Questions tagged [computational-complexity]

This is a branch that includes: computational complexity theory; complexity classes, NP-completeness and other completeness concepts; oracle analogues of complexity classes; complexity-theoretic computational models; regular languages; context-free languages; Komolgorov Complexity and so on.

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8 answers
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Can a problem be simultaneously polynomial time and undecidable?

The Robertson-Seymour theorem on graph minors leads to some interesting conundrums. The theorem states that any minor-closed class of graphs can be described by a finite number of excluded minors. As ...
Gordon Royle's user avatar
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54 votes
2 answers
8k views

Walsh Fourier transform of the Möbius function

This question is related to this previous question where I asked about ordinary Fourier coefficients. Special case: is Möbius nearly orthogonal to Morse August Ferdinand Möbius (November 17, 1790 – ...
30 votes
5 answers
13k views

Can all convex optimization problems be solved in polynomial time using interior-point algorithms?

Just a new guy in optimization. Is it true that all convex optimization problems can be solved in polynomial time using interior-point algorithms?
Optimizationguy's user avatar
21 votes
3 answers
6k views

What are the current breakthroughs of Geometric Complexity Theory?

I've read from Wikipedia about Geometric Complexity Theory (GCT) which (if I understood correctly) is a program for coping with the $ P=NP $ problem using algebraic methods. That program seems ...
18 votes
2 answers
1k views

Explicit invariant of tensors nonvanishing on the diagonal

The group $SL_n \times SL_n \times SL_n$ acts naturally on the vector space $\mathbb C^n \otimes \mathbb C^n \otimes \mathbb C^n$ and has a rather large ring of polynomial invariants. The element $$\...
Will Sawin's user avatar
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113 votes
11 answers
17k views

On mathematical arguments against Quantum computing

Quantum computing is a very active and rapidly expanding field of research. Many companies and research institutes are spending a lot on this futuristic and potentially game-changing technology. Some ...
16 votes
2 answers
3k views

Optimizing the condition number

Suppose I have a set $S$ of $N$ vectors in $W=\mathbb{R}^m,$ with $N \gg m.$ I want to choose a subset $\{v_1, \dots, v_m\}$ of $S$ in such a way that the condition number of the matrix with columns $...
Igor Rivin's user avatar
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6 votes
2 answers
877 views

A Query regarding the Halting Problem (Omega): Halting Probability for Given Input Size

I was studying the Halting Problem in context of the Probability and had a few doubts regarding it. Hope someone could help me out. I am aware of the probability of a Random program halting on a ...
user13550's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
176 views

Maximum independent set in dense graphs

Let $0 < A < 1$ and $G$ be connected d-regular graph with degree $d=[A n]$. The density of $G$ is about $A$. Q1 Are there constraints on $A$ such that finding maximum independent set of $G$ is ...
joro's user avatar
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106 votes
10 answers
14k views

Analogues of P vs. NP in the history of mathematics

Recently I wrote a blog post entitled "The Scientific Case for P≠NP". The argument I tried to articulate there is that there seems to be an "invisible electric fence" separating the problems in P ...
81 votes
7 answers
7k views

Computational complexity of computing homotopy groups of spheres

At various times I've heard the statement that computing the group structure of $\pi_k S^n$ is algorithmic. But I've never come across a reference claiming this. Is there a precise algorithm ...
Ryan Budney's user avatar
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52 votes
2 answers
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How fast can we *really* multiply matrices?

Background: The Strassen Algorithm, described here, has a computational complexity of $\text{O}(n^{2.807})$ for the multiplication of two $n \times n$ matrices (the exponent is $\frac{\log7}{\log2}$). ...
Vidit Nanda's user avatar
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47 votes
7 answers
5k views

Is it easy to produce hard-to-color graphs?

This question arises from my recent visit to my daughter's second-grade class, where I led some discussion and activities on graph coloring (see Math for seven-year-olds). In one such activity, each ...
Joel David Hamkins's user avatar
46 votes
7 answers
12k views

What is the time complexity of computing sin(x) to t bits of precision?

Short version of the question: Presumably, it's poly$(t)$. But what polynomial, and could you provide a reference? Long version of the question: I'm sort of surprised to be asking this, because ...
Ryan O'Donnell's user avatar
35 votes
1 answer
2k views

How hard is reconstructing a permutation from its differences sequence?

My interest in combinatorially motivated computational problems led me to search for simple problems that turn out to be computationally hard. In this pursuit, I came up with a problem which I hope is ...
Mohammad Al-Turkistany's user avatar
29 votes
2 answers
1k views

Determining if a rational function has a subtraction-free expression

This question was first asked by Mehtaab Sawhney in Alex Postnikov's combinatorics class. Given a rational function $F=P(x_1,...,x_n)/Q(x_1,...,x_n)$ with (say) integer coefficients, it is often of ...
Christian Gaetz's user avatar
28 votes
7 answers
8k views

Solving NP problems in (usually) Polynomial time?

Just because a problem is NP-complete doesn't mean it can't be usually solved quickly. The best example of this is probably the traveling salesman problem, for which extraordinarily large instances ...
DoubleJay's user avatar
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22 votes
2 answers
2k views

Deep theorems and long proofs

I ran across this discussion by Daniel Shanks, "Is the quadratic reciprocity law a deep theorem?." Solved and Unsolved Problems in Number Theory. Vol. 297. AMS, 2001. p.64ff. which made me ...
Joseph O'Rourke's user avatar
18 votes
1 answer
2k views

Forcing over set theory versus forcing over arithmetic

I've been trying to understand better some of the research on forcing over bounded arithmetic and its connections with lower bounds in complexity theory. For example, Takeuti and Yasumoto have some ...
Timothy Chow's user avatar
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18 votes
7 answers
3k views

SAT and Arithmetic Geometry

This is an agglomeration of several questions, linked by a single observation: SAT is equivalent to determining the existence of roots for a system of polynomial equations over $\mathbb{F}_2$ (note ...
Vanessa's user avatar
  • 1,368
14 votes
3 answers
3k views

Complexity of computing matrix rank over integers

Does computing the rank of an integer matrix have complexity polynomial in the size of the input? The Gaussian elimination algorithm is polynomial in the number of elementary operations (addition and ...
user1855's user avatar
  • 471
12 votes
1 answer
539 views

Seeking references for finding primes infinitely often

I've been pondering this weakened version of the finding primes problem for a while: Is there an algorithm which given $k$ outputs a prime $p > 2^k$ in time $F(\log_2(p))$? This differs from ...
Dan Brumleve's user avatar
  • 2,254
11 votes
3 answers
482 views

Finite objects for which isomorphism is NP-hard or harder?

Are there finite objects for which deciding isomorphism is NP-hard or harder? Graphs and groups are not solutions. Searching the web didn't return answer for me. Partial result based on Chow's ...
joro's user avatar
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7 votes
2 answers
799 views

Building a Physical Model to Solve Sudoku

Before asking my questions, allow me to begin with a separate example to help clarify what I'm driving at. For terms that are not defined formally, please interpret them as you feel would be most ...
Benjamin Dickman's user avatar
7 votes
2 answers
7k views

Computational complexity of calculating the nth root of a real number

Several sources state that the computational or time complexity of square rooting is the same as that of multiplication (or division). See for example: Jean-Michel Muller, "Elementary Functions: ...
aslan's user avatar
  • 385
7 votes
2 answers
3k views

Conic hulls and cones

Suppose I have a number of vectors in $\mathbb{R}^n.$ The first question is: what is the most efficient algorithm to compute their "conic hull" (the minimal convex cone which contains them)? The next ...
Igor Rivin's user avatar
  • 95.5k
6 votes
1 answer
356 views

Time functions of non-deterministic Turing machines

Let $M$ be a non-deterministic Turing machine which recognizes a language $L$, that is, for every input word $u$ there is an accepting computation with input $u$ if and only if $u\in L$. The smallest ...
user avatar
6 votes
1 answer
1k views

Exact arithmetic for real algebraic numbers

There was a reply to a question (that I can't find) which mentioned SARAG (Some Algorithms in Real Algebraic Geometry) see http://perso.univ-rennes1.fr/marie-francoise.roy/bpr-ed2-posted2.html. This ...
Bruce Westbury's user avatar
6 votes
1 answer
2k views

Given a set of 2D vertices, how to create a minimum-area polygon which contains all the given vertices?

Not sure whether this question belongs here or math.stackexchange. You can assume that all the vertices are unique. The given vertices can be the vertices of the polygon, thus they do NOT have to be ...
fajrian's user avatar
  • 163
5 votes
1 answer
438 views

an algebraic variety for a boolean circuit

There is a polynomial reduction from a $3-CNF$ $SAT$ problem to some system of polynomial equations over $\mathbb{F}_2$. I mean there is polynomial reduction $F$ such that for every boolean ...
Alexey Milovanov's user avatar
5 votes
1 answer
4k views

Complexity for solving linear equations?

What is the best known complexity for finding a vector $x \in \mathbb{R}^n$ to minimize $||Ax - b||^2$ and/or to solve (when possible) the system of linear equations $Ax=b$? I am interested in ...
Michael's user avatar
  • 534
3 votes
1 answer
287 views

Relationship between P-noncomputable and P-random sets

$P$ means polynomial complexity. $S_p$ is the class of all $P$_random set, and $S_{pc}$ is the class of all $P$ noncomputable sets, is $S_p \bigcap S_{pc}$ empty? If not empty, any example? what is ...
XL _At_Here_There's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
6k views

Finding the square root modulo n, when the factors of n are known

Last month, I asked whether there is an efficient algorithm for finding the square root modulo a prime power here: Is there an efficient algorithm for finding a square root modulo a prime power? Now, ...
Craig Feinstein's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
612 views

relationship between corner tile and edge tile of wang tile

It is clear that any corner type of Wang Tile could be converted to edge type of Wang Tile by defining the edge color according to the corner color. However, could we convert edge type of Wang Tile ...
user40780's user avatar
  • 867
41 votes
10 answers
7k views

What is the shortest program for which halting is unknown?

In short, my question is: What is the shortest computer program for which it is not known whether or not the program halts? Of course, this depends on the description language; I also have the ...
Daniel Litt's user avatar
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33 votes
1 answer
1k views

Is this conjecture strictly weaker than P=NP?

My three computability questions are related to the following group theory question (first asked by Bridson in 1996): For which real $\alpha\ge 2$ the function $n^\alpha$ is equivalent to the Dehn ...
user avatar
31 votes
3 answers
3k views

Given a polynomial-time algorithm, can we compute an explicit polynomial time bound just from the program?

Question. Given a Turing-machine program $e$, which is guaranteed to run in polynomial time, can we computably find such a polynomial? In other words, is there a computable function $e\mapsto p_e$, ...
Joel David Hamkins's user avatar
30 votes
1 answer
588 views

Guess that group via product queries

Suppose someone (person B) knows a finite group $G$ of order $n$. You (person A) know only the order $n$, and that $1$ is the name of the identity element. The group elements are named $1,2,\ldots,n$ ...
Joseph O'Rourke's user avatar
29 votes
3 answers
3k views

Is the theory of categories decidable?

There are a lot of theorems in basic homological algebra, such as the five lemma or the snake lemma, that seem like they'd be more easily proven by computer than by hand. This led me to consider the ...
27 votes
4 answers
8k views

How do we know that P != LINSPACE without knowing if one is a subset of the other?

I've seen that P != LINSPACE (by which I mean SPACE(n)), but that we don't know if one is a subset of the other. I assume that means that the proof must not involve showing a problem that's in one ...
wjomlex's user avatar
  • 503
27 votes
0 answers
1k views

Computational complexity of topological K-theory

I am a novice with K-theory trying to understand what is and what is not possible. Given a finite simplicial complex $X$, there of course elementary ways to quickly compute the cohomology of $X$ with ...
Jeremy Hahn's user avatar
26 votes
4 answers
6k views

What would be some major consequences of the inconsistency of ZFC?

Update (21st April, 2019). Removed the reference / initial trigger behind my question (please see comment thread below for the reasons). Am retaining, of course, the actual question, noted both in the ...
Suvrit's user avatar
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25 votes
2 answers
2k views

Who first dubbed them "expander graphs"?

Expander graphs ("sparse graphs that have strong connectivity properties") burst onto the mathematical scene around the millennium, but I have not been successful in tracing the origin of (a) the ...
Joseph O'Rourke's user avatar
25 votes
1 answer
6k views

Evidence for integer factorization is in $P$

Peter Sarnak believes that integer factorization is in $P$. It is a well-known open problem in TCS to identify the real complexity class of integer factorization. Take a look at this link for Peter ...
user16007's user avatar
  • 780
25 votes
3 answers
3k views

Discrete Fourier Transform of the Möbius Function

Consider the Möbius function $\mu (m)$. (Thus $\mu(m)=0$ unless all prime factors of $m$ appear once and $\mu (m)=(-1)^r$ if $m$ has $r$ distinct prime factors.) Next consider for some natural number $...
Gil Kalai's user avatar
  • 24.2k
24 votes
4 answers
4k views

Super-linear time complexity lower bounds for any natural problem in NP?

Do we know any problem in NP which has a super-linear time complexity lower bound? Ideally, we would like to show that 3SAT has super-polynomial lower bounds, but I guess we're far away from that. I'd ...
Rune's user avatar
  • 2,386
20 votes
2 answers
2k views

Any important consequences with presupposition of $\mathbf{P} \neq \mathbf{NP}$

As we know, there are lots of consequences with the presupposition of the Riemann Hypothesis. Similarly, are there any important consequences with the presupposition of $\mathbf{P} \neq \mathbf{NP}$ ?...
20 votes
4 answers
838 views

Enumeration and random selection

In Peter J. Cameron's book "Permutation Groups" I found the following quote It is a slogan of modern enumeration theory that the ability to count a set is closely related to the ability to pick a ...
Gjergji Zaimi's user avatar
19 votes
1 answer
3k views

Möbius Randomness of the Rudin-Shapiro Sequence

The Rudin-Shapiro sequence (also known as the Golay-Rudin-Shapiro sequence) is defined as follows. Let $a_n = \sum \epsilon_i\epsilon_{i+1}$ where $\epsilon_1,\epsilon_2,\dots$ are the digits in the ...
Gil Kalai's user avatar
  • 24.2k
19 votes
3 answers
2k views

A generalization of the triangle counting problem for simple weighted graphs

One nice identity is that $$\operatorname{tr}(A^3)/6$$ counts the number of triangles of a graph with adjacency matrix $A$. It also implies that triangle counting in a graph can be performed in sub-...
Jernej's user avatar
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