε₁)⁵)) evolution time upper bound and an Ω(1/(ε₂-ε₁)) lower bound. Our algorithm does not require reverse time evolution or controlled application of the time evolution operator, although our lower bound applies to algorithms using either tool. Furthermore, we show that if we are allowed reverse time evolution, this lower bound is tight, giving a matching O(1/(ε₂-ε₁)) evolution time algorithm.

Cite as

John Kallaugher and Daniel Liang. Hamiltonian Locality Testing via Trotterized Postselection. In 20th Conference on the Theory of Quantum Computation, Communication and Cryptography (TQC 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 350, pp. 10:1-10:20, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)


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@InProceedings{kallaugher_et_al:LIPIcs.TQC.2025.10,
  author =	{Kallaugher, John and Liang, Daniel},
  title =	{{Hamiltonian Locality Testing via Trotterized Postselection}},
  booktitle =	{20th Conference on the Theory of Quantum Computation, Communication and Cryptography (TQC 2025)},
  pages =	{10:1--10:20},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-392-8},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{350},
  editor =	{Fefferman, Bill},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.TQC.2025.10},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-240593},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.TQC.2025.10},
  annote =	{Keywords: quantum algorithms, property testing, hamiltonians}
}
Document
The Complexity of Reachability Problems in Strongly Connected Finite Automata

Authors: Stefan Kiefer and Andrew Ryzhikov

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 345, 50th International Symposium on Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science (MFCS 2025)


Abstract
Several reachability problems in finite automata, such as completeness of NFAs and synchronisation of total DFAs, correspond to fundamental properties of sets of nonnegative matrices. In particular, the two mentioned properties correspond to matrix mortality and ergodicity, which ask whether there exists a product of the input matrices that is equal to, respectively, the zero matrix and a matrix with a column of strictly positive entries only. The case where the input automaton is strongly connected (that is, the corresponding set of nonnegative matrices is irreducible) frequently appears in applications and often admits better properties than the general case. In this paper, we address the existence of such properties from the computational complexity point of view, and develop a versatile technique to show that several NL-complete problems remain NL-complete in the strongly connected case. In particular, we show that deciding if a binary total DFA is synchronising is NL-complete even if it is promised to be strongly connected, and that deciding completeness of a binary unambiguous NFA with very limited nondeterminism is NL-complete under the same promise.

Cite as

Stefan Kiefer and Andrew Ryzhikov. The Complexity of Reachability Problems in Strongly Connected Finite Automata. In 50th International Symposium on Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science (MFCS 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 345, pp. 62:1-62:19, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)


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@InProceedings{kiefer_et_al:LIPIcs.MFCS.2025.62,
  author =	{Kiefer, Stefan and Ryzhikov, Andrew},
  title =	{{The Complexity of Reachability Problems in Strongly Connected Finite Automata}},
  booktitle =	{50th International Symposium on Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science (MFCS 2025)},
  pages =	{62:1--62:19},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-388-1},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{345},
  editor =	{Gawrychowski, Pawe{\l} and Mazowiecki, Filip and Skrzypczak, Micha{\l}},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.MFCS.2025.62},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-241690},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.MFCS.2025.62},
  annote =	{Keywords: unambiguous automata, nonnegative matrices, irreducible matrix sets, strongly connected automata, matrix monoids, mortality, completeness, synchronisation, ergodicity}
}
Document
Online Knapsack Problems with Estimates

Authors: Jakub Balabán, Matthias Gehnen, Henri Lotze, Finn Seesemann, and Moritz Stocker

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 345, 50th International Symposium on Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science (MFCS 2025)


Abstract
Imagine you are a computer scientist who enjoys attending conferences or workshops within the year. Sadly, your travel budget is limited, so you must select a subset of events you can travel to. When you are aware of all possible events and their costs at the beginning of the year, you can select the subset of the possible events that maximizes your happiness and is within your budget. On the other hand, if you are blind about the options, you will likely have a hard time when trying to decide if you want to register somewhere or not, and will likely regret decisions you made in the future. These scenarios can be modeled by knapsack variants, either by an offline or an online problem. However, both scenarios are somewhat unrealistic: Usually, you will not know the exact costs of each workshop at the beginning of the year. The online version, however, is too pessimistic, as you might already know which options there are and how much they cost roughly. At some point, you have to decide whether to register for some workshop, but then you are aware of the conference fee and the flight and hotel prices. We model this problem within the setting of online knapsack problems with estimates: in the beginning, you receive a list of potential items with their estimated size as well as the accuracy of the estimates. Then, the items are revealed one by one in an online fashion with their actual size, and you need to decide whether to take one or not. In this article, we show a best-possible algorithm for each estimate accuracy δ (i.e., when each actual item size can deviate by ± δ from the announced size) for both the simple knapsack (also known as subset sum problem) and the simple knapsack with removability.

Cite as

Jakub Balabán, Matthias Gehnen, Henri Lotze, Finn Seesemann, and Moritz Stocker. Online Knapsack Problems with Estimates. In 50th International Symposium on Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science (MFCS 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 345, pp. 12:1-12:19, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)


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@InProceedings{balaban_et_al:LIPIcs.MFCS.2025.12,
  author =	{Balab\'{a}n, Jakub and Gehnen, Matthias and Lotze, Henri and Seesemann, Finn and Stocker, Moritz},
  title =	{{Online Knapsack Problems with Estimates}},
  booktitle =	{50th International Symposium on Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science (MFCS 2025)},
  pages =	{12:1--12:19},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-388-1},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{345},
  editor =	{Gawrychowski, Pawe{\l} and Mazowiecki, Filip and Skrzypczak, Micha{\l}},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.MFCS.2025.12},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-241190},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.MFCS.2025.12},
  annote =	{Keywords: Knapsack, Online Knapsack, Removability, Estimate, Prediction}
}
Document
Which Graph Motif Parameters Count?

Authors: Markus Bläser, Radu Curticapean, Julian Dörfler, and Christian Ikenmeyer

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 345, 50th International Symposium on Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science (MFCS 2025)


Abstract
For a fixed graph H, the function #Ind(H → ⋆) maps graphs G to the count of induced H-copies in G; this function obviously "counts something" in that it has a combinatorial interpretation. Linear combinations of such functions are called graph motif parameters and have recently received significant attention in counting complexity after a seminal paper by Curticapean, Dell and Marx (STOC'17). We show that, among linear combinations of functions #Ind(H → ⋆) involving only graphs H without isolated vertices, precisely those with positive integer coefficients maintain a combinatorial interpretation. It is important to note that graph motif parameters can be nonnegative for all inputs G, even when some coefficients are negative. Formally, we show that evaluating any graph motif parameter with a negative coefficient is impossible in an oracle variant of #P, where an implicit graph is accessed by oracle queries. Our proof follows the classification of the relativizing closure properties of #P by Hertrampf, Vollmer, and Wagner (SCT'95) and the framework developed by Ikenmeyer and Pak (STOC'22), but our application of the required Ramsey theorem turns out to be more subtle, as graphs do not have the required Ramsey property. Our techniques generalize from graphs to relational structures, including colored graphs. Vastly generalizing this, we introduce motif parameters over categories that count occurrences of sub-objects in the category. We then prove a general dichotomy theorem that characterizes which such parameters have a combinatorial interpretation. Using known results in Ramsey theory for categories, we obtain a dichotomy for motif parameters of finite vector spaces as well as parameter sets.

Cite as

Markus Bläser, Radu Curticapean, Julian Dörfler, and Christian Ikenmeyer. Which Graph Motif Parameters Count?. In 50th International Symposium on Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science (MFCS 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 345, pp. 23:1-23:18, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)


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@InProceedings{blaser_et_al:LIPIcs.MFCS.2025.23,
  author =	{Bl\"{a}ser, Markus and Curticapean, Radu and D\"{o}rfler, Julian and Ikenmeyer, Christian},
  title =	{{Which Graph Motif Parameters Count?}},
  booktitle =	{50th International Symposium on Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science (MFCS 2025)},
  pages =	{23:1--23:18},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-388-1},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{345},
  editor =	{Gawrychowski, Pawe{\l} and Mazowiecki, Filip and Skrzypczak, Micha{\l}},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.MFCS.2025.23},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-241307},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.MFCS.2025.23},
  annote =	{Keywords: Graph motif parameters, Combinatorics, Combinatorial Interpretability}
}
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