English

Proof Complexity and Feasible Interpolation

Logic 2025-05-07 v1 Computational Complexity

Abstract

This is a survey on propositional proof complexity aimed at introducing the basics of the field with a particular focus on a method known as feasible interpolation. This method is used to construct "hard theorems" for several proof systems for both classical and non-classical logics. Here, a "hard theorem" refers to a theorem in the logic whose shortest proofs are super-polynomially long in the length of the theorem itself. To make this survey more accessible, we only assume a basic familiarity with propositional, modal, and first-order logic, as well as a basic understanding of the key concepts in computational complexity, such as the definitions of the classes NP\mathbf{NP} and PSPACE\mathbf{PSPACE}. Any additional concepts will be introduced and explained as needed.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2505.03002,
  title  = {Proof Complexity and Feasible Interpolation},
  author = {Amirhossein Akbar Tabatabai},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2505.03002},
  year   = {2025}
}

Comments

This is a chapter of the book "Theory and Applications of Craig Interpolation", edited by Balder ten Cate, Jean Christoph Jung, Patrick Koopmann, Christoph Wernhard and Frank Wolter

R2 v1 2026-06-28T23:22:05.688Z