DROPS

Document

DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.STACS.2025.26

Toward Better Depth Lower Bounds: Strong Composition of XOR and a Random Function

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

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 327, 42nd International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2025)

Abstract

Proving formula depth lower bounds is a fundamental challenge in complexity theory, with the strongest known bound of (3 - o(1))log n established by Håstad over 25 years ago. The Karchmer-Raz-Wigderson (KRW) conjecture offers a promising approach to advance these bounds and separate P from NC¹. It suggests that the depth complexity of a function composition f ⋄ g approximates the sum of the depth complexities of f and g. The Karchmer-Wigderson (KW) relation framework translates formula depth into communication complexity, restating the KRW conjecture as CC(KW_f ⋄ KW_g) ≈ CC(KW_f) + CC(KW_g). Prior work has confirmed the conjecture under various relaxations, often replacing one or both KW relations with the universal relation or constraining the communication game through strong composition. In this paper, we examine the strong composition KW_XOR ⊛ KW_f of the parity function and a random Boolean function f. We prove that with probability 1-o(1), any protocol solving this composition requires at least n^{3 - o(1)} leaves. This result establishes a depth lower bound of (3 - o(1))log n, matching Håstad’s bound, but is applicable to a broader class of inner functions, even when the outer function is simple. Though bounds for the strong composition do not translate directly to formula depth bounds, they usually help to analyze the standard composition (of the corresponding two functions) which is directly related to formula depth. Our proof utilizes formal complexity measures. First, we apply Khrapchenko’s method to show that numerous instances of f remain unsolved after several communication steps. Subsequently, we transition to a different formal complexity measure to demonstrate that the remaining communication problem is at least as hard as KW_OR ⊛ KW_f. This hybrid approach not only achieves the desired lower bound, but also introduces a novel technique for analyzing formula depth, potentially informing future research in complexity theory.

Cite as

Nikolai Chukhin, Alexander S. Kulikov, and Ivan Mihajlin. Toward Better Depth Lower Bounds: Strong Composition of XOR and a Random Function. In 42nd International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 327, pp. 26:1-26:15, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

Copy BibTex To Clipboard

@InProceedings{chukhin_et_al:LIPIcs.STACS.2025.26,
  author =	{Chukhin, Nikolai and Kulikov, Alexander S. and Mihajlin, Ivan},
  title =	{{Toward Better Depth Lower Bounds: Strong Composition of XOR and a Random Function}},
  booktitle =	{42nd International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2025)},
  pages =	{26:1--26:15},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-365-2},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{327},
  editor =	{Beyersdorff, Olaf and Pilipczuk, Micha{\l} and Pimentel, Elaine 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.2025.26},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-228513},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.STACS.2025.26},
  annote =	{Keywords: complexity, formula complexity, lower bounds, Boolean functions, depth}
}

Document

DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ESA.2024.21

Improved Space Bounds for Subset Sum

Authors: Tatiana Belova, Nikolai Chukhin, Alexander S. Kulikov, and Ivan Mihajlin

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 308, 32nd Annual European Symposium on Algorithms (ESA 2024)

Abstract

More than 40 years ago, Schroeppel and Shamir presented an algorithm that solves the Subset Sum problem for n integers in time O^*(2^{0.5n}) and space O^*(2^{0.25n}). The time upper bound remains unbeaten, but the space upper bound has been improved to O^*(2^{0.249999n}) in a recent breakthrough paper by Nederlof and Węgrzycki (STOC 2021). Their algorithm is a clever combination of a number of previously known techniques with a new reduction and a new algorithm for the Orthogonal Vectors problem. In this paper, we give two new algorithms for Subset Sum. We start by presenting an Arthur-Merlin algorithm: upon receiving the verifier’s randomness, the prover sends an n/4-bit long proof to the verifier who checks it in (deterministic) time and space O^*(2^{n/4}). An interesting consequence of this result is the following fine-grained lower bound: assuming that 4-SUM cannot be solved in time O(n^{2-ε}) for all ε > 0, Circuit SAT cannot be solved in time O(g2^{(1-ε)n}), for all ε > 0 (where n and g denote the number of inputs and the number of gates, respectively). Then, we improve the space bound by Nederlof and Węgrzycki to O^*(2^{0.246n}) and also simplify their algorithm and its analysis. We achieve this space bound by further filtering sets of subsets using a random prime number. This allows us to reduce an instance of Subset Sum to a larger number of instances of smaller size.

Cite as

Tatiana Belova, Nikolai Chukhin, Alexander S. Kulikov, and Ivan Mihajlin. Improved Space Bounds for Subset Sum. In 32nd Annual European Symposium on Algorithms (ESA 2024). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 308, pp. 21:1-21:17, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2024)

Copy BibTex To Clipboard

@InProceedings{belova_et_al:LIPIcs.ESA.2024.21,
  author =	{Belova, Tatiana and Chukhin, Nikolai and Kulikov, Alexander S. and Mihajlin, Ivan},
  title =	{{Improved Space Bounds for Subset Sum}},
  booktitle =	{32nd Annual European Symposium on Algorithms (ESA 2024)},
  pages =	{21:1--21:17},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-338-6},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2024},
  volume =	{308},
  editor =	{Chan, Timothy and Fischer, Johannes and Iacono, John 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.2024.21},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-210925},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ESA.2024.21},
  annote =	{Keywords: algorithms, subset sum, complexity, space, upper bounds}
}

Search Results

Documents authored by Chukhin, Nikolai

Toward Better Depth Lower Bounds: Strong Composition of XOR and a Random Function

Abstract

Cite as

Improved Space Bounds for Subset Sum

Abstract

Cite as

Thanks for your feedback!

Could not send message