Related papers: Finding Bugs in Short Proofs: The Metamathematics …
Atserias and M\"uller (JACM, 2020) proved that for every unsatisfiable CNF formula $\varphi$, the formula $\operatorname{Ref}(\varphi)$, stating "$\varphi$ has small Resolution refutations", does not have subexponential-size Resolution…
We analyse how the standard reductions between constraint satisfaction problems affect their proof complexity. We show that, for the most studied propositional, algebraic, and semi-algebraic proof systems, the classical constructions of…
In this paper we prove lower bounds for sizes of refutations of unsatisfiable vector Subset Sum instances $\overrightarrow{a}_1 x_1 + \dots + \overrightarrow{a}_n x_n = \overrightarrow{b}$ in the proof system Res(lin$_{\mathbb{F}_q}$) where…
Resolution over linear equations is a natural extension of the popular resolution refutation system, augmented with the ability to carry out basic counting. Denoted Res(lin_R), this refutation system operates with disjunctions of linear…
For any unsatisfiable CNF formula we give an exponential lower bound on the size of resolution refutations of a propositional statement that the formula has a resolution refutation. We describe three applications. (1) An open question in…
We investigate the size complexity of proofs in $Res(s)$ -- an extension of Resolution working on $s$-DNFs instead of clauses -- for families of contradictions given in the {\em unusual binary} encoding. A motivation of our work is size…
If no optimal propositional proof system exists, we (and independently Pudl\'ak) prove that ruling out length $t$ proofs of any unprovable sentence is hard. This mapping from unprovable to hard-to-prove sentences powerfully translates facts…
Strong algebraic proof systems such as IPS (Ideal Proof System; Grochow-Pitassi [GP18]) offer a general model for deriving polynomials in an ideal and refuting unsatisfiable propositional formulas, subsuming most standard propositional…
Most state-of-the-art satisfiability algorithms today are variants of the DPLL procedure augmented with clause learning. The main bottleneck for such algorithms, other than the obvious one of time, is the amount of memory used. In the field…
Modern software for propositional satisfiability problems gives a powerful automated reasoning toolkit, capable of outputting not only a satisfiable/unsatisfiable signal but also a justification of unsatisfiability in the form of resolution…
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…
In this paper, we investigate the proof complexity of a wide range of substructural systems. For any proof system $\mathbf{P}$ at least as strong as Full Lambek calculus, $\mathbf{FL}$, and polynomially simulated by the extended Frege…
For a $k$-ary predicate $P$, a random instance of CSP$(P)$ with $n$ variables and $m$ constraints is unsatisfiable with high probability when $m \gg n$. The natural algorithmic task in this regime is \emph{refutation}: finding a proof that…
Random constraint satisfaction problems (CSPs) such as random $3$-SAT are conjectured to be computationally intractable. The average case hardness of random $3$-SAT and other CSPs has broad and far-reaching implications on problems in…
We study the complexity of approximating the number of answers to a small query $\varphi$ in a large database $\mathcal{D}$. We establish an exhaustive classification into tractable and intractable cases if $\varphi$ is a conjunctive query…
In 2003, Atserias and Dalmau resolved a major open question about the resolution proof system by establishing that the space complexity of CNF formulas is always an upper bound on the width needed to refute them. Their proof is beautiful…
Hardness magnification reduces major complexity separations (such as $\mathsf{\mathsf{EXP}} \nsubseteq \mathsf{NC}^1$) to proving lower bounds for some natural problem $Q$ against weak circuit models. Several recent works [OS18, MMW19,…
Tseitin-formulas are systems of parity constraints whose structure is described by a graph. These formulas have been studied extensively in proof complexity as hard instances in many proof systems. In this paper, we prove that a class of…
We study the complexity of fundamental distributed graph problems in the recently popular setting where information about the input graph is available to the nodes before the start of the computation. We focus on the most common such…
The basic problem in the PAC model of computational learning theory is to determine which hypothesis classes are efficiently learnable. There is presently a dearth of results showing hardness of learning problems. Moreover, the existing…