83 Search Results for "Vadhan, Salil P."

Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.CP.2026.8
Classification of Non-Redundancy of Boolean Predicates of Arity 4

Authors: Joshua Brakensiek, Venkatesan Guruswami, and Aaron Putterman

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 379, 32nd International Conference on Principles and Practice of Constraint Programming (CP 2026)

Abstract
Given a constraint satisfaction problem (CSP) predicate P ⊆ D^r, the non-redundancy (NRD) of P is the maximum-sized instance on n variables such that for every clause of the instance, there is an assignment which satisfies all clauses but that one. The study of NRD for various CSPs is an active area of research which combines ideas from extremal combinatorics, logic, lattice theory, and other techniques. Complete classifications are known in the cases r = 2 and (|D| = 2, r = 3). In this paper, we give a near-complete classification of the case (|D| = 2, r = 4). Of the 400 distinct non-trivial Boolean predicates of arity 4, we implement an algorithmic procedure which perfectly classifies 397 of them. Of the remaining three, we solve two by reducing to extremal combinatorics problems - leaving the last one as an open question. Along the way, we identify the first Boolean predicate whose non-redundancy asymptotics are non-polynomial.
Cite as

Joshua Brakensiek, Venkatesan Guruswami, and Aaron Putterman. Classification of Non-Redundancy of Boolean Predicates of Arity 4. In 32nd International Conference on Principles and Practice of Constraint Programming (CP 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 379, pp. 8:1-8:24, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)

Copy BibTex To Clipboard

@InProceedings{brakensiek_et_al:LIPIcs.CP.2026.8,
  author =	{Brakensiek, Joshua and Guruswami, Venkatesan and Putterman, Aaron},
  title =	{{Classification of Non-Redundancy of Boolean Predicates of Arity 4}},
  booktitle =	{32nd International Conference on Principles and Practice of Constraint Programming (CP 2026)},
  pages =	{8:1--8:24},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-432-1},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2026},
  volume =	{379},
  editor =	{Beldiceanu, Nicolas},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.CP.2026.8},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-266412},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.CP.2026.8},
  annote =	{Keywords: constraint satisfaction problem, redundancy}
}
Document
Track A: Algorithms, Complexity and Games
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2026.44
Multiplicative Error Set System Sparsification: A Simpler Proof via Chain Length Contraction

Authors: Joshua Brakensiek, Venkatesan Guruswami, and Aaron Putterman

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

Abstract
The chain length of a set family 𝒮 ⊆ 2^[m] is the largest ascending sequence of sets in containment order in the union-closure of S. In this work, we provide a significantly simpler and more optimal characterization of the sparsifiability of set systems in terms of their chain length, improving on the work of Brakensiek and Guruswami [STOC 2025]. Our proof relies on a generalization of Karger’s [SODA 1993] famous contraction algorithm and its recent linear algebraic extensions [Khanna-Putterman-Sudan SODA 2024], and our resulting bounds show that, just as VC dimension characterizes the additive sparsifiability of a set system, chain length governs the multiplicative sparsifiability. As a corollary, we obtain improved bounds for weighted CSP sparsification.
Cite as

Joshua Brakensiek, Venkatesan Guruswami, and Aaron Putterman. Multiplicative Error Set System Sparsification: A Simpler Proof via Chain Length Contraction. In 53rd International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 374, pp. 44:1-44:17, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)

Copy BibTex To Clipboard

@InProceedings{brakensiek_et_al:LIPIcs.ICALP.2026.44,
  author =	{Brakensiek, Joshua and Guruswami, Venkatesan and Putterman, Aaron},
  title =	{{Multiplicative Error Set System Sparsification: A Simpler Proof via Chain Length Contraction}},
  booktitle =	{53rd International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2026)},
  pages =	{44:1--44:17},
  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.2026.44},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-264331},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2026.44},
  annote =	{Keywords: constraint satisfaction problem, chain length, sparsification, VC dimension}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.FORC.2026.1
Computational Hardness of Private Coreset

Authors: Badih Ghazi, Cristóbal Guzmán, Pritish Kamath, Alexander Knop, Ravi Kumar, and Pasin Manurangsi

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 368, 7th Symposium on Foundations of Responsible Computing (FORC 2026)

Abstract
We study the problem of differentially private (DP) computation of coreset for the k-means objective. For a given input set of points, a coreset is another set of points such that the k-means objective for any candidate solution is preserved up to a multiplicative (1 ± α) factor (and some additive factor). We prove the first computational lower bounds for this problem. Specifically, assuming the existence of one-way functions, we show that no polynomial-time (ε, 1/n^{ω(1)})-DP algorithm can compute a coreset for k-means in the 𝓁_∞-metric for some constant α > 0 (and some constant additive factor), even for k = 3. For k-means in the Euclidean metric, we show a similar result but only for α = Θ(1/d²), where d is the dimension.
Cite as

Badih Ghazi, Cristóbal Guzmán, Pritish Kamath, Alexander Knop, Ravi Kumar, and Pasin Manurangsi. Computational Hardness of Private Coreset. In 7th Symposium on Foundations of Responsible Computing (FORC 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 368, pp. 1:1-1:14, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)

Copy BibTex To Clipboard

@InProceedings{ghazi_et_al:LIPIcs.FORC.2026.1,
  author =	{Ghazi, Badih and Guzm\'{a}n, Crist\'{o}bal and Kamath, Pritish and Knop, Alexander and Kumar, Ravi and Manurangsi, Pasin},
  title =	{{Computational Hardness of Private Coreset}},
  booktitle =	{7th Symposium on Foundations of Responsible Computing (FORC 2026)},
  pages =	{1:1--1:14},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-419-2},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2026},
  volume =	{368},
  editor =	{Lin, Huijia (Rachel)},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.FORC.2026.1},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-259725},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.FORC.2026.1},
  annote =	{Keywords: Differentially Private Clustering, Coreset, Cryptographic Hardness}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.FORC.2026.3
Exact zCDP Characterizations for Fundamental Differentially Private Mechanisms

Authors: Charlie Harrison and Pasin Manurangsi

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 368, 7th Symposium on Foundations of Responsible Computing (FORC 2026)

Abstract
Zero-concentrated differential privacy (zCDP) is a variant of differential privacy (DP) that is widely used partly due to its nice composition property. While a tight conversion from ε-DP to zCDP exists for the worst-case mechanism, many common algorithms satisfy stronger guarantees. In this work, we derive tight zCDP characterizations for several fundamental mechanisms. We prove that the tight zCDP bound for the ε-DP Laplace mechanism is exactly ε + e^{-ε} - 1, confirming a recent conjecture by Wang [Yu-Xiang Wang, 2022]. We further provide tight bounds for the discrete Laplace mechanism, k-Randomized Response (for k ≤ 6), and RAPPOR. Lastly, we also provide a tight zCDP bound for the worst case bounded range mechanism.
Cite as

Charlie Harrison and Pasin Manurangsi. Exact zCDP Characterizations for Fundamental Differentially Private Mechanisms. In 7th Symposium on Foundations of Responsible Computing (FORC 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 368, pp. 3:1-3:18, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)

Copy BibTex To Clipboard

@InProceedings{harrison_et_al:LIPIcs.FORC.2026.3,
  author =	{Harrison, Charlie and Manurangsi, Pasin},
  title =	{{Exact zCDP Characterizations for Fundamental Differentially Private Mechanisms}},
  booktitle =	{7th Symposium on Foundations of Responsible Computing (FORC 2026)},
  pages =	{3:1--3:18},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-419-2},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2026},
  volume =	{368},
  editor =	{Lin, Huijia (Rachel)},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.FORC.2026.3},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-259741},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.FORC.2026.3},
  annote =	{Keywords: Zero-Concentrated Differentially Privacy, Laplace Mechanism, Randomized Response}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.FORC.2026.17
Protecting the Undeleted in Machine Unlearning

Authors: Aloni Cohen, Refael Kohen, Kobbi Nissim, and Uri Stemmer

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 368, 7th Symposium on Foundations of Responsible Computing (FORC 2026)

Abstract
Machine unlearning aims to remove specific data points from a trained model, often striving to emulate "perfect retraining", i.e., producing the model that would have been obtained had the deleted data never been included. We demonstrate that this approach, and security definitions that enable it, carry significant privacy risks for the remaining (undeleted) data points. We present a reconstruction attack showing that for certain tasks, which can be computed securely without deletions, a mechanism adhering to perfect retraining allows an adversary controlling merely ω(1) data points to reconstruct almost the entire dataset simply by issuing deletion requests. We survey existing definitions for machine unlearning, showing they are either susceptible to such attacks or too restrictive to support basic functionalities like exact summation. To address this problem, we propose a new security definition that specifically safeguards undeleted data against leakage caused by the deletion of other points. We show that our definition permits several essential functionalities, such as bulletin boards, summations, and statistical learning.
Cite as

Aloni Cohen, Refael Kohen, Kobbi Nissim, and Uri Stemmer. Protecting the Undeleted in Machine Unlearning. In 7th Symposium on Foundations of Responsible Computing (FORC 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 368, pp. 17:1-17:18, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)

Copy BibTex To Clipboard

@InProceedings{cohen_et_al:LIPIcs.FORC.2026.17,
  author =	{Cohen, Aloni and Kohen, Refael and Nissim, Kobbi and Stemmer, Uri},
  title =	{{Protecting the Undeleted in Machine Unlearning}},
  booktitle =	{7th Symposium on Foundations of Responsible Computing (FORC 2026)},
  pages =	{17:1--17:18},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-419-2},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2026},
  volume =	{368},
  editor =	{Lin, Huijia (Rachel)},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.FORC.2026.17},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-259901},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.FORC.2026.17},
  annote =	{Keywords: Unlearning, data deletion, privacy}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.FORC.2026.18
A Differentially Private Approximation of the Width Problem

Authors: Mor Hale and Or Sheffet

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 368, 7th Symposium on Foundations of Responsible Computing (FORC 2026)

Abstract
The width of a point set - the minimum distance between two parallel hyperplanes enclosing the data - is a fundamental geometric measure that captures how "flat" or "fat" a dataset is. As such, it serves as a basic shape descriptor used in visualization, convex hull approximation, and geometric data analysis. Despite its importance, width is highly sensitive to single-point changes, and no differentially private algorithm for approximating it was previously known. We present the first pure ε-differentially private algorithm that approximates the width of a dataset. Our algorithm is a private adaptation of Chan’s approximation scheme [Chan, 2000] and operates by privately approximating the solution to a collection of suitably formulated linear programs. In addition to estimating the width, our method privately identifies a corresponding direction, enabling a private "fattening" transformation of the dataset - a basic structural preprocessing step for many geometric algorithms. This work advances the understanding of how geometric shape descriptors can admit good approximations even under the constraints of differential privacy.
Cite as

Mor Hale and Or Sheffet. A Differentially Private Approximation of the Width Problem. In 7th Symposium on Foundations of Responsible Computing (FORC 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 368, pp. 18:1-18:18, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)

Copy BibTex To Clipboard

@InProceedings{hale_et_al:LIPIcs.FORC.2026.18,
  author =	{Hale, Mor and Sheffet, Or},
  title =	{{A Differentially Private Approximation of the Width Problem}},
  booktitle =	{7th Symposium on Foundations of Responsible Computing (FORC 2026)},
  pages =	{18:1--18:18},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-419-2},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2026},
  volume =	{368},
  editor =	{Lin, Huijia (Rachel)},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.FORC.2026.18},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-259914},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.FORC.2026.18},
  annote =	{Keywords: Differential privacy, computational geometry, width approximation, private algorithms}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.SoCG.2026.33
Near-Optimal Bounds for Parameterized Euclidean k-Means

Authors: Vincent Cohen-Addad, Karthik C. S., David Saulpic, and Chris Schwiegelshohn

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 367, 42nd International Symposium on Computational Geometry (SoCG 2026)

Abstract
The k-means problem is a classic objective for modeling clustering in a metric space. Given a set of points in a metric space, the goal is to find k representative points so as to minimize the sum of the squared distances from each point to its closest representative. In this work, we study the approximability of k-means in Euclidean spaces parameterized by the number of clusters, k. In seminal works, de la Vega, Karpinski, Kenyon, and Rabani [STOC'03] and Kumar, Sabharwal, and Sen [JACM'10] showed how to obtain a (1+ε)-approximation for high-dimensional Euclidean k-means in time 2^{(k/ε)^O(1)} ⋅ dn^O(1). In this work, we introduce a new fine-grained hypothesis called Exponential Time for Expanders Hypothesis (XXH) which roughly asserts that there are no non-trivial exponential time approximation algorithms for the vertex cover problem on near perfect vertex expanders. Assuming XXH, we close the above long line of work on approximating Euclidean k-means by showing that there is no 2^{(k/ε)^{1-o(1)}} ⋅ n^O(1) time algorithm achieving a (1+ε)-approximation for k-means in Euclidean space. This lower bound is tight as it matches the algorithm given by Feldman, Monemizadeh, and Sohler [SoCG'07] whose runtime is 2^O(k/ε) + O(ndk). Furthermore, assuming XXH, we show that the seminal O(n^{kd+1}) runtime exact algorithm of Inaba, Katoh, and Imai [SoCG'94] for k-means is optimal for small values of k.
Cite as

Vincent Cohen-Addad, Karthik C. S., David Saulpic, and Chris Schwiegelshohn. Near-Optimal Bounds for Parameterized Euclidean k-Means. In 42nd International Symposium on Computational Geometry (SoCG 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 367, pp. 33:1-33:17, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)

Copy BibTex To Clipboard

@InProceedings{cohenaddad_et_al:LIPIcs.SoCG.2026.33,
  author =	{Cohen-Addad, Vincent and C. S., Karthik and Saulpic, David and Schwiegelshohn, Chris},
  title =	{{Near-Optimal Bounds for Parameterized Euclidean k-Means}},
  booktitle =	{42nd International Symposium on Computational Geometry (SoCG 2026)},
  pages =	{33:1--33:17},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-418-5},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2026},
  volume =	{367},
  editor =	{Ahn, Hee-Kap and Hoffmann, Michael and Nayyeri, Amir},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.SoCG.2026.33},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-258391},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.SoCG.2026.33},
  annote =	{Keywords: k-means clustering, Euclidean space, Fine-Grained Complexity}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.STACS.2026.66
Computational Hardness of Estimating Quantum Entropies via Binary Entropy Bounds

Authors: Yupan Liu

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

Abstract
We investigate the computational hardness of estimating the quantum α-Rényi entropy S^𝚁_α(ρ) = (ln Tr(ρ^α))/(1-α) and the quantum q-Tsallis entropy S^𝚃_q(ρ) = (1-Tr(ρ^q))/(q-1), both converging to the von Neumann entropy as the order approaches 1. The promise problems Quantum α-Rényi Entropy Approximation (RényiQEA_α) and Quantum q-Tsallis Entropy Approximation (TsallisQEA_q) ask whether S^𝚁_α(ρ) or S^𝚃_q(ρ), respectively, is at least τ_Y or at most τ_N, where τ_Y - τ_N is typically a positive constant. Previous hardness results cover only the von Neumann entropy (order 1) and some cases of the quantum q-Tsallis entropy, while existing approaches do not readily extend to other orders. We establish that for all positive real orders, the rank-2 variants Rank2RényiQEA_α and Rank2TsallisQEA_q are BQP-hard. Combined with prior (rank-dependent) quantum query algorithms in Wang, Guan, Liu, Zhang, and Ying (TIT 2024), Wang, Zhang, and Li (TIT 2024), and Liu and Wang (SODA 2025), our results imply: - For all real order α > 0 and 0 < q ≤ 1, LowRankRényiQEA_α and LowRankTsallisQEA_q are BQP-complete, where both are restricted versions of RényiQEA_α and TsallisQEA_q with ρ of polynomial rank. - For all real order q > 1, TsallisQEA_q is BQP-complete. Our hardness results stem from reductions based on new inequalities relating the α-Rényi or q-Tsallis binary entropies of different orders, where the reductions differ substantially from previous approaches, and the inequalities are also of independent interest.
Cite as

Yupan Liu. Computational Hardness of Estimating Quantum Entropies via Binary Entropy Bounds. In 43rd International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 364, pp. 66:1-66:23, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)

Copy BibTex To Clipboard

@InProceedings{liu:LIPIcs.STACS.2026.66,
  author =	{Liu, Yupan},
  title =	{{Computational Hardness of Estimating Quantum Entropies via Binary Entropy Bounds}},
  booktitle =	{43rd International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2026)},
  pages =	{66:1--66:23},
  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.2026.66},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-255550},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.STACS.2026.66},
  annote =	{Keywords: computational hardness, quantum state testing, quantum R\'{e}nyi entropy, quantum Tsallis entropy, von Neumann entropy}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.9
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)

Copy BibTex To Clipboard

@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
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.15
How to Use Nondeterminism in Cryptography

Authors: Marshall Ball and Peter Crawford-Kahrl

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

Abstract
Nondeterministic reductions have yielded powerful results in the theory of computational complexity, yet are effectively useless in a cryptographic context. The reason for this is simple, a nondeterministic polynomial time adversary can trivially break almost any cryptographic primitive by simply guessing the "key." In order to use this powerful nondeterministic tool kit in the cryptographic context, we initiate the study of cryptography against adversaries with limited nondeterminism: polynomial time nondeterministic algorithms that are restricted to just a few bits of nondeterminism. We demonstrate that limited nondeterministic security is sufficient to prove two foundational results that have eluded our grasp for decades: dream hardness amplification, and extracting ω(log n) hardcore bits.
Cite as

Marshall Ball and Peter Crawford-Kahrl. How to Use Nondeterminism in Cryptography. In 17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 362, pp. 15:1-15:22, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)

Copy BibTex To Clipboard

@InProceedings{ball_et_al:LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.15,
  author =	{Ball, Marshall and Crawford-Kahrl, Peter},
  title =	{{How to Use Nondeterminism in Cryptography}},
  booktitle =	{17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026)},
  pages =	{15:1--15:22},
  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.2026.15},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-253024},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.15},
  annote =	{Keywords: limited nondeterminism, cryptography, computational complexity, hardness amplification, pseudorandom generators, hardcore bits}
}
Document
Extended Abstract
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.13
Fully Quantum Computational Entropies (Extended Abstract)

Authors: Noam Avidan, Thomas A. Hahn, Joseph M. Renes, and Rotem Arnon

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

Abstract
Quantum information theory has provided the formal framework for describing how information is stored, transmitted, and transformed in physical quantum systems [Renes, 2022; Tomamichel, 2015; Wilde, 2013]. Its entropic formulations underpin our understanding of quantum computation, communication, and cryptography. Yet this theory traditionally treats all quantum operations as freely available, ignoring computational restrictions. In practice, however, any manipulation of quantum information must be performed by devices of bounded complexity and runtime. Capturing such realistic constraints requires extending quantum information theory to include computational efficiency as a fundamental component. This work takes a first step toward building a computational version of quantum information theory, one that treats efficiency as part of the theory itself. The goal is to understand how the behavior of quantum information changes when the parties involved can only perform computationally efficient operations. This approach bridges the abstract, ideal setting of quantum information theory with the practical limitations of real quantum devices, offering a means to study information processing under realistic resource constraints. At the center of this work are two new quantities: the quantum computational min-entropy and the quantum computational max-entropy. These entropies extend standard quantum entropies by explicitly limiting the computational power of the observer or adversary. The quantum computational min-entropy captures how unpredictable a quantum system A remains to an observer holding system B, when that observer is restricted to quantum circuits of bounded size. Formally, for a bipartite state ρ_{AB}, we define {H^c}^s_{min}(A|B)_{ρ} ≔ -log d_A max_{ℰ^s_{B→A'}} F((𝕀_A ⊗ ℰ^s)(ρ_{AB}),|Φ_{AA'}⟩⟨Φ_{AA'}|) , where the maximization is over quantum channels that can be implemented by circuits of size at most s, and F denotes fidelity with a maximally entangled state. In the classical setting, the min-entropy can be expressed through the maximal probability of correctly guessing a random variable given some side-information. In the fully quantum setting, this idea extends to uncertainty about quantum information [König et al., 2009], quantifying how well one system can be inferred from another using local quantum operations. Our definition generalizes this operational viewpoint by restricting the computational power of the observer to efficient quantum circuits. This definition extends the operational meaning of the information-theoretic quantum min-entropy [König et al., 2009] by incorporating computational constraints, and it provides the fully quantum counterpart of the classical unpredictability entropy [Hsiao et al., 2007]. We establish fundamental properties for the computational min-entropy, including monotonicity in the circuit size and smoothing parameters, efficient data-processing inequalities, and fully quantum leakage and purification chain rules, which were left as open questions in earlier definitions of quantum computational entropies [Yi-Hsiu Chen et al., 2017; Munson et al., 2025]. For classical–quantum states, it coincides with the previously defined quantum computational unpredictability entropy [Noam Avidan and Rotem Arnon, 2025], showing that the new definition correctly generalizes known results. We also introduce the quantum computational max-entropy through a duality relation [Tomamichel et al., 2010] with the min-entropy using a fixed purification. Finally, we prove unconditional separations between the computational and information-theoretic entropies, demonstrating that computational restrictions can fundamentally alter entropic behavior even for simple states. These results establish the fundamental mathematical framework for studying quantum information within realistic computational constraints. By integrating efficiency directly into entropic quantities, they open the door to a fully developed computational quantum information theory that parallels its information-theoretic counterpart. Such a framework provides the foundation for analyzing cryptographic security against computationally bounded quantum adversaries [Noam Avidan and Rotem Arnon, 2025] and the limits of efficient quantum state manipulation. More broadly, it suggests that many core notions in quantum information theory may have refined computational analogues yet to be explored.
Cite as

Noam Avidan, Thomas A. Hahn, Joseph M. Renes, and Rotem Arnon. Fully Quantum Computational Entropies (Extended Abstract). In 17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 362, pp. 13:1-13:3, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)

Copy BibTex To Clipboard

@InProceedings{avidan_et_al:LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.13,
  author =	{Avidan, Noam and Hahn, Thomas A. and Renes, Joseph M. and Arnon, Rotem},
  title =	{{Fully Quantum Computational Entropies}},
  booktitle =	{17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026)},
  pages =	{13:1--13:3},
  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.2026.13},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-253003},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.13},
  annote =	{Keywords: quantum information theory, computational entropy, min-entropy, max-entropy}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.79
Range Avoidance and Remote Point: New Algorithms and Hardness

Authors: Shengtang Huang, Xin Li, and Yan Zhong

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

Abstract
The Range Avoidance (Avoid) problem C-Avoid[n,m(n)] asks that, given a circuit in a class C with input length n and output length m(n) > n, find a string not in the range of the circuit. This problem has been a central piece in several recent frameworks for proving circuit lower bounds and constructing explicit combinatorial objects. Previous work by Korten (FOCS' 21) and by Ren, Santhanam, and Wang (FOCS' 22) showed that algorithms for Avoid are closely related to circuit lower bounds. In particular, Korten’s work reinterpreted an earlier result from bounded arithmetic, originally proved by Jeřábek (Ann. Pure Appl. Log. 2004), as an equivalence in computational complexity between the existence of FP^NP algorithms for the general Avoid problem and 2^{Ω(n)} lower bounds against general Boolean circuits for the class 𝐄^NP. In this work, we significantly complement these works by generalizing the equivalence result to restricted circuit classes and obtain the following: - For any constant depth unbounded fan-in circuit class C ⊇ AC⁰, there is an FP^NP algorithm for C-Avoid[n,n^{1+ε}] (for any constant ε > 0) if and only if 𝐄^NP cannot be computed by C circuits of size 2^{o(n)}. This addresses an open problem by Korten (Bulletin of EATCS' 25). - If 𝐄^NP cannot be computed by o(2ⁿ/n) size formulas, then there is an FP^NP algorithm for NC⁰-Avoid[n,2n]. Note that by an extension of Ren, Santhanam, and Wang (FOCS' 22), an FP^NP algorithm for NC⁰₄-Avoid[n,n+n^δ] for any constant δ ∈ (0,1) implies 𝐄^NP cannot be computed by o(2ⁿ/n) size formulas. These results yield the first characterizations of FP^NP C-Avoid algorithms for low-complexity circuit classes such as AC⁰. We also consider the average-case analog of Avoid, the Remote Point (Remote-Point) problem, and establish: - For some suitable function c(n) and constant γ > 0, there is an FP^NP algorithm for Remote-Point[n,n^{6+γ},c(O_{γ}(log n))] if and only if 𝐄^NP cannot be (1/2-c(n))-approximated by circuits of size 2^{o(n)}. Finally, we also present two improved algorithms for NC⁰-Avoid: - A family of 2^{n^{1 - ε/(k-1) +o(1)}} time algorithms for NC⁰_k-Avoid[n,n^{1+ε}] for any ε > 0, exhibiting the first subexponential-time algorithm for any super-linear stretch. - Faster local algorithms for NC⁰_k-Avoid[n,n+1] running in time O(n2^{(k-2)/(k-1) n}), improving the naive 2ⁿ⋅ poly(n) bound.
Cite as

Shengtang Huang, Xin Li, and Yan Zhong. Range Avoidance and Remote Point: New Algorithms and Hardness. In 17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 362, pp. 79:1-79:19, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)

Copy BibTex To Clipboard

@InProceedings{huang_et_al:LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.79,
  author =	{Huang, Shengtang and Li, Xin and Zhong, Yan},
  title =	{{Range Avoidance and Remote Point: New Algorithms and Hardness}},
  booktitle =	{17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026)},
  pages =	{79:1--79:19},
  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.2026.79},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-253662},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.79},
  annote =	{Keywords: Circuit Lower Bounds, Range Avoidance Problem, Remote Point Problem}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.21
Differential Privacy from Axioms

Authors: Guy Blanc, William Pires, and Toniann Pitassi

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

Abstract
Differential privacy (DP) is the de facto notion of privacy both in theory and in practice. However, despite its popularity, DP imposes strict requirements which guard against strong worst-case scenarios. For example, it guards against seemingly unrealistic scenarios where an attacker has full information about all but one point in the data set, and still nothing can be learned about the remaining point. While preventing such a strong attack is desirable, many works have explored whether average-case relaxations of DP are easier to satisfy [Hall et al., 2013; Wang et al., 2016; Bassily and Freund, 2016; Liu et al., 2023]. In this work, we are motivated by the question of whether alternate, weaker notions of privacy are possible: can a weakened privacy notion still guarantee some basic level of privacy, and on the other hand, achieve privacy more efficiently and/or for a substantially broader set of tasks? Our main result shows the answer is no: even in the statistical setting, any reasonable measure of privacy satisfying nontrivial composition is equivalent to DP. To prove this, we identify a core set of four axioms or desiderata: pre-processing invariance, prohibition of blatant non-privacy, strong composition, and linear scalability. Our main theorem shows that any privacy measure satisfying our axioms is equivalent to DP, up to polynomial factors in sample complexity. We complement this result by showing our axioms are minimal: removing any one of our axioms enables ill-behaved measures of privacy.
Cite as

Guy Blanc, William Pires, and Toniann Pitassi. Differential Privacy from Axioms. In 17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 362, pp. 21:1-21:13, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)

Copy BibTex To Clipboard

@InProceedings{blanc_et_al:LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.21,
  author =	{Blanc, Guy and Pires, William and Pitassi, Toniann},
  title =	{{Differential Privacy from Axioms}},
  booktitle =	{17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026)},
  pages =	{21:1--21:13},
  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.2026.21},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-253081},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.21},
  annote =	{Keywords: Differential Privacy, Privacy Amplification, Composition}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.62
Improved Rate for Non-Malleable Codes and Time-Lock Puzzles

Authors: Cody Freitag, Ilan Komargodski, Manu Kondapaneni, and Jad Silbak

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

Abstract
Non-malleable codes allow a sender to transmit a message to a receiver, while providing a "best-possible" integrity guarantee to ensure that no attacker - who cannot already decode the message - can meaningfully tamper the message in transit. If tampered, the received message should either be invalid or unrelated to the original message. Non-malleable time-lock puzzles (TLPs) are a special case of non-malleable codes for bounded polynomial-depth tampering with very efficient encoding. In this work, we give generic techniques for constructing non-malleable codes and non-malleable TLPs with improved rate, which captures the ratio of a message’s length to its encoding length. A key contribution of our work is identifying a security notion for non-malleability, which we term "CCA-hiding", sufficient for our compilers. CCA-hiding is a relaxation of CCA-security for encryption or commitments to the fine-grained setting of codes, and requires that the encoded message remains hidden, even given a decoding oracle for any other codeword. Intriguingly, CCA-hiding does not imply non-malleability in the fine-grained setting, as is the case for encryption and commitments. Using our new techniques, we give the following constructions: - Rate-1 CCA-hiding TLPs in the plain model. - Rate-1 non-malleable codes for bounded polynomial-depth tampering in the auxiliary-input random oracle model (AI-ROM). - Rate-(1/2) non-malleable TLPs in the AI-ROM.
Cite as

Cody Freitag, Ilan Komargodski, Manu Kondapaneni, and Jad Silbak. Improved Rate for Non-Malleable Codes and Time-Lock Puzzles. In 17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 362, pp. 62:1-62:24, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)

Copy BibTex To Clipboard

@InProceedings{freitag_et_al:LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.62,
  author =	{Freitag, Cody and Komargodski, Ilan and Kondapaneni, Manu and Silbak, Jad},
  title =	{{Improved Rate for Non-Malleable Codes and Time-Lock Puzzles}},
  booktitle =	{17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026)},
  pages =	{62:1--62:24},
  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.2026.62},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-253490},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.62},
  annote =	{Keywords: Non-malleable codes, Time-lock puzzles}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.70
Unconditional Pseudorandomness Against Shallow Quantum Circuits

Authors: Soumik Ghosh, Sathyawageeswar Subramanian, and Wei Zhan

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

Abstract
Quantum computational pseudorandomness has emerged as a fundamental notion that spans connections to complexity theory, cryptography and fundamental physics. However, all known constructions of efficient quantum-secure pseudorandom objects rely on complexity theoretic assumptions. In this work, we establish the first unconditionally secure efficient pseudorandom constructions against shallow-depth quantum circuit classes. We prove that: - Any quantum state 2-design yields unconditional pseudorandomness against both QNC⁰ circuits with arbitrarily many ancillae and AC⁰∘QNC⁰ circuits with nearly linear ancillae. - Random phased subspace states, where the phases are picked using a 4-wise independent function, are unconditionally pseudoentangled against the above circuit classes. - Any unitary 2-design yields unconditionally secure parallel-query pseudorandom unitaries against geometrically local QNC⁰ adversaries, even with limited AC⁰ postprocessing. Our results stand in stark contrast to the standard guarantee of the 2-design property, which only ensures that they cannot be distinguished from Haar random ensembles using two copies or queries. Our work demonstrates that quantum computational pseudorandomness can be achieved unconditionally for natural classes of restricted adversaries, opening new directions in quantum complexity theory.
Cite as

Soumik Ghosh, Sathyawageeswar Subramanian, and Wei Zhan. Unconditional Pseudorandomness Against Shallow Quantum Circuits. In 17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 362, pp. 70:1-70:25, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)

Copy BibTex To Clipboard

@InProceedings{ghosh_et_al:LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.70,
  author =	{Ghosh, Soumik and Subramanian, Sathyawageeswar and Zhan, Wei},
  title =	{{Unconditional Pseudorandomness Against Shallow Quantum Circuits}},
  booktitle =	{17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026)},
  pages =	{70:1--70:25},
  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.2026.70},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-253578},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.70},
  annote =	{Keywords: quantum pseudorandomness, shallow quantum circuits, pseudorandomness, t-designs}
}
  • Refine by Type
  • 83 Document/PDF
  • 76 Document/HTML

  • Refine by Publication Year
  • 22 2026
  • 57 2025
  • 1 2024
  • 1 2021
  • 1 2020
  • Show More...

  • Refine by Author
  • 5 Putterman, Aaron
  • 4 Guruswami, Venkatesan
  • 3 Liu, Yupan
  • 3 Manurangsi, Pasin
  • 3 Nissim, Kobbi
  • Show More...

  • Refine by Series/Journal
  • 83 LIPIcs

  • Refine by Classification
  • 12 Theory of computation → Pseudorandomness and derandomization
  • 11 Security and privacy
  • 11 Theory of computation → Computational complexity and cryptography
  • 5 Theory of computation → Quantum complexity theory
  • 5 Theory of computation → Quantum information theory
  • Show More...

  • Refine by Keyword
  • 6 Differential Privacy
  • 6 differential privacy
  • 3 Differential privacy
  • 3 pseudorandomness
  • 2 Derandomization
  • Show More...

Any Issues?
X

Feedback on the Current Page

CAPTCHA

Thanks for your feedback!

Feedback submitted to Dagstuhl Publishing

Could not send message

Please try again later or send an E-mail
© 2023-2026 Schloss Dagstuhl – LZI GmbH Schloss Dagstuhl – LZI GmbH About DROPS Imprint Privacy Contact