A generalized method for proving polynomial calculus degree lower bounds

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingArticle in proceedingsResearchpeer-review

We study the problem of obtaining lower bounds for polynomial calculus (PC) and polynomial calculus resolution (PCR) on proof degree, and hence by [Impagliazzo et al. '99] also on proof size. [Alekhnovich and Razborov'03] established that if the clause-variable incidence graph of a CNF formula F is a good enough expander, then proving that F is unsatisfiable requires high PC/PCR degree. We further develop the techniques in [AR03] to show that if one can "cluster" clauses and variables in a way that "respects the structure" of the formula in a certain sense, then it is sufficient that the incidence graph of this clustered version is an expander. As a corollary of this, we prove that the functional pigeonhole principle (FPHP) formulas require high PC/PCR degree when restricted to constant-degree expander graphs. This answers an open question in [Razborov'02], and also implies that the standard CNF encoding of the FPHP formulas require exponential proof size in polynomial calculus resolution. Thus, while Onto-FPHP formulas are easy for polynomial calculus, as shown in [Riis'93], both FPHP and Onto-PHP formulas are hard even when restricted to bounded-degree expanders.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publication30th Conference on Computational Complexity, CCC 2015
EditorsDavid Zuckerman
Number of pages21
PublisherSchloss Dagstuhl- Leibniz-Zentrum fur Informatik GmbH, Dagstuhl Publishing
Publication date1 Jun 2015
Pages467-487
ISBN (Electronic)9783939897811
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jun 2015
Externally publishedYes
Event30th Conference on Computational Complexity, CCC 2015 - Portland, United States
Duration: 17 Jun 201519 Jun 2015

Conference

Conference30th Conference on Computational Complexity, CCC 2015
LandUnited States
ByPortland
Periode17/06/201519/06/2015
SponsorMicrosoft Research
SeriesLeibniz International Proceedings in Informatics, LIPIcs
Volume33
ISSN1868-8969

    Research areas

  • Degree, Functional pigeonhole principle, Lower bound, PCR, Polynomial calculus, Polynomial calculus resolution, Proof complexity, Size

ID: 251869007