Related papers: Circuit complexity, proof complexity, and polynomi…

We prove super-polynomial lower bounds on the size of propositional proof systems operating with constant-depth algebraic circuits over fields of zero characteristic. Specifically, we show that the subset-sum variant…

Polynomial identity testing and arithmetic circuit lower bounds are two central questions in algebraic complexity theory. It is an intriguing fact that these questions are actually related. One of the authors of the present paper has…

We observe that a certain kind of algebraic proof - which covers essentially all known algebraic circuit lower bounds to date - cannot be used to prove lower bounds against VP if and only if what we call succinct hitting sets exist for VP.…

We study whether lower bounds against constant-depth algebraic circuits computing the Permanent over finite fields (Limaye-Srinivasan-Tavenas, J. ACM 2025; Forbes, CCC 2024) are hard to prove in certain proof systems. We focus on a DNF…

We give upper and lower bounds on the power of subsystems of the Ideal Proof System (IPS), the algebraic proof system recently proposed by Grochow and Pitassi, where the circuits comprising the proof come from various restricted algebraic…

We survey recent progress in the proof complexity of strong proof systems and its connection to algebraic circuit complexity, showing how the synergy between the two gives rise to new approaches to fundamental open questions, solutions to…

A polynomial identity testing algorithm must determine whether an input polynomial (given for instance by an arithmetic circuit) is identically equal to 0. In this paper, we show that a deterministic black-box identity testing algorithm for…

We formalize a framework of algebraically natural lower bounds for algebraic circuits. Just as with the natural proofs notion of Razborov and Rudich for boolean circuit lower bounds, our notion of algebraically natural lower bounds captures…

Proving that there are problems in $\mathsf{P}^\mathsf{NP}$ that require boolean circuits of super-linear size is a major frontier in complexity theory. While such lower bounds are known for larger complexity classes, existing results only…

Motivated by the fundamental lower bounds questions in proof complexity, we initiate the study of matrix identities as hard instances for strong proof systems. A matrix identity of $d \times d$ matrices over a field $\mathbb{F}$, is a…

We say that a circuit $C$ over a field $F$ functionally computes an $n$-variate polynomial $P$ if for every $x \in \{0,1\}^n$ we have that $C(x) = P(x)$. This is in contrast to syntactically computing $P$, when $C \equiv P$ as formal…

In a sequence of seminal results in the 80's, Kaltofen showed that the complexity class VP is closed under taking factors. A natural question in this context is to understand if other natural classes of multivariate polynomials, for…

The celebrated result of Kabanets and Impagliazzo (Computational Complexity, 2004) showed that PIT algorithms imply circuit lower bounds, and vice versa. Since then it has been a major challenge to understand the precise connections between…

We study arithmetic proof systems P_c(F) and P_f(F) operating with arithmetic circuits and arithmetic formulas, respectively, that prove polynomial identities over a field F. We establish a series of structural theorems about these proof…

We address the black-box polynomial identity testing (PIT) problem for non-commutative polynomials computed by $+$-regular circuits, a class of homogeneous circuits introduced by [AJMR](STOC 2017, Theory of Computing 2019). These circuits…

The motivation for this paper is to study the complexity of constant-width arithmetic circuits. Our main results are the following. 1. For every k > 1, we provide an explicit polynomial that can be computed by a linear-sized monotone…

Valiant's famous VP vs. VNP conjecture states that the symbolic permanent polynomial does not have polynomial-size algebraic circuits. However, the best upper bound on the size of the circuits computing the permanent is exponential.…

Polynomial Identity Testing (PIT) is a fundamental computational problem. The famous depth-$4$ reduction result by Agrawal and Vinay (FOCS 2008) has made PIT for depth-$4$ circuits an enticing pursuit. A restricted depth-4 circuit computing…

We study the problem of polynomial identity testing (PIT) for depth 2 arithmetic circuits over matrix algebra. We show that identity testing of depth 3 (Sigma-Pi-Sigma) arithmetic circuits over a field F is polynomial time equivalent to…

The central open question of algebraic complexity is whether VP is unequal to VNP, which is saying that the permanent cannot be represented by families of polynomial-size algebraic circuits. For symmetric algebraic circuits, this has been…