English

Simulating Polynomial-Time Nondeterministic Turing Machines via Nondeterministic Turing Machines

Computational Complexity 2026-05-29 v25

Abstract

We prove in this paper that there is a language LsL_s accepted by some nondeterministic Turing machine that runs within time O(nk)O(n^k) for any positive integer kN1k\in\mathbb{N}_1 but not by any coNP{\rm co}\mathcal{NP} machines. Then we further show that LsL_s is in NP\mathcal{NP}, thus proving a groundbreaking result that NPcoNP.\mathcal{NP}\neq{\rm co}\mathcal{NP}. The main techniques used in this paper are simulation and the novel new techniques developed in the author's recent work. Our main result has profound implications, such as PNP\mathcal{P}\neq\mathcal{NP}, etc. Further, if there exists some oracle AA such that PANPA=coNPA\mathcal{P}^A\ne\mathcal{NP}^A={\rm co}\mathcal{NP}^A, we then explore what mystery lies behind it and show that if PANPA=coNPA\mathcal{P}^A\ne\mathcal{NP}^A={\rm co}\mathcal{NP}^A and under some rational assumptions, then the set of all coNPA{\rm co}\mathcal{NP}^A machines is not enumerable, thus showing that the simulation techniques are not applicable for the first half of the whole step to separate NPA\mathcal{NP}^A from coNPA{\rm co}\mathcal{NP}^A. Finally, a lower bounds result for Frege proof systems is presented (i.e., no Frege proof systems can be polynomially bounded).

Cite

@article{arxiv.2406.10476,
  title  = {Simulating Polynomial-Time Nondeterministic Turing Machines via Nondeterministic Turing Machines},
  author = {Tianrong Lin},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2406.10476},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

[v25] Revised for polishing; grammatical mistakes corrected; arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:2110.06211

R2 v1 2026-06-28T17:06:57.764Z