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Documents authored by Zhang, Xusheng

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Track A: Algorithms, Complexity and Games
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2025.84
One-Shot Learning for k-SAT

Authors: Andreas Galanis, Leslie Ann Goldberg, and Xusheng Zhang

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 334, 52nd International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2025)

Abstract
Consider a k-SAT formula Φ where every variable appears at most d times, and let σ be a satisfying assignment of Φ sampled proportionally to e^{β m(σ)} where m(σ) is the number of variables set to true and β is a real parameter. Given Φ and σ, can we learn the value of β efficiently? This problem falls into a recent line of works about single-sample ("one-shot") learning of Markov random fields. The k-SAT setting we consider here was recently studied by Galanis, Kandiros, and Kalavasis (SODA'24) where they showed that single-sample learning is possible when roughly d ≤ 2^{k/6.45} and impossible when d ≥ (k+1) 2^{k-1}. Crucially, for their impossibility results they used the existence of unsatisfiable instances which, aside from the gap in d, left open the question of whether the feasibility threshold for one-shot learning is dictated by the satisfiability threshold of k-SAT formulas of bounded degree. Our main contribution is to answer this question negatively. We show that one-shot learning for k-SAT is infeasible well below the satisfiability threshold; in fact, we obtain impossibility results for degrees d as low as k² when β is sufficiently large, and bootstrap this to small values of β when d scales exponentially with k, via a probabilistic construction. On the positive side, we simplify the analysis of the learning algorithm and obtain significantly stronger bounds on d in terms of β. In particular, for the uniform case β → 0 that has been studied extensively in the sampling literature, our analysis shows that learning is possible under the condition d≲ 2^{k/2}. This is nearly optimal (up to constant factors) in the sense that it is known that sampling a uniformly-distributed satisfying assignment is NP-hard for d≳ 2^{k/2}.
Cite as

Andreas Galanis, Leslie Ann Goldberg, and Xusheng Zhang. One-Shot Learning for k-SAT. In 52nd International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 334, pp. 84:1-84:15, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

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@InProceedings{galanis_et_al:LIPIcs.ICALP.2025.84,
  author =	{Galanis, Andreas and Goldberg, Leslie Ann and Zhang, Xusheng},
  title =	{{One-Shot Learning for k-SAT}},
  booktitle =	{52nd International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2025)},
  pages =	{84:1--84:15},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-372-0},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{334},
  editor =	{Censor-Hillel, Keren and Grandoni, Fabrizio and Ouaknine, Jo\"{e}l 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.2025.84},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-234610},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2025.84},
  annote =	{Keywords: Computational Learning Theory, k-SAT, Maximum likelihood estimation}
}
Document
RANDOM
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.APPROX/RANDOM.2023.53
Rapid Mixing of Global Markov Chains via Spectral Independence: The Unbounded Degree Case

Authors: Antonio Blanca and Xusheng Zhang

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 275, Approximation, Randomization, and Combinatorial Optimization. Algorithms and Techniques (APPROX/RANDOM 2023)

Abstract
We consider spin systems on general n-vertex graphs of unbounded degree and explore the effects of spectral independence on the rate of convergence to equilibrium of global Markov chains. Spectral independence is a novel way of quantifying the decay of correlations in spin system models, which has significantly advanced the study of Markov chains for spin systems. We prove that whenever spectral independence holds, the popular Swendsen-Wang dynamics for the q-state ferromagnetic Potts model on graphs of maximum degree Δ, where Δ is allowed to grow with n, converges in O((Δ log n)^c) steps where c > 0 is a constant independent of Δ and n. We also show a similar mixing time bound for the block dynamics of general spin systems, again assuming that spectral independence holds. Finally, for monotone spin systems such as the Ising model and the hardcore model on bipartite graphs, we show that spectral independence implies that the mixing time of the systematic scan dynamics is O(Δ^c log n) for a constant c > 0 independent of Δ and n. Systematic scan dynamics are widely popular but are notoriously difficult to analyze. This result implies optimal O(log n) mixing time bounds for any systematic scan dynamics of the ferromagnetic Ising model on general graphs up to the tree uniqueness threshold. Our main technical contribution is an improved factorization of the entropy functional: this is the common starting point for all our proofs. Specifically, we establish the so-called k-partite factorization of entropy with a constant that depends polynomially on the maximum degree of the graph.
Cite as

Antonio Blanca and Xusheng Zhang. Rapid Mixing of Global Markov Chains via Spectral Independence: The Unbounded Degree Case. In Approximation, Randomization, and Combinatorial Optimization. Algorithms and Techniques (APPROX/RANDOM 2023). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 275, pp. 53:1-53:19, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2023)

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@InProceedings{blanca_et_al:LIPIcs.APPROX/RANDOM.2023.53,
  author =	{Blanca, Antonio and Zhang, Xusheng},
  title =	{{Rapid Mixing of Global Markov Chains via Spectral Independence: The Unbounded Degree Case}},
  booktitle =	{Approximation, Randomization, and Combinatorial Optimization. Algorithms and Techniques (APPROX/RANDOM 2023)},
  pages =	{53:1--53:19},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-296-9},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2023},
  volume =	{275},
  editor =	{Megow, Nicole and Smith, Adam},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.APPROX/RANDOM.2023.53},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-188789},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.APPROX/RANDOM.2023.53},
  annote =	{Keywords: Markov chains, Spectral Independence, Potts model, Mixing Time}
}
Document
RANDOM
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.APPROX/RANDOM.2021.47
The Critical Mean-Field Chayes-Machta Dynamics

Authors: Antonio Blanca, Alistair Sinclair, and Xusheng Zhang

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 207, Approximation, Randomization, and Combinatorial Optimization. Algorithms and Techniques (APPROX/RANDOM 2021)

Abstract
The random-cluster model is a unifying framework for studying random graphs, spin systems and electrical networks that plays a fundamental role in designing efficient Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) sampling algorithms for the classical ferromagnetic Ising and Potts models. In this paper, we study a natural non-local Markov chain known as the Chayes-Machta dynamics for the mean-field case of the random-cluster model, where the underlying graph is the complete graph on n vertices. The random-cluster model is parametrized by an edge probability p and a cluster weight q. Our focus is on the critical regime: p = p_c(q) and q ∈ (1,2), where p_c(q) is the threshold corresponding to the order-disorder phase transition of the model. We show that the mixing time of the Chayes-Machta dynamics is O(log n ⋅ log log n) in this parameter regime, which reveals that the dynamics does not undergo an exponential slowdown at criticality, a surprising fact that had been predicted (but not proved) by statistical physicists. This also provides a nearly optimal bound (up to the log log n factor) for the mixing time of the mean-field Chayes-Machta dynamics in the only regime of parameters where no non-trivial bound was previously known. Our proof consists of a multi-phased coupling argument that combines several key ingredients, including a new local limit theorem, a precise bound on the maximum of symmetric random walks with varying step sizes, and tailored estimates for critical random graphs. In addition, we derive an improved comparison inequality between the mixing time of the Chayes-Machta dynamics and that of the local Glauber dynamics on general graphs; this results in better mixing time bounds for the local dynamics in the mean-field setting.
Cite as

Antonio Blanca, Alistair Sinclair, and Xusheng Zhang. The Critical Mean-Field Chayes-Machta Dynamics. In Approximation, Randomization, and Combinatorial Optimization. Algorithms and Techniques (APPROX/RANDOM 2021). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 207, pp. 47:1-47:15, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2021)

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@InProceedings{blanca_et_al:LIPIcs.APPROX/RANDOM.2021.47,
  author =	{Blanca, Antonio and Sinclair, Alistair and Zhang, Xusheng},
  title =	{{The Critical Mean-Field Chayes-Machta Dynamics}},
  booktitle =	{Approximation, Randomization, and Combinatorial Optimization. Algorithms and Techniques (APPROX/RANDOM 2021)},
  pages =	{47:1--47:15},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-207-5},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2021},
  volume =	{207},
  editor =	{Wootters, Mary and Sanit\`{a}, Laura},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.APPROX/RANDOM.2021.47},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-147408},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.APPROX/RANDOM.2021.47},
  annote =	{Keywords: Markov Chains, Mixing Times, Random-cluster Model, Ising and Potts Models, Mean-field, Chayes-Machta Dynamics, Random Graphs}
}
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