Related papers: Distributed PCP Theorems for Hardness of Approxima…
We propose nonparametric identification and semiparametric estimation of joint potential outcome distributions in the presence of confounding. First, in settings with observed confounding, we derive tighter, covariate-informed bounds on the…
What advantage do \emph{sequential} procedures provide over batch algorithms for testing properties of unknown distributions? Focusing on the problem of testing whether two distributions $\mathcal{D}_1$ and $\mathcal{D}_2$ on $\{1,\dots,…
When belief propagation (BP) converges, it does so to a stationary point of the Bethe free energy $F$, and is often strikingly accurate. However, it may converge only to a local optimum or may not converge at all. An algorithm was recently…
Factor graphs are important models for succinctly representing probability distributions in machine learning, coding theory, and statistical physics. Several computational problems, such as computing marginals and partition functions, arise…
Constraint satisfaction problems (CSPs) are ubiquitous in theoretical computer science. We study the problem of StrongCSPs, i.e. instances where a large induced sub-instance has a satisfying assignment. More formally, given a CSP instance…
Let $P:\{0,1\}^k \to \{0,1\}$ be a nontrivial $k$-ary predicate. Consider a random instance of the constraint satisfaction problem $\mathrm{CSP}(P)$ on $n$ variables with $\Delta n$ constraints, each being $P$ applied to $k$ randomly chosen…
We give a highly efficient "semi-agnostic" algorithm for learning univariate probability distributions that are well approximated by piecewise polynomial density functions. Let $p$ be an arbitrary distribution over an interval $I$ which is…
We study the problem of finding a (pure) product state with optimal fidelity to an unknown $n$-qubit quantum state $\rho$, given copies of $\rho$. This is a basic instance of a fundamental question in quantum learning: is it possible to…
Given an $n$-vertex non-negatively real-weighted graph $G$, whose vertices are partitioned into a set of $k$ clusters, a \emph{clustered network design problem} on $G$ consists of solving a given network design optimization problem on $G$,…
Internet supercomputing is an approach to solving partitionable, computation-intensive problems by harnessing the power of a vast number of interconnected computers. For the problem of using network supercomputing to perform a large…
The problem of maximizing the $p$-th power of a $p$-norm over a halfspace-presented polytope in $\R^d$ is a convex maximization problem which plays a fundamental role in computational convexity. It has been shown in 1986 that this problem…
We prove that there is no fpt-algorithm that can approximate the dominating set problem with any constant ratio, unless FPT= W[1]. Our hardness reduction is built on the second author's recent W[1]-hardness proof of the biclique problem.…
The relationship between the complexity classes $P$ and $NP$ is an unsolved question in the field of theoretical computer science. In the first part of this paper, a lattice framework is proposed to handle the 3-CNF-SAT problems, known to…
Non-convex optimization problems often arise from probabilistic modeling, such as estimation of posterior distributions. Non-convexity makes the problems intractable, and poses various obstacles for us to design efficient algorithms. In…
Hardness results for maximum agreement problems have close connections to hardness results for proper learning in computational learning theory. In this paper we prove two hardness results for the problem of finding a low degree polynomial…
The Strong Exponential Time Hypothesis (SETH) asserts that for every $\varepsilon>0$ there exists $k$ such that $k$-SAT requires time $(2-\varepsilon)^n$. The field of fine-grained complexity has leveraged SETH to prove quite tight…
We study which outcomes are implementable by disclosing coarse statistics of a data-generating process rather than its full distribution. Players observe data whose joint distribution is only partially known: they know the expectations of…
Conjunctive query (CQ) evaluation is NP-complete, but becomes tractable for fragments of bounded hypertreewidth. Approximating a hard CQ by a query from such a fragment can thus allow for an efficient approximate evaluation. While…
Distributed algorithms for solving coupled semidefinite programs (SDPs) commonly require many iterations to converge. They also put high computational demand on the computational agents. In this paper we show that in case the coupled…
Approximate Competitive Equilibrium from Equal Incomes (A-CEEI) is an equilibrium-based solution concept for fair division of discrete items to agents with combinatorial demands. In theory, it is known that in asymptotically large markets:…