33 Search Results for "Fearnley, John"

Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.STACS.2026.31
Lower Bounds for Ranking-Based Pivot Rules

Authors: Yann Disser, Georg Loho, Matthew Maat, and Nils Mosis

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

Abstract
The existence of a polynomial pivot rule for the simplex method for linear programming, policy iteration for Markov decision processes, and strategy improvement for parity games each are prominent open problems in their respective fields. While numerous natural candidates for efficient rules have been eliminated, all existing lower bound constructions are tailored to individual or small sets of pivot rules. We introduce a unified framework for formalizing classes of rules according to the information about the input that they rely on. Within this framework, we show lower bounds for ranking-based classes of rules that base their decisions on orderings of the improving pivot steps induced by the underlying data. Our first result is a superpolynomial lower bound for strategy improvement, obtained via a family of sink parity games, which applies to memory-based generalizations of Bland’s rule that only access the input by comparing the ranks of improving edges in some global order. Our second result is a subexponential lower bound for policy iteration, obtained via a family of Markov decision processes, which applies to memoryless rules that only access the input by comparing improving actions according to their ranks in a global order, their reduced costs, and the associated improvements in objective value. Both results carry over to the simplex method for linear programming.
Cite as

Yann Disser, Georg Loho, Matthew Maat, and Nils Mosis. Lower Bounds for Ranking-Based Pivot Rules. In 43rd International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 364, pp. 31:1-31:19, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)

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@InProceedings{disser_et_al:LIPIcs.STACS.2026.31,
  author =	{Disser, Yann and Loho, Georg and Maat, Matthew and Mosis, Nils},
  title =	{{Lower Bounds for Ranking-Based Pivot Rules}},
  booktitle =	{43rd International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2026)},
  pages =	{31:1--31:19},
  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.2026.31},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-255207},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.STACS.2026.31},
  annote =	{Keywords: lower bounds, Markov decision processes, parity games, pivot rules, policy iteration, simplex method}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.STACS.2026.59
When Is Local Search Both Effective and Efficient?

Authors: Artem Kaznatcheev and Sofia Vazquez Alferez

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

Abstract
Combinatorial optimization problems implicitly define fitness landscapes that combine the numeric structure of the "fitness" function to be maximized with the combinatorial structure of which assignments are "adjacent". Local search starts at an assignment in this landscape and successively moves assignments until no further improvement is possible among the adjacent assignments. Classic analyses of local search algorithms have focused more on the question of effectiveness ("did we find a good solution?") and often implicitly assumed that there are no doubts about their efficiency ("did we find it quickly?"). But there are many reasons to doubt the efficiency of local search. Even if we focus on fitness landscapes on the hypercube that are single peaked on every subcube (known as semismooth fitness landscapes, completely unimodal pseudo-Boolean functions, or acyclic unique sink orientations) where effectiveness is obvious, many local search algorithms are known to be inefficient. Since fitness landscapes are unwieldy exponentially large objects, we focus on their polynomial-sized representations by instances of valued constraint satisfaction problems (VCSP). We define a "direction" for valued constraints such that directed VCSPs generate semismooth fitness landscapes. We call directed VCSPs oriented if they do not have any pair of variables with arcs in both directions. Since recognizing if a VCSP-instance is directed or oriented is coNP-complete, we generalized oriented VCSPs as conditionally-smooth fitness landscapes where the structural property of "conditionally-smooth" is recognizable in polynomial time for a VCSP-instance. We prove that many popular local search algorithms like random ascent, simulated annealing, history-based rules, jumping rules, and the Kernighan-Lin heuristic are very efficient on conditionally-smooth landscapes. But conditionally-smooth landscapes are still expressive enough so that other well-regarded local search algorithms like steepest ascent and random facet require a super-polynomial number of steps to find the fitness peak.
Cite as

Artem Kaznatcheev and Sofia Vazquez Alferez. When Is Local Search Both Effective and Efficient?. In 43rd International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 364, pp. 59:1-59:19, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)

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@InProceedings{kaznatcheev_et_al:LIPIcs.STACS.2026.59,
  author =	{Kaznatcheev, Artem and Vazquez Alferez, Sofia},
  title =	{{When Is Local Search Both Effective and Efficient?}},
  booktitle =	{43rd International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2026)},
  pages =	{59:1--59:19},
  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.2026.59},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-255480},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.STACS.2026.59},
  annote =	{Keywords: valued constraint satisfaction problem, local search, algorithm analysis, constraint graphs, pseudo-Boolean functions, parameterized complexity}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.STACS.2026.52
Upper and Lower Bounds for the Linear Ordering Principle

Authors: Edward A. Hirsch and Ilya Volkovich

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

Abstract
Korten and Pitassi (FOCS, 2024) defined a new complexity class L₂^P as the polynomial-time Turing closure of the Linear Ordering Principle (a total function extending finding the minimum of an order [M. Chiari and J. Krajíček, 1998] to the case where the order is not linear). They put it between MA (Merlin-Arthur protocols) and S₂^P (the second symmetric level of the polynomial hierarchy). In this paper we sandwich L₂^P between P^prMA and P^prSBP. (The oracles here are promise problems, and SBP is the only known class between MA and AM.) The containment in P^prSBP is proved via an iterative process that uses a prSBP oracle to estimate the average order rank of a subset and find the minimum of a linear order. Another containment result of this paper is P^prO₂^P ⊆ O₂^P (where O₂^P is the input-oblivious version of S₂^P). These containment results altogether have several byproducts: - We give an affirmative answer to an open question posed by Chakaravarthy and Roy (Computational Complexity, 2011) whether P^prMA ⊆ S₂^P, thereby settling the relative standing of the existing (non-oblivious) Karp–Lipton–style collapse results of [V. T. Chakaravarthy and S. Roy, 2011] and [J.-Y. Cai, 2007], - We give an affirmative answer to an open question of Korten and Pitassi whether a Karp-Lipton-style collapse can be proven for L₂^P, - We show that the Karp-Lipton-style collapse to P^prOMA is actually better than both known collapses to P^prMA due to Chakaravarthy and Roy (Computational Complexity, 2011) and to O₂^P also due to Chakaravarthy and Roy (STACS, 2006). Thus we resolve the controversy between previously incomparable Karp-Lipton collapses stemming from these two lines of research.
Cite as

Edward A. Hirsch and Ilya Volkovich. Upper and Lower Bounds for the Linear Ordering Principle. In 43rd International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 364, pp. 52:1-52:19, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)

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@InProceedings{hirsch_et_al:LIPIcs.STACS.2026.52,
  author =	{Hirsch, Edward A. and Volkovich, Ilya},
  title =	{{Upper and Lower Bounds for the Linear Ordering Principle}},
  booktitle =	{43rd International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2026)},
  pages =	{52:1--52:19},
  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.2026.52},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-255410},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.STACS.2026.52},
  annote =	{Keywords: Complexity Classes, Structural Complexity Theory, Linear Ordering Principle, Symmetric Alternation, Merlin-Arthur Protocols, Karp-Lipton Collapse}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.8
Intersection Theorems: A Potential Approach to Proof Complexity Lower Bounds

Authors: Yaroslav Alekseev and Nikita Gaevoy

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

Abstract
Recently, Göös et al. [Göös et al., 2024] showed that Res ⋏ uSA = RevRes in the following sense: if a formula φ has refutations of size at most s and width/degree at most w in both Res and uSA, then there is a refutation for φ of size at most poly(s ⋅ 2^w) in RevRes. Their proof relies on the TFNP characterization of the aforementioned proof systems. In our work, we give a direct and simplified proof of this result, simultaneously achieving better bounds: we show that if for a formula φ there are refutations of size at most s in both Res and uSA, then there is a refutation of φ of size at most poly(s) in RevRes. This potentially allows us to "lift" size lower bounds from RevRes to Res for the formulas for which there are upper bounds in uSA. This kind of lifting was not possible before because of the exponential blow-up in size from the width. Similarly, we improve the bounds in another intersection theorem from [Göös et al., 2024] by giving a direct proof of Res ⋏ uNS = RevResT. Finally, we generalize those intersection theorems to some proof systems for which we currently do not have a TFNP characterization. For example, we show that Res(⊕) ⋏ u-wRes(⊕) = RevRes(⊕), which effectively allows us to reduce the problem of proving Pigeonhole Principle lower bounds in Res(⊕) to proving Pigeonhole Principle lower bounds in RevRes(⊕), a potentially weaker proof system.
Cite as

Yaroslav Alekseev and Nikita Gaevoy. Intersection Theorems: A Potential Approach to Proof Complexity Lower Bounds. In 17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 362, pp. 8:1-8:18, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)

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@InProceedings{alekseev_et_al:LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.8,
  author =	{Alekseev, Yaroslav and Gaevoy, Nikita},
  title =	{{Intersection Theorems: A Potential Approach to Proof Complexity Lower Bounds}},
  booktitle =	{17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026)},
  pages =	{8:1--8:18},
  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.2026.8},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-252953},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.8},
  annote =	{Keywords: proof complexity, intersection theorems}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.7
An Unholy Trinity: TFNP, Polynomial Systems, and the Quantum Satisfiability Problem

Authors: Marco Aldi, Sevag Gharibian, and Dorian Rudolph

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

Abstract
The theory of Total Function NP (TFNP) and its subclasses says that, even if one is promised an efficiently verifiable proof exists for a problem, finding this proof can be intractable. Despite the success of the theory at showing intractability of problems such as computing Brouwer fixed points and Nash equilibria, subclasses of TFNP remain arguably few and far between. In this work, we define two new subclasses of TFNP borne of the study of complex polynomial systems: Multi-homogeneous Systems (MHS) and Sparse Fundamental Theorem of Algebra (SFTA). The first of these is based on Bézout’s theorem from algebraic geometry, marking the first TFNP subclass based on an algebraic geometric principle. At the heart of our study is the computational problem known as Quantum SAT (QSAT) with a System of Distinct Representatives (SDR), first studied by [Laumann, Läuchli, Moessner, Scardicchio, and Sondhi 2010]. Among other results, we show that QSAT with SDR is MHS-complete, thus giving not only the first link between quantum complexity theory and TFNP, but also the first TFNP problem whose classical variant (SAT with SDR) is easy but whose quantum variant is hard. We also show how to embed the roots of a sparse, high-degree, univariate polynomial into QSAT with SDR, obtaining that SFTA is contained in a zero-error version of MHS. We conjecture this construction also works in the low-error setting, which would imply SFTA ⊆ MHS.
Cite as

Marco Aldi, Sevag Gharibian, and Dorian Rudolph. An Unholy Trinity: TFNP, Polynomial Systems, and the Quantum Satisfiability Problem. In 17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 362, pp. 7:1-7:24, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)

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@InProceedings{aldi_et_al:LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.7,
  author =	{Aldi, Marco and Gharibian, Sevag and Rudolph, Dorian},
  title =	{{An Unholy Trinity: TFNP, Polynomial Systems, and the Quantum Satisfiability Problem}},
  booktitle =	{17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026)},
  pages =	{7:1--7:24},
  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.2026.7},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-252946},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.7},
  annote =	{Keywords: quantum complexity theory, Quantum Merlin Arthur (QMA), Quantum Satisfiability Problem (QSAT), total function NP (TFNP)}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.60
Total Search Problems in ZPP

Authors: Noah Fleming, Stefan Grosser, Siddhartha Jain, Jiawei Li, Hanlin Ren, Morgan Shirley, and Weiqiang Yuan

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

Abstract
We initiate a systematic study of TFZPP, the class of total NP search problems solvable by polynomial time randomized algorithms. TFZPP contains a variety of important search problems such as Bertrand-Chebyshev (finding a prime between N and 2N), refuter problems for many circuit lower bounds, and Lossy-Code. The Lossy-Code problem has found prominence due to its fundamental connections to derandomization, catalytic computing, and the metamathematics of complexity theory, among other areas. While TFZPP collapses to FP under standard derandomization assumptions in the white-box setting, we are able to separate TFZPP from the major TFNP subclasses in the black-box setting. In fact, we are able to separate it from every uniform TFNP class assuming that NP is not in quasi-polynomial time. To do so, we extend the connection between proof complexity and black-box TFNP to randomized proof systems and randomized reductions. Next, we turn to developing a taxonomy of TFZPP problems. We highlight a problem called Nephew, originating from an infinity axiom in set theory. We show that Nephew is in PWPP∩ TFZPP and conjecture that it is not reducible to Lossy-Code. Intriguingly, except for some artificial examples, most other black-box TFZPP problems that we are aware of reduce to Lossy-Code: - We define a problem called Empty-Child capturing finding a leaf in a rooted (binary) tree, and show that this problem is equivalent to Lossy-Code. We also show that a variant of Empty-Child with "heights" is complete for the intersection of SOPL and Lossy-Code. - We strengthen Lossy-Code with several combinatorial inequalities such as the AM-GM inequality. Somewhat surprisingly, we show the resulting new problems are still reducible to Lossy-Code. A technical highlight of this result is that they are proved by formalizations in bounded arithmetic, specifically in Jeřábek’s theory APC₁ (JSL 2007). - Finally, we show that the Dense-Linear-Ordering problem reduces to Lossy-Code.
Cite as

Noah Fleming, Stefan Grosser, Siddhartha Jain, Jiawei Li, Hanlin Ren, Morgan Shirley, and Weiqiang Yuan. Total Search Problems in ZPP. In 17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 362, pp. 60:1-60:26, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)

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@InProceedings{fleming_et_al:LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.60,
  author =	{Fleming, Noah and Grosser, Stefan and Jain, Siddhartha and Li, Jiawei and Ren, Hanlin and Shirley, Morgan and Yuan, Weiqiang},
  title =	{{Total Search Problems in ZPP}},
  booktitle =	{17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026)},
  pages =	{60:1--60:26},
  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.2026.60},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-253473},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.60},
  annote =	{Keywords: TFNP, lossy code, randomized proof systems, query complexity}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.66
A Parameterized-Complexity Framework for Finding Local Optima

Authors: Robert Ganian, Hung P. Hoang, Christian Komusiewicz, and Nils Morawietz

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

Abstract
Local search is a fundamental optimization technique that is both widely used in practice and deeply studied in theory, yet its computational complexity remains poorly understood. The traditional frameworks, PLS and the standard algorithm problem, introduced by Johnson, Papadimitriou, and Yannakakis (1988) fail to capture the methodology of local search algorithms: PLS is concerned with finding a local optimum and not with using local search, while the standard algorithm problem restricts each improvement step to follow a fixed pivoting rule. In this work, we introduce a novel formulation of local search which provides a middle ground between these models. In particular, the task is to output not only a local optimum but also a chain of local improvements leading to it. With this framework, we aim to capture the challenge in designing a good pivoting rule. Especially, when combined with the parameterized complexity paradigm, it enables both strong lower bounds and meaningful tractability results. Unlike previous works that combined parameterized complexity with local search, our framework targets the whole task of finding a local optimum and not only a single improvement step. Focusing on two representative meta-problems - Subset Weight Optimization Problem with the c-swap neighborhood and Weighted Circuit with the flip neighborhood - we establish fixed-parameter tractability results related to the number of distinct weights, while ruling out an analogous result when parameterizing by the distance to the nearest optimum via a new type of reduction.
Cite as

Robert Ganian, Hung P. Hoang, Christian Komusiewicz, and Nils Morawietz. A Parameterized-Complexity Framework for Finding Local Optima. In 17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 362, pp. 66:1-66:20, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)

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@InProceedings{ganian_et_al:LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.66,
  author =	{Ganian, Robert and Hoang, Hung P. and Komusiewicz, Christian and Morawietz, Nils},
  title =	{{A Parameterized-Complexity Framework for Finding Local Optima}},
  booktitle =	{17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026)},
  pages =	{66:1--66:20},
  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.2026.66},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-253532},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.66},
  annote =	{Keywords: Local Search, Parameterized Complexity, PLS}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.69
Computing Equilibrium Points of Electrostatic Potentials

Authors: Abheek Ghosh, Paul W. Goldberg, and Alexandros Hollender

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

Abstract
We study the computation of equilibrium points of electrostatic potentials: locations in space where the electrostatic force arising from a collection of charged particles vanishes. This is a novel scenario of optimization in which solutions are guaranteed to exist due to a nonconstructive argument, but gradient descent is unreliable due to the presence of singularities. We present an algorithm based on piecewise approximation of the potential function by Taylor series. The main insight is to divide the domain into a grid with variable coarseness, where grid cells are exponentially smaller in regions where the function changes rapidly compared to regions where it changes slowly. Our algorithm finds approximate equilibrium points in time poly-logarithmic in the approximation parameter, but these points are not guaranteed to be close to exact solutions. Nevertheless, we show that such points can be computed efficiently under a mild assumption that we call "strong non-degeneracy". We complement these algorithmic results by studying a generalization of this problem and showing that it is CLS-hard and in PPAD, leaving its precise classification as an intriguing open problem.
Cite as

Abheek Ghosh, Paul W. Goldberg, and Alexandros Hollender. Computing Equilibrium Points of Electrostatic Potentials. In 17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 362, pp. 69:1-69:22, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)

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@InProceedings{ghosh_et_al:LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.69,
  author =	{Ghosh, Abheek and Goldberg, Paul W. and Hollender, Alexandros},
  title =	{{Computing Equilibrium Points of Electrostatic Potentials}},
  booktitle =	{17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026)},
  pages =	{69:1--69:22},
  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.2026.69},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-253566},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.69},
  annote =	{Keywords: Total search problems, TFNP, PPAD, CLS, polynomial equations}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.IPEC.2025.24
A Note on the Parameterised Complexity of Coverability in Vector Addition Systems

Authors: Michał Pilipczuk, Sylvain Schmitz, and Henry Sinclair-Banks

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 358, 20th International Symposium on Parameterized and Exact Computation (IPEC 2025)

Abstract
We investigate the parameterised complexity of the classic coverability problem for vector addition systems (VAS): V ⊆ ℤ^d, an initial configuration s ∈ ℕ^d, and a target configuration t ∈ ℕ^d, decide whether starting from s, one can iteratively add vectors from V to ultimately arrive at a configuration that is larger than or equal to t on every coordinate, while not observing any negative value on any coordinate along the way. We consider two natural parameters for the problem: the dimension d and the size of V, defined as the total bitsize of its encoding. We present several results charting the complexity of those two parameterisations, among which the highlight is that coverability for VAS parameterised by the dimension and with all the numbers in the input encoded in unary is complete for the class XNL under PL-reductions. We also discuss open problems in the topic, most notably the question about fixed-parameter tractability for the parameterisation by the size of V.
Cite as

Michał Pilipczuk, Sylvain Schmitz, and Henry Sinclair-Banks. A Note on the Parameterised Complexity of Coverability in Vector Addition Systems. In 20th International Symposium on Parameterized and Exact Computation (IPEC 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 358, pp. 24:1-24:19, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

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@InProceedings{pilipczuk_et_al:LIPIcs.IPEC.2025.24,
  author =	{Pilipczuk, Micha{\l} and Schmitz, Sylvain and Sinclair-Banks, Henry},
  title =	{{A Note on the Parameterised Complexity of Coverability in Vector Addition Systems}},
  booktitle =	{20th International Symposium on Parameterized and Exact Computation (IPEC 2025)},
  pages =	{24:1--24:19},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-407-9},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{358},
  editor =	{Agrawal, Akanksha and van Leeuwen, Erik Jan},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.IPEC.2025.24},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-251563},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.IPEC.2025.24},
  annote =	{Keywords: vector addition system, Petri net, parameterised complexity, coverability}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.FSTTCS.2025.9
ε-Stationary Nash Equilibria in Multi-Player Stochastic Graph Games

Authors: Ali Asadi, Léonard Brice, Krishnendu Chatterjee, and K. S. Thejaswini

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

Abstract
A strategy profile in a multi-player game is a Nash equilibrium if no player can unilaterally deviate to achieve a strictly better payoff. A profile is an ε-Nash equilibrium if no player can gain more than ε by unilaterally deviating from their strategy. In this work, we use ε-Nash equilibria to approximate the computation of Nash equilibria. Specifically, we focus on turn-based, multiplayer stochastic games played on graphs, where players are restricted to stationary strategies - strategies that use randomness but not memory. The problem of deciding the constrained existence of stationary Nash equilibria - where each player’s payoff must lie within a given interval - is known to be ∃ℝ-complete in such a setting (Hansen and Sølvsten, 2020). We extend this line of work to stationary ε-Nash equilibria and present an algorithm that solves the following promise problem: given a game with a Nash equilibrium satisfying the constraints, compute an ε-Nash equilibrium that ε-satisfies those same constraints - satisfies the constraints up to an ε additive error. Our algorithm runs in FNP^NP time. To achieve this, we first show that if a constrained Nash equilibrium exists, then one exists where the non-zero probabilities are at least an inverse of a double-exponential in the input. We further prove that such a strategy can be encoded using floating-point representations, as in the work of Frederiksen and Miltersen (2013), which finally gives us our FNP^NP algorithm. We further show that the decision version of the promise problem is NP-hard. Finally, we show a partial tightness result by proving a lower bound for such techniques: if a constrained Nash equilibrium exists, then there must be one where the probabilities in the strategies are double-exponentially small.
Cite as

Ali Asadi, Léonard Brice, Krishnendu Chatterjee, and K. S. Thejaswini. ε-Stationary Nash Equilibria in Multi-Player Stochastic Graph Games. In 45th IARCS Annual Conference on Foundations of Software Technology and Theoretical Computer Science (FSTTCS 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 360, pp. 9:1-9:17, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

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@InProceedings{asadi_et_al:LIPIcs.FSTTCS.2025.9,
  author =	{Asadi, Ali and Brice, L\'{e}onard and Chatterjee, Krishnendu and Thejaswini, K. S.},
  title =	{{\epsilon-Stationary Nash Equilibria in Multi-Player Stochastic Graph Games}},
  booktitle =	{45th IARCS Annual Conference on Foundations of Software Technology and Theoretical Computer Science (FSTTCS 2025)},
  pages =	{9:1--9:17},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-406-2},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{360},
  editor =	{Aiswarya, C. and Mehta, Ruta and Roy, Subhajit},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.FSTTCS.2025.9},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-250897},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.FSTTCS.2025.9},
  annote =	{Keywords: Nash Equilibria, \epsilon-Nash equilibria, Approximation, Existential Theory of Reals}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ESA.2025.56
PLS-Completeness of String Permutations

Authors: Dominik Scheder and Johannes Tantow

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

Abstract
Bitstrings can be permuted via permutations and compared via the lexicographic order. In this paper we study the complexity of finding a minimum of a bitstring via given permutations. As finding a global optimum is known to be NP-complete [László Babai and Eugene M. Luks, 1983], we study the local optima via the class PLS [David S. Johnson et al., 1988] and show hardness for PLS. Additionally, we show that even for one permutation the global optimization problem is NP-complete and give a formula that has these permutation as its symmetries. This answers an open question inspired from Kołodziejczyk and Thapen [Leszek Aleksander Kolodziejczyk and Neil Thapen, 2024] and stated at the SAT and interactions seminar in Dagstuhl.
Cite as

Dominik Scheder and Johannes Tantow. PLS-Completeness of String Permutations. In 33rd Annual European Symposium on Algorithms (ESA 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 351, pp. 56:1-56:14, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

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@InProceedings{scheder_et_al:LIPIcs.ESA.2025.56,
  author =	{Scheder, Dominik and Tantow, Johannes},
  title =	{{PLS-Completeness of String Permutations}},
  booktitle =	{33rd Annual European Symposium on Algorithms (ESA 2025)},
  pages =	{56:1--56:14},
  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.2025.56},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-245245},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ESA.2025.56},
  annote =	{Keywords: PLS, total search problems, local search, permutation groups, symmetry}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.MFCS.2025.31
Games with ω-Automatic Preference Relations

Authors: Véronique Bruyère, Christophe Grandmont, and Jean-François Raskin

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

Abstract
This paper investigates Nash equilibria (NEs) in multi-player turn-based games on graphs, where player preferences are modeled as ω-automatic relations via deterministic parity automata. Unlike much of the existing literature, which focuses on specific reward functions, our results apply to any preference relation definable by an ω-automatic relation. We analyze the computational complexity of determining the existence of an NE (possibly under some constraints), verifying whether a given strategy profile forms an NE, and checking whether a specific outcome can be realized by an NE. When a (constrained) NE exists, we show that there always exists one with finite-memory strategies. Finally, we explore fundamental properties of ω-automatic relations and their implications in the existence of equilibria.
Cite as

Véronique Bruyère, Christophe Grandmont, and Jean-François Raskin. Games with ω-Automatic Preference Relations. In 50th International Symposium on Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science (MFCS 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 345, pp. 31:1-31:19, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

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@InProceedings{bruyere_et_al:LIPIcs.MFCS.2025.31,
  author =	{Bruy\`{e}re, V\'{e}ronique and Grandmont, Christophe and Raskin, Jean-Fran\c{c}ois},
  title =	{{Games with \omega-Automatic Preference Relations}},
  booktitle =	{50th International Symposium on Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science (MFCS 2025)},
  pages =	{31:1--31:19},
  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.2025.31},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-241381},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.MFCS.2025.31},
  annote =	{Keywords: Games played on graphs, Nash equilibrium, \omega-automatic relations, \omega-recognizable relations, constrained Nash equilibria existence problem}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.MFCS.2025.60
Reachability in Symmetric VASS

Authors: Łukasz Kamiński and Sławomir Lasota

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

Abstract
We investigate the reachability problem in symmetric vector addition systems with states (vass), where transitions are invariant under a group of permutations of coordinates. One extremal case, the trivial groups, yields general vass. In another extremal case, the symmetric groups, we show that the reachability problem can be solved in PSpace, regardless of the dimension of input vass (to be contrasted with Ackermannian complexity in general vass). We also consider other groups, in particular alternating and cyclic ones. Furthermore, motivated by the open status of the reachability problem in data vass, we estimate the gain in complexity when the group arises as a combination of the trivial and symmetric groups.
Cite as

Łukasz Kamiński and Sławomir Lasota. Reachability in Symmetric VASS. In 50th International Symposium on Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science (MFCS 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 345, pp. 60:1-60:17, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

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@InProceedings{kaminski_et_al:LIPIcs.MFCS.2025.60,
  author =	{Kami\'{n}ski, {\L}ukasz and Lasota, S{\l}awomir},
  title =	{{Reachability in Symmetric VASS}},
  booktitle =	{50th International Symposium on Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science (MFCS 2025)},
  pages =	{60:1--60:17},
  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.2025.60},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-241678},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.MFCS.2025.60},
  annote =	{Keywords: vector addition systems, Petri nets, reachability problem, symmetry, permutation group}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.MFCS.2025.66
Deciding Regular Games: a Playground for Exponential Time Algorithms

Authors: Zihui Liang, Bakh Khoussainov, and Mingyu Xiao

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

Abstract
Regular games form a well-established class of games for analysis and synthesis of reactive systems. They include colored Muller games, McNaughton games, Muller games, Rabin games, and Streett games. These games are played on directed graphs G where Player 0 and Player 1 play by generating an infinite path ρ through the graph. The winner is determined by specifications put on the set X of vertices in ρ that occur infinitely often. These games are determined, enabling the partitioning of G into two sets Win₀ and Win₁ of winning positions for Player 0 and Player 1, respectively. Numerous algorithms exist that decide instances of regular games, e.g., Muller games, by computing Win₀ and Win₁. In this paper we aim to find general principles for designing uniform algorithms that decide all regular games. For this we utilize various recursive and dynamic programming algorithms that leverage standard notions such as subgames and traps. Importantly, we show that our techniques improve or match the performances of existing algorithms for many instances of regular games.
Cite as

Zihui Liang, Bakh Khoussainov, and Mingyu Xiao. Deciding Regular Games: a Playground for Exponential Time Algorithms. In 50th International Symposium on Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science (MFCS 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 345, pp. 66:1-66:18, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

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@InProceedings{liang_et_al:LIPIcs.MFCS.2025.66,
  author =	{Liang, Zihui and Khoussainov, Bakh and Xiao, Mingyu},
  title =	{{Deciding Regular Games: a Playground for Exponential Time Algorithms}},
  booktitle =	{50th International Symposium on Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science (MFCS 2025)},
  pages =	{66:1--66:18},
  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.2025.66},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-241732},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.MFCS.2025.66},
  annote =	{Keywords: Regular games, colored Muller games, Rabin games, McNaughton games, Muller games, deciding games}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.CONCUR.2025.16
Expectation in Stochastic Games with Prefix-Independent Objectives

Authors: Laurent Doyen, Pranshu Gaba, and Shibashis Guha

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 348, 36th International Conference on Concurrency Theory (CONCUR 2025)

Abstract
Stochastic two-player games model systems with an environment that is both adversarial and stochastic. In this paper, we study the expected value of bounded quantitative prefix-independent objectives in the context of stochastic games. We show a generic reduction from the expectation problem to linearly many instances of the almost-sure satisfaction problem for threshold Boolean objectives. The result follows from partitioning the vertices of the game into so-called value classes where each class consists of vertices of the same value. Our procedure further entails that the memory required by both players to play optimally for the expectation problem is no more than the memory required by the players to play optimally for the almost-sure satisfaction problem for a corresponding threshold Boolean objective. We show the applicability of the framework to compute the expected window mean-payoff measure in stochastic games. The window mean-payoff measure strengthens the classical mean-payoff measure by computing the mean payoff over windows of bounded length that slide along an infinite path. We show that the decision problem to check if the expected window mean-payoff value is at least a given threshold is in UP ∩ coUP when the window length is given in unary.
Cite as

Laurent Doyen, Pranshu Gaba, and Shibashis Guha. Expectation in Stochastic Games with Prefix-Independent Objectives. In 36th International Conference on Concurrency Theory (CONCUR 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 348, pp. 16:1-16:19, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

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@InProceedings{doyen_et_al:LIPIcs.CONCUR.2025.16,
  author =	{Doyen, Laurent and Gaba, Pranshu and Guha, Shibashis},
  title =	{{Expectation in Stochastic Games with Prefix-Independent Objectives}},
  booktitle =	{36th International Conference on Concurrency Theory (CONCUR 2025)},
  pages =	{16:1--16:19},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-389-8},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{348},
  editor =	{Bouyer, Patricia and van de Pol, Jaco},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.CONCUR.2025.16},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-239668},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.CONCUR.2025.16},
  annote =	{Keywords: Stochastic games, finitary objectives, mean payoff, reactive synthesis}
}
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