English

The Optimizer Quotient and the Certification Trilemma

Computational Complexity 2026-04-02 v2

Abstract

The optimizer quotient is the canonical object for exact decision-relevant information: it is the coarsest exact decision-preserving abstraction (Theorem 2.15). This paper proves that exact certification of this object's coordinate structure is subject to an impossibility trilemma: under PcoNP\mathrm{P} \neq \mathrm{coNP}, no certifier can be simultaneously sound, complete on all in-scope instances, and polynomial-budgeted (Theorem 7.1). The cost of this impossibility varies by regime: coNP (static), PP-hard (stochastic decisiveness), PSPACE-complete (sequential). Six structural restrictions collapse certification to polynomial time. The finite reduction and verification core is mechanized in Lean 4.

Cite

@article{arxiv.2603.14689,
  title  = {The Optimizer Quotient and the Certification Trilemma},
  author = {Tristan Simas},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2603.14689},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

59 pages, 6 tables, Lean 4 artifact and supplementary material available at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18998870

R2 v1 2026-07-01T11:21:11.145Z