23 Search Results for "Vinyals, Marc"


Document
An Exponential Separation Between Deterministic CDCL and DPLL Solvers

Authors: Sahil Samar, Marc Vinyals, and Vijay Ganesh

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 377, 29th International Conference on Theory and Applications of Satisfiability Testing (SAT 2026)


Abstract
We prove that there exists a deterministic configuration of Conflict-Driven Clause Learning (CDCL) SAT solvers using a variant of the VSIDS branching heuristic that solves instances of the Ordering Principle (OP) CNF formulas in time polynomial in n, where n is the number of variables in such formulas. Since tree-like resolution is known to have an exponential lower bound for proof size for OP formulas, it follows that CDCL under this configuration has an exponential separation with any solver that is polynomially equivalent to tree-like resolution and therefore any configuration of DPLL SAT solvers.

Cite as

Sahil Samar, Marc Vinyals, and Vijay Ganesh. An Exponential Separation Between Deterministic CDCL and DPLL Solvers. In 29th International Conference on Theory and Applications of Satisfiability Testing (SAT 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 377, pp. 30:1-30:19, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)


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@InProceedings{samar_et_al:LIPIcs.SAT.2026.30,
  author =	{Samar, Sahil and Vinyals, Marc and Ganesh, Vijay},
  title =	{{An Exponential Separation Between Deterministic CDCL and DPLL Solvers}},
  booktitle =	{29th International Conference on Theory and Applications of Satisfiability Testing (SAT 2026)},
  pages =	{30:1--30:19},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-431-4},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2026},
  volume =	{377},
  editor =	{Ignatiev, Alexey and Szeider, Stefan},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.SAT.2026.30},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-263369},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.SAT.2026.30},
  annote =	{Keywords: SAT solvers, CDCL, Proof Systems, VSIDS}
}
Document
Communication Complexity of Equality and Error-Correcting Codes

Authors: Dale Jacobs, John Jeang, Vladimir Podolskii, Morgan Prior, and Ilya Volkovich

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


Abstract
We study the public-coin randomized communication complexity of the equality function. The communication complexity of this function is known to be low when the error probability is constant and the players have access to many random bits. The complexity grows, however, if the allowed error probability and the amount of randomness are restricted. We show that public-coin randomized protocols for equality and error-correcting codes are essentially the same object. That is, given a protocol for equality, we can construct a code, and vice versa. We substantially extend the protocol-implies-code direction: any protocol computing a function with a large fooling set can be converted into an error-correcting code. As a corollary, we show that among functions with a fooling set of size s, equality on log s bits has the least randomized communication complexity, regardless of the restrictions on the error probability and the amount of randomness. Finally, we use the connection to error-correcting codes to analyze the randomized communication complexity of equality for varying restrictions on the error probability and the amount of randomness. In most cases, we provide tight bounds. We pinpoint the setting in which tight bounds are still unknown.

Cite as

Dale Jacobs, John Jeang, Vladimir Podolskii, Morgan Prior, and Ilya Volkovich. Communication Complexity of Equality and Error-Correcting Codes. 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. 37:1-37:19, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)


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@InProceedings{jacobs_et_al:LIPIcs.FSTTCS.2025.37,
  author =	{Jacobs, Dale and Jeang, John and Podolskii, Vladimir and Prior, Morgan and Volkovich, Ilya},
  title =	{{Communication Complexity of Equality and Error-Correcting Codes}},
  booktitle =	{45th IARCS Annual Conference on Foundations of Software Technology and Theoretical Computer Science (FSTTCS 2025)},
  pages =	{37:1--37:19},
  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.2025.37},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-251175},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.FSTTCS.2025.37},
  annote =	{Keywords: communication complexity, randomized communication complexity, error-correcting codes}
}
Document
RANDOM
Equality Is Far Weaker Than Constant-Cost Communication

Authors: Mika Göös, Nathaniel Harms, and Artur Riazanov

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


Abstract
We exhibit an n-bit communication problem with a constant-cost randomized protocol but which requires n^Ω(1) deterministic (or even non-deterministic) queries to an Equality oracle. Therefore, even constant-cost randomized protocols cannot be efficiently "derandomized" using Equality oracles. This improves on several recent results and answers a question from the survey of Hatami and Hatami (SIGACT News 2024). It also gives a significantly simpler and quantitatively superior proof of the main result of Fang, Göös, Harms, and Hatami (STOC 2025), that constant-cost communication does not reduce to the k-Hamming Distance hierarchy.

Cite as

Mika Göös, Nathaniel Harms, and Artur Riazanov. Equality Is Far Weaker Than Constant-Cost Communication. In Approximation, Randomization, and Combinatorial Optimization. Algorithms and Techniques (APPROX/RANDOM 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 353, pp. 58:1-58:14, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)


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@InProceedings{goos_et_al:LIPIcs.APPROX/RANDOM.2025.58,
  author =	{G\"{o}\"{o}s, Mika and Harms, Nathaniel and Riazanov, Artur},
  title =	{{Equality Is Far Weaker Than Constant-Cost Communication}},
  booktitle =	{Approximation, Randomization, and Combinatorial Optimization. Algorithms and Techniques (APPROX/RANDOM 2025)},
  pages =	{58:1--58:14},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-397-3},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{353},
  editor =	{Ene, Alina and Chattopadhyay, Eshan},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.APPROX/RANDOM.2025.58},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-244246},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.APPROX/RANDOM.2025.58},
  annote =	{Keywords: Equality oracle, constant-cost communication, gamma-2 norm, spectral norm}
}
Document
RANDOM
Searching for Falsified Clause in Random (log{n})-CNFs Is Hard for Randomized Communication

Authors: Artur Riazanov, Anastasia Sofronova, Dmitry Sokolov, and Weiqiang Yuan

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


Abstract
We show that for a randomly sampled unsatisfiable O(log n)-CNF over n variables the randomized two-party communication cost of finding a clause falsified by the given variable assignment is linear in n.

Cite as

Artur Riazanov, Anastasia Sofronova, Dmitry Sokolov, and Weiqiang Yuan. Searching for Falsified Clause in Random (log{n})-CNFs Is Hard for Randomized Communication. In Approximation, Randomization, and Combinatorial Optimization. Algorithms and Techniques (APPROX/RANDOM 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 353, pp. 64:1-64:17, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)


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@InProceedings{riazanov_et_al:LIPIcs.APPROX/RANDOM.2025.64,
  author =	{Riazanov, Artur and Sofronova, Anastasia and Sokolov, Dmitry and Yuan, Weiqiang},
  title =	{{Searching for Falsified Clause in Random (log\{n\})-CNFs Is Hard for Randomized Communication}},
  booktitle =	{Approximation, Randomization, and Combinatorial Optimization. Algorithms and Techniques (APPROX/RANDOM 2025)},
  pages =	{64:1--64:17},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-397-3},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{353},
  editor =	{Ene, Alina and Chattopadhyay, Eshan},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.APPROX/RANDOM.2025.64},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-244306},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.APPROX/RANDOM.2025.64},
  annote =	{Keywords: communication complexity, proof complexity, random CNF}
}
Document
RANDOM
Eigenvalue Bounds for Symmetric Markov Chains on Multislices with Applications

Authors: Prashanth Amireddy, Amik Raj Behera, Srikanth Srinivasan, and Madhu Sudan

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


Abstract
We consider random walks on "balanced multislices" of any "grid" that respects the "symmetries" of the grid, and show that a broad class of such walks are good spectral expanders. (A grid is a set of points of the form 𝒮ⁿ for finite 𝒮, and a balanced multi-slice is the subset that contains an equal number of coordinates taking every value in 𝒮. A walk respects symmetries if the probability of going from u = (u_1,…,u_n) to v = (v_1,…,v_n) is invariant under simultaneous permutations of the coordinates of u and v.) Our main theorem shows that, under some technical conditions, every such walk where a single step leads to an almost 𝒪(1)-wise independent distribution on the next state, conditioned on the previous state, satisfies a non-trivially small singular value bound. We give two applications of our theorem to error-correcting codes: (1) We give an analog of the Ore-DeMillo-Lipton-Schwartz-Zippel lemma for polynomials, and junta-sums, over balanced multislices. (2) We also give a local list-correction algorithm for d-junta-sums mapping an arbitrary grid 𝒮ⁿ to an Abelian group, correcting from a near-optimal (1/|𝒮|^d - ε) fraction of errors for every ε > 0, where a d-junta-sum is a sum of (arbitrarily many) d-juntas (and a d-junta is a function that depends on only d of the n variables). Our proofs are obtained by exploring the representation theory of the symmetric group and merging it with some careful spectral analysis.

Cite as

Prashanth Amireddy, Amik Raj Behera, Srikanth Srinivasan, and Madhu Sudan. Eigenvalue Bounds for Symmetric Markov Chains on Multislices with Applications. In Approximation, Randomization, and Combinatorial Optimization. Algorithms and Techniques (APPROX/RANDOM 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 353, pp. 34:1-34:12, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)


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@InProceedings{amireddy_et_al:LIPIcs.APPROX/RANDOM.2025.34,
  author =	{Amireddy, Prashanth and Behera, Amik Raj and Srinivasan, Srikanth and Sudan, Madhu},
  title =	{{Eigenvalue Bounds for Symmetric Markov Chains on Multislices with Applications}},
  booktitle =	{Approximation, Randomization, and Combinatorial Optimization. Algorithms and Techniques (APPROX/RANDOM 2025)},
  pages =	{34:1--34:12},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-397-3},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{353},
  editor =	{Ene, Alina and Chattopadhyay, Eshan},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.APPROX/RANDOM.2025.34},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-244004},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.APPROX/RANDOM.2025.34},
  annote =	{Keywords: Markov Chains, Random Walk, Multislices, Representation Theory of Symmetric Group, Local Correction, Low-degree Polynomials, Polynomial Distance Lemma}
}
Document
Practically Feasible Proof Logging for Pseudo-Boolean Optimization

Authors: Wietze Koops, Daniel Le Berre, Magnus O. Myreen, Jakob Nordström, Andy Oertel, Yong Kiam Tan, and Marc Vinyals

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 340, 31st International Conference on Principles and Practice of Constraint Programming (CP 2025)


Abstract
Certifying solvers have long been standard for decision problems in Boolean satisfiability (SAT), allowing for proof logging and checking with very limited overhead, but developing similar tools for combinatorial optimization has remained a challenge. A recent promising approach covering a wide range of solving paradigms is pseudo-Boolean proof logging, but this has mostly consisted of proof-of-concept works far from delivering the performance required for real-world deployment. In this work, we present an efficient toolchain based on VeriPB and CakePB for formally verified pseudo-Boolean optimization. We implement proof logging for the full range of techniques in the state-of-the-art solvers RoundingSat and Sat4j, including core-guided search and linear programming integration with Farkas certificates and cut generation. Our experimental evaluation shows that proof logging and checking performance in this much more expressive paradigm is now quite close to the level of SAT solving, and hence is clearly practically feasible.

Cite as

Wietze Koops, Daniel Le Berre, Magnus O. Myreen, Jakob Nordström, Andy Oertel, Yong Kiam Tan, and Marc Vinyals. Practically Feasible Proof Logging for Pseudo-Boolean Optimization. In 31st International Conference on Principles and Practice of Constraint Programming (CP 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 340, pp. 21:1-21:27, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)


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@InProceedings{koops_et_al:LIPIcs.CP.2025.21,
  author =	{Koops, Wietze and Le Berre, Daniel and Myreen, Magnus O. and Nordstr\"{o}m, Jakob and Oertel, Andy and Tan, Yong Kiam and Vinyals, Marc},
  title =	{{Practically Feasible Proof Logging for Pseudo-Boolean Optimization}},
  booktitle =	{31st International Conference on Principles and Practice of Constraint Programming (CP 2025)},
  pages =	{21:1--21:27},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-380-5},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{340},
  editor =	{de la Banda, Maria Garcia},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.CP.2025.21},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-238825},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.CP.2025.21},
  annote =	{Keywords: proof logging, certifying algorithms, combinatorial optimization, certification, pseudo-Boolean solving, 0-1 integer linear programming}
}
Document
Hardness of Clique Approximation for Monotone Circuits

Authors: Jarosław Błasiok and Linus Meierhöfer

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 339, 40th Computational Complexity Conference (CCC 2025)


Abstract
We consider a problem of approximating the size of the largest clique in a graph, using a monotone circuit. Concretely, we focus on distinguishing a random Erdős–Rényi graph 𝒢_{n,p}, with p = n^{-2/(α-1)} chosen st. with high probability it does not even contain an α-clique, from a random clique on β vertices (where α ≤ β). Using the approximation method of Razborov, Alon and Boppana showed in their influential work in 1987 that as long as √{α} β < n^{1-δ}/log n, this problem requires a monotone circuit of size n^Ω(δ√α), implying a lower bound of 2^Ω̃(n^{1/3}) for the exact version of the problem Clique_k when k≈ n^{2/3}. Recently, Cavalar, Kumar, and Rossman improved their result by showing a tight lower bound n^Ω(k), in a limited range k ≤ n^{1/3}, implying a comparable 2^Ω̃(n^{1/3}) lower bound after choosing the largest admissible k. We combine the ideas of Cavalar, Kumar and Rossman with recent breakthrough results on sunflower conjecture by Alweiss, Lovett, Wu, and Zhang to show that as long as α β < n^{1-δ}/log n, any monotone circuit rejecting 𝒢_{n,p} graph while accepting a β-clique needs to have size at least n^Ω(δ²α); this implies a stronger 2^Ω̃(√n) lower bound for the unrestricted version of the problem. We complement this result with a construction of an explicit monotone circuit of size O(n^{δ² α/2}) which rejects 𝒢_{n,p}, and accepts any graph containing β-clique whenever β > n^{1-δ}. In particular, those two theorems give a precise characterization of the smallest β-clique that can be distinguished from 𝒢_{n, 1/2}: when β > n / 2^{C √{log n}}, there is a polynomial-size circuit that solves it, while for β < n / 2^ω(√{log n}) every circuit needs size n^ω(1).

Cite as

Jarosław Błasiok and Linus Meierhöfer. Hardness of Clique Approximation for Monotone Circuits. In 40th Computational Complexity Conference (CCC 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 339, pp. 4:1-4:20, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)


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@InProceedings{blasiok_et_al:LIPIcs.CCC.2025.4,
  author =	{B{\l}asiok, Jaros{\l}aw and Meierh\"{o}fer, Linus},
  title =	{{Hardness of Clique Approximation for Monotone Circuits}},
  booktitle =	{40th Computational Complexity Conference (CCC 2025)},
  pages =	{4:1--4:20},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-379-9},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{339},
  editor =	{Srinivasan, Srikanth},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.CCC.2025.4},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-236987},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.CCC.2025.4},
  annote =	{Keywords: circuit lower bounds, monotone circuits, sunflower conjecture}
}
Document
Direct Sums for Parity Decision Trees

Authors: Tyler Besselman, Mika Göös, Siyao Guo, Gilbert Maystre, and Weiqiang Yuan

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 339, 40th Computational Complexity Conference (CCC 2025)


Abstract
Direct sum theorems state that the cost of solving k instances of a problem is at least Ω(k) times the cost of solving a single instance. We prove the first such results in the randomised parity decision tree model. We show that a direct sum theorem holds whenever (1) the lower bound for parity decision trees is proved using the discrepancy method; or (2) the lower bound is proved relative to a product distribution.

Cite as

Tyler Besselman, Mika Göös, Siyao Guo, Gilbert Maystre, and Weiqiang Yuan. Direct Sums for Parity Decision Trees. In 40th Computational Complexity Conference (CCC 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 339, pp. 16:1-16:38, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)


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@InProceedings{besselman_et_al:LIPIcs.CCC.2025.16,
  author =	{Besselman, Tyler and G\"{o}\"{o}s, Mika and Guo, Siyao and Maystre, Gilbert and Yuan, Weiqiang},
  title =	{{Direct Sums for Parity Decision Trees}},
  booktitle =	{40th Computational Complexity Conference (CCC 2025)},
  pages =	{16:1--16:38},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-379-9},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{339},
  editor =	{Srinivasan, Srikanth},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.CCC.2025.16},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-237105},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.CCC.2025.16},
  annote =	{Keywords: direct sum, parity decision trees, query complexity}
}
Document
Lifting with Colourful Sunflowers

Authors: Susanna F. de Rezende and Marc Vinyals

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 339, 40th Computational Complexity Conference (CCC 2025)


Abstract
We show that a generalization of the DAG-like query-to-communication lifting theorem, when proven using sunflowers over non-binary alphabets, yields lower bounds on the monotone circuit complexity and proof complexity of natural functions and formulas that are better than previously known results obtained using the approximation method. These include an n^Ω(k) lower bound for the clique function up to k ≤ n^{1/2-ε}, and an exp(Ω(n^{1/3-ε})) lower bound for a function in P.

Cite as

Susanna F. de Rezende and Marc Vinyals. Lifting with Colourful Sunflowers. In 40th Computational Complexity Conference (CCC 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 339, pp. 36:1-36:19, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)


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@InProceedings{derezende_et_al:LIPIcs.CCC.2025.36,
  author =	{de Rezende, Susanna F. and Vinyals, Marc},
  title =	{{Lifting with Colourful Sunflowers}},
  booktitle =	{40th Computational Complexity Conference (CCC 2025)},
  pages =	{36:1--36:19},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-379-9},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{339},
  editor =	{Srinivasan, Srikanth},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.CCC.2025.36},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-237303},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.CCC.2025.36},
  annote =	{Keywords: lifting, sunflower, clique, colouring, monotone circuit, cutting planes}
}
Document
Tropical Proof Systems: Between R(CP) and Resolution

Authors: Yaroslav Alekseev, Dima Grigoriev, and Edward A. Hirsch

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


Abstract
Propositional proof complexity deals with the lengths of polynomial-time verifiable proofs for Boolean tautologies. An abundance of proof systems is known, including algebraic and semialgebraic systems, which work with polynomial equations and inequalities, respectively. The most basic algebraic proof system is based on Hilbert’s Nullstellensatz [Paul Beame et al., 1996]. Tropical ("min-plus") arithmetic has many applications in various areas of mathematics. The operations are the real addition (as the tropical multiplication) and the minimum (as the tropical addition). Recently, [Bertram and Easton, 2017; Dima Grigoriev and Vladimir V. Podolskii, 2018; Joo and Mincheva, 2018] demonstrated a version of Nullstellensatz in the tropical setting. In this paper we introduce (semi)algebraic proof systems that use min-plus arithmetic. For the dual-variable encoding of Boolean variables (two tropical variables x and x ̅ per one Boolean variable x) and {0,1}-encoding of the truth values, we prove that a static (Nullstellensatz-based) tropical proof system polynomially simulates daglike resolution and also has short proofs for the propositional pigeon-hole principle. Its dynamic version strengthened by an additional derivation rule (a tropical analogue of resolution by linear inequality) is equivalent to the system Res(LP) (aka R(LP)), which derives nonnegative linear combinations of linear inequalities; this latter system is known to polynomially simulate Krajíček’s Res(CP) (aka R(CP)) with unary coefficients. Therefore, tropical proof systems give a finer hierarchy of proof systems below Res(LP) for which we still do not have exponential lower bounds. While the "driving force" in Res(LP) is resolution by linear inequalities, dynamic tropical systems are driven solely by the transitivity of the order, and static tropical proof systems are based on reasoning about differences between the input linear functions. For the truth values encoded by {0,∞}, dynamic tropical proofs are equivalent to Res(∞), which is a small-depth Frege system called also DNF resolution. Finally, we provide a lower bound on the size of derivations of a much simplified tropical version of the {Binary Value Principle} in a static tropical proof system. Also, we establish the non-deducibility of the tropical resolution rule in this system and discuss axioms for Boolean logic that do not use dual variables. In this extended abstract, full proofs are omitted.

Cite as

Yaroslav Alekseev, Dima Grigoriev, and Edward A. Hirsch. Tropical Proof Systems: Between R(CP) and Resolution. In 42nd International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 327, pp. 8:1-8:20, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)


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@InProceedings{alekseev_et_al:LIPIcs.STACS.2025.8,
  author =	{Alekseev, Yaroslav and Grigoriev, Dima and Hirsch, Edward A.},
  title =	{{Tropical Proof Systems: Between R(CP) and Resolution}},
  booktitle =	{42nd International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2025)},
  pages =	{8:1--8:20},
  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.2025.8},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-228332},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.STACS.2025.8},
  annote =	{Keywords: Cutting Planes, Nullstellensatz refutations, Res(CP), semi-algebraic proofs, tropical proof systems, tropical semiring}
}
Document
Invited Talk
Some Recent Advancements in Monotone Circuit Complexity (Invited Talk)

Authors: Susanna F. de Rezende

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


Abstract
In 1985, Razborov [Razborov, 1985] proved the first superpolynomial size lower bound for monotone Boolean circuits for the perfect matching the clique functions, and, independently, Andreev [Andreev, 1985] obtained exponential size lower bounds. These breakthroughs were soon followed by further advancements in monotone complexity, including better lower bounds for clique [Alon and Boppana, 1987; Ingo Wegener, 1987], superlogarithmic depth lower bounds for connectivity by Karchmer and Wigderson [Karchmer and Wigderson, 1990], and the separations mon-NC ≠ mon-P and that mon-NC^i ≠ mon-NC^{i+1} by Raz and McKenzie [Ran Raz and Pierre McKenzie, 1999]. Karchmer and Wigderson [Karchmer and Wigderson, 1990] proved their result by establishing a relation between communication complexity and (monotone) circuit depth, and Raz and McKenzie [Ran Raz and Pierre McKenzie, 1999] introduced a new technique, now called lifting theorems, for obtaining communication lower bounds from query complexity lower bounds, In this talk, we will survey recent advancements in monotone complexity driven by query-to-communication lifting theorems. A decade ago, Göös, Pitassi, and Watson [Mika Göös et al., 2018] brought to light the generality of the result of Raz and McKenzie [Ran Raz and Pierre McKenzie, 1999] and reignited this line of work. A notable extension is the lifting theorem [Ankit Garg et al., 2020] for a model of DAG-like communication [Alexander A. Razborov, 1995; Dmitry Sokolov, 2017] that corresponds to circuit size. These powerful theorems, in their different flavours, have been instrumental in addressing many open questions in monotone circuit complexity, including: optimal 2^Ω(n) lower bounds on the size of monotone Boolean formulas computing an explicit function in NP [Toniann Pitassi and Robert Robere, 2017]; a complete picture of the relation between the mon-AC and mon-NC hierarchies [Susanna F. de Rezende et al., 2016]; a near optimal separation between monotone circuit and monotone formula size [Susanna F. de Rezende et al., 2020]; exponential separation between NC^2 and mon-P [Ankit Garg et al., 2020; Mika Göös et al., 2019]; and better lower bounds for clique [de Rezende and Vinyals, 2025; Lovett et al., 2022], improving on [Cavalar et al., 2021]. Very recently, lifting theorems were also used to prove supercritical trade-offs for monotone circuits showing that there are functions computable by small circuits for which any small circuit must have superlinear or even superpolynomial depth [de Rezende et al., 2024; Göös et al., 2024]. We will explore these results and their implications, and conclude by discussing some open problems.

Cite as

Susanna F. de Rezende. Some Recent Advancements in Monotone Circuit Complexity (Invited Talk). In 42nd International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 327, pp. 4:1-4:2, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)


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@InProceedings{derezende:LIPIcs.STACS.2025.4,
  author =	{de Rezende, Susanna F.},
  title =	{{Some Recent Advancements in Monotone Circuit Complexity}},
  booktitle =	{42nd International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2025)},
  pages =	{4:1--4:2},
  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.2025.4},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-228291},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.STACS.2025.4},
  annote =	{Keywords: monotone circuit complexity, query complexity, lifting theorems}
}
Document
A Lower Bound on the Trace Norm of Boolean Matrices and Its Applications

Authors: Tsun-Ming Cheung, Hamed Hatami, Kaave Hosseini, Aleksandar Nikolov, Toniann Pitassi, and Morgan Shirley

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 325, 16th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2025)


Abstract
We present a simple method based on a variant of Hölder’s inequality to lower-bound the trace norm of Boolean matrices. As the main result, we obtain an exponential separation between the randomized decision tree depth and the spectral norm (i.e. the Fourier L₁-norm) of a Boolean function. This answers an open question of Cheung, Hatami, Hosseini and Shirley (CCC 2023). As immediate consequences, we obtain the following results. - We give an exponential separation between the logarithm of the randomized and the deterministic parity decision tree size. This is in sharp contrast with the standard binary decision tree setting where the logarithms of randomized and deterministic decision tree size are essentially polynomially related, as shown recently by Chattopadhyay, Dahiya, Mande, Radhakrishnan, and Sanyal (STOC 2023). - We give an exponential separation between the approximate and the exact spectral norm for Boolean functions. - We give an exponential separation for XOR functions between the deterministic communication complexity with oracle access to Equality function (D^EQ) and randomized communication complexity. Previously, such a separation was known for general Boolean matrices by Chattopadhyay, Lovett, and Vinyals (CCC 2019) using the Integer Inner Product (IIP) function. - Finally, our method gives an elementary and short proof for the mentioned exponential D^EQ lower bound of Chattopadhyay, Lovett, and Vinyals for Integer Inner Product (IIP).

Cite as

Tsun-Ming Cheung, Hamed Hatami, Kaave Hosseini, Aleksandar Nikolov, Toniann Pitassi, and Morgan Shirley. A Lower Bound on the Trace Norm of Boolean Matrices and Its Applications. In 16th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 325, pp. 37:1-37:15, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)


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@InProceedings{cheung_et_al:LIPIcs.ITCS.2025.37,
  author =	{Cheung, Tsun-Ming and Hatami, Hamed and Hosseini, Kaave and Nikolov, Aleksandar and Pitassi, Toniann and Shirley, Morgan},
  title =	{{A Lower Bound on the Trace Norm of Boolean Matrices and Its Applications}},
  booktitle =	{16th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2025)},
  pages =	{37:1--37:15},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-361-4},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{325},
  editor =	{Meka, Raghu},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2025.37},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-226654},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2025.37},
  annote =	{Keywords: Boolean function complexity, parity decision trees, randomized communication complexity}
}
Document
Better Boosting of Communication Oracles, or Not

Authors: Nathaniel Harms and Artur Riazanov

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 323, 44th IARCS Annual Conference on Foundations of Software Technology and Theoretical Computer Science (FSTTCS 2024)


Abstract
Suppose we have a two-party communication protocol for f which allows the parties to make queries to an oracle computing g; for example, they may query an Equality oracle. To translate this protocol into a randomized protocol, we must replace the oracle with a randomized subroutine for solving g. If q queries are made, the standard technique requires that we boost the error of each subroutine down to O(1/q), leading to communication complexity which grows as q log q. For which oracles g can this naïve boosting technique be improved? We focus on the oracles which can be computed by constant-cost randomized protocols, and show that the naïve boosting strategy can be improved for the Equality oracle but not the 1-Hamming Distance oracle. Two surprising consequences are (1) a new example of a problem where the cost of computing k independent copies grows superlinear in k, drastically simplifying the only previous example due to Blais & Brody (CCC 2019); and (2) a new proof that Equality is not complete for the class of constant-cost randomized communication (Harms, Wild, & Zamaraev, STOC 2022; Hambardzumyan, Hatami, & Hatami, Israel Journal of Mathematics 2022).

Cite as

Nathaniel Harms and Artur Riazanov. Better Boosting of Communication Oracles, or Not. In 44th IARCS Annual Conference on Foundations of Software Technology and Theoretical Computer Science (FSTTCS 2024). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 323, pp. 25:1-25:14, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2024)


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@InProceedings{harms_et_al:LIPIcs.FSTTCS.2024.25,
  author =	{Harms, Nathaniel and Riazanov, Artur},
  title =	{{Better Boosting of Communication Oracles, or Not}},
  booktitle =	{44th IARCS Annual Conference on Foundations of Software Technology and Theoretical Computer Science (FSTTCS 2024)},
  pages =	{25:1--25:14},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-355-3},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2024},
  volume =	{323},
  editor =	{Barman, Siddharth and Lasota, S{\l}awomir},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.FSTTCS.2024.25},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-222143},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.FSTTCS.2024.25},
  annote =	{Keywords: oracles, error reduction, communication complexity}
}
Document
Proving Unsatisfiability with Hitting Formulas

Authors: Yuval Filmus, Edward A. Hirsch, Artur Riazanov, Alexander Smal, and Marc Vinyals

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 287, 15th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2024)


Abstract
A hitting formula is a set of Boolean clauses such that any two of the clauses cannot be simultaneously falsified. Hitting formulas have been studied in many different contexts at least since [Iwama, 1989] and, based on experimental evidence, Peitl and Szeider [Tomás Peitl and Stefan Szeider, 2022] conjectured that unsatisfiable hitting formulas are among the hardest for resolution. Using the fact that hitting formulas are easy to check for satisfiability we make them the foundation of a new static proof system {{rmHitting}}: a refutation of a CNF in {{rmHitting}} is an unsatisfiable hitting formula such that each of its clauses is a weakening of a clause of the refuted CNF. Comparing this system to resolution and other proof systems is equivalent to studying the hardness of hitting formulas. Our first result is that {{rmHitting}} is quasi-polynomially simulated by tree-like resolution, which means that hitting formulas cannot be exponentially hard for resolution and partially refutes the conjecture of Peitl and Szeider. We show that tree-like resolution and {{rmHitting}} are quasi-polynomially separated, while for resolution, this question remains open. For a system that is only quasi-polynomially stronger than tree-like resolution, {{rmHitting}} is surprisingly difficult to polynomially simulate in another proof system. Using the ideas of Raz-Shpilka’s polynomial identity testing for noncommutative circuits [Raz and Shpilka, 2005] we show that {{rmHitting}} is p-simulated by {{rmExtended {{rmFrege}}}}, but we conjecture that much more efficient simulations exist. As a byproduct, we show that a number of static (semi)algebraic systems are verifiable in deterministic polynomial time. We consider multiple extensions of {{rmHitting}}, and in particular a proof system {{{rmHitting}}(⊕)} related to the {{{rmRes}}(⊕)} proof system for which no superpolynomial-size lower bounds are known. {{{rmHitting}}(⊕)} p-simulates the tree-like version of {{{rmRes}}(⊕)} and is at least quasi-polynomially stronger. We show that formulas expressing the non-existence of perfect matchings in the graphs K_{n,n+2} are exponentially hard for {{{rmHitting}}(⊕)} via a reduction to the partition bound for communication complexity. See the full version of the paper for the proofs. They are omitted in this Extended Abstract.

Cite as

Yuval Filmus, Edward A. Hirsch, Artur Riazanov, Alexander Smal, and Marc Vinyals. Proving Unsatisfiability with Hitting Formulas. In 15th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2024). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 287, pp. 48:1-48:20, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2024)


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@InProceedings{filmus_et_al:LIPIcs.ITCS.2024.48,
  author =	{Filmus, Yuval and Hirsch, Edward A. and Riazanov, Artur and Smal, Alexander and Vinyals, Marc},
  title =	{{Proving Unsatisfiability with Hitting Formulas}},
  booktitle =	{15th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2024)},
  pages =	{48:1--48:20},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-309-6},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2024},
  volume =	{287},
  editor =	{Guruswami, Venkatesan},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2024.48},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-195762},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2024.48},
  annote =	{Keywords: hitting formulas, polynomial identity testing, query complexity}
}
Document
Vision
Knowledge Engineering Using Large Language Models

Authors: Bradley P. Allen, Lise Stork, and Paul Groth

Published in: TGDK, Volume 1, Issue 1 (2023): Special Issue on Trends in Graph Data and Knowledge. Transactions on Graph Data and Knowledge, Volume 1, Issue 1


Abstract
Knowledge engineering is a discipline that focuses on the creation and maintenance of processes that generate and apply knowledge. Traditionally, knowledge engineering approaches have focused on knowledge expressed in formal languages. The emergence of large language models and their capabilities to effectively work with natural language, in its broadest sense, raises questions about the foundations and practice of knowledge engineering. Here, we outline the potential role of LLMs in knowledge engineering, identifying two central directions: 1) creating hybrid neuro-symbolic knowledge systems; and 2) enabling knowledge engineering in natural language. Additionally, we formulate key open research questions to tackle these directions.

Cite as

Bradley P. Allen, Lise Stork, and Paul Groth. Knowledge Engineering Using Large Language Models. In Special Issue on Trends in Graph Data and Knowledge. Transactions on Graph Data and Knowledge (TGDK), Volume 1, Issue 1, pp. 3:1-3:19, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2023)


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@Article{allen_et_al:TGDK.1.1.3,
  author =	{Allen, Bradley P. and Stork, Lise and Groth, Paul},
  title =	{{Knowledge Engineering Using Large Language Models}},
  journal =	{Transactions on Graph Data and Knowledge},
  pages =	{3:1--3:19},
  ISSN =	{2942-7517},
  year =	{2023},
  volume =	{1},
  number =	{1},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/TGDK.1.1.3},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-194777},
  doi =		{10.4230/TGDK.1.1.3},
  annote =	{Keywords: knowledge engineering, large language models}
}
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