English

Some easy optimization problems have the overlap-gap property

Computational Complexity 2025-06-25 v3 Data Structures and Algorithms Combinatorics Probability

Abstract

We show that the shortest ss-tt path problem has the overlap-gap property in (i) sparse G(n,p)\mathbf{G}(n,p) graphs and (ii) complete graphs with i.i.d. Exponential edge weights. Furthermore, we demonstrate that in sparse G(n,p)\mathbf{G}(n,p) graphs, shortest path is solved by O(logn)O(\log n)-degree polynomial estimators, and a uniform approximate shortest path can be sampled in polynomial time. This constitutes the first example in which the overlap-gap property is not predictive of algorithmic intractability for a (non-algebraic) average-case optimization problem.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2411.01836,
  title  = {Some easy optimization problems have the overlap-gap property},
  author = {Shuangping Li and Tselil Schramm},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2411.01836},
  year   = {2025}
}

Comments

30 pages

R2 v1 2026-06-28T19:46:57.925Z