This paper continues the investigation of the connection between proof systems and approximation. The emphasis is on proving tight non-approximability results via consideration of measures like the "free bit complexity" and the "amortized free bit complexity" of proof systems.

This is the nineteenth edition of a (usually) quarterly column that covers new developments in the theory of NP-completeness. The presentation is modeled on that used by M. R. Garey and myself in our book ‘‘Computers and Intractability: A Guide to the Theory of NP-Completeness,’ ’ W. H. Freeman & Co., New York, 1979 (hereinafter referred to as ‘‘[G&J]’’; previous columns will be referred to by their dates). A background equivalent to that provided by [G&J] is assumed, and, when appropriate, cross-references will be given to that book and the list of problems (NP-complete and harder) presented there. Readers who have results they would like mentioned (NP-hardness, PSPACE-hardness, polynomial-time-solvability, etc.) or open problems they would like publicized, should

, Introduction and References only) Benny Chor Oded Goldreich MIT \Gamma Laboratory for Computer Science Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139 ABSTRACT \Gamma A new model for weak random physical sources is presented. The new model strictly generalizes previous models (e.g. the Santha and Vazirani model [24]). The sources considered output strings according to probability distributions in which no single string is too probable. The new model provides a fruitful viewpoint on problems studied previously as: ffl Extracting almost perfect bits from sources of weak randomness: the question of possibility as well as the question of efficiency of such extraction schemes are addressed. ffl Probabilistic Communication Complexity: it is shown that most functions have linear communication complexity in a very strong probabilistic sense. ffl Robustness of BPP with respect to sources of weak randomness (generalizing a result of Vazirani and Vazirani [27]). The paper has appeared in SIAM Journal o...

Madhu Sudan y Luca Trevisan z Salil Vadhan x Abstract Impagliazzo and Wigderson [IW97] have recently shown that if there exists a decision problem solvable in time 2 O(n) and having circuit complexity 2 n) (for all but finitely many n) then P = BPP. This result is a culmination of a series of works showing connections between the existence of hard predicates and the existence of good pseudorandom generators. The construction of Impagliazzo and Wigderson goes through three phases of "hardness amplification" (a multivariate polynomial encoding, a first derandomized XOR Lemma, and a second derandomized XOR Lemma) that are composed with the Nisan-- Wigderson [NW94] generator. In this paper we present two different approaches to proving the main result of Impagliazzo and Wigderson. In developing each approach, we introduce new techniques and prove new results that could be useful in future improvements and/or applications of hardness-randomness trade-offs. Our first result is that when (a modified version of) the NisanWigderson generator construction is applied with a "mildly" hard predicate, the result is a generator that produces a distribution indistinguishable from having large min-entropy. An extractor can then be used to produce a distribution computationally indistinguishable from uniform. This is the first construction of a pseudorandom generator that works with a mildly hard predicate without doing hardness amplification. We then show that in the Impagliazzo--Wigderson construction only the first hardness-amplification phase (encoding with multivariate polynomial) is necessary, since it already gives the required average-case hardness. We prove this result by (i) establishing a connection between the hardness-amplification problem and a listdecoding...

) L'aszl'o Babai Noam Nisan y Lance Fortnow z Avi Wigderson University of Chicago Hebrew University Abstract We show that BPP can be simulated in subexponential time for infinitely many input lengths unless exponential time ffl collapses to the second level of the polynomial-time hierarchy, ffl has polynomial-size circuits and ffl has publishable proofs (EXPTIME=MA). We also show that BPP is contained in subexponential time unless exponential time has publishable proofs for infinitely many input lengths. In addition, we show BPP can be simulated in subexponential time for infinitely many input lengths unless there exist unary languages in MA n P . The proofs are based on the recent characterization of the power of multiprover interactive protocols and on random self-reducibility via low degree polynomials. They exhibit an interplay between Boolean circuit simulation, interactive proofs and classical complexity classes. An important feature of this proof is that it does not ...

. The purpose of this paper is a study of computation that can be done locally in a distributed network, where "locally" means within time (or distance) independent of the size of the network. Locally Checkable Labeling (LCL) problems are considered, where the legality of a labeling can be checked locally (e.g., coloring). The results include the following: ffl There are non-trivial LCL problems that have local algorithms. ffl There is a variant of the dining philosophers problem that can be solved locally. ffl Randomization cannot make an LCL problem local; i.e., if a problem has a local randomized algorithm then it has a local deterministic algorithm. ffl It is undecidable, in general, whether a given LCL has a local algorithm. ffl However, it is decidable whether a given LCL has an algorithm that operates in a given time t. ffl Any LCL problem that has a local algorithm has one that is order-invariant (the algorithm depends only on the order of the processor id's). Keywords: ...

We establish hardness versus randomness trade-offs for a broad class of randomized procedures. In particular, we create efficient nondeterministic simulations of bounded round Arthur-Merlin games using a language in exponential time that cannot be decided by polynomial size oracle circuits with access to satisfiability. We show that every language with a bounded round Arthur-Merlin game has subexponential size membership proofs for infinitely many input lengths unless exponential time coincides with the third level of the polynomial-time hierarchy (and hence the polynomial-time hierarchy collapses). This provides the first strong evidence that graph nonisomorphism has subexponential size proofs. We set up a general framework for derandomization which encompasses more than the traditional model of randomized computation. For a randomized procedure to fit within this framework, we only require that for any fixed input the complexity of checking whether the procedure succeeds on a given ...

We present a technique for converting RNC algorithms into NC algorithms. Our approach is based on a parallel implementation of the method of conditional probabilities. This method was used to convert probabilistic proofs of existence of combinatorial structures into polynomial time deterministic algorithms. It has the apparent drawback of being extremely sequential in nature. We show certain general conditions under which it is possible to use this technique for devising deterministic parallel algorithms. We use our technique to devise an NC algorithm for the set balancing problem. This problem turns out to be a useful tool for parallel algorithms. Using our de-randomization method and the set balancing algorithm, we provide an NC algorithm for the lattice approximation problem. We also use the lattice approximation problem to bootstrap the set balancing algorithm, and the result is a more processor efficient algorithm. The set balancing algorithm also yields an NC algorithm for near-optimal edge coloring of simple graphs. Our methods also extend to the parallelization of various algorithms in computational geometry that rely upon the random sampling technique of Clarkson. Finally, our methods apply to constructing certain combinatorial structures, e.g. ...

We show that the minimum distance d of a linear code is not approximable to within anyconstant factor in random polynomial time (RP), unless NP (nondeterministic polynomial time) equals RP. We also show that the minimum distance is not approximable to within an additiveerror that is linear in the block length n of the code. Under the stronger assumption that NPis not contained in RQP (random quasi-polynomial time), we show that the minimum distance is not approximable to within the factor 2log 1-ffl(n), for any ffl> 0. Our results hold for codes over any finite field, including binary codes. In the process we show that it is hard to findapproximately nearest codewords even if the number of errors exceeds the unique decoding radius d/2 by only an arbitrarily small fraction ffld. We also prove the hardness of the nearestcodeword problem for asymptotically good codes, provided the number of errors exceeds (2

This is a survey of space-bounded probabilistic computation, summarizing the present state of knowledge about the relationships between the various complexity classes associated with such computation. The survey especially emphasizes recent progress in the construction of pseudorandom generators that fool probabilistic space-bounded computations, and the application of such generators to obtain deterministic simulations.