Narrow proofs may be maximally long

We prove that there are 3-CNF formulas over n variables that can be refuted in resolution in width w but require resolution proofs of size n(Omega(w)). This shows that the simple counting argument that any formula refutable in width w must have a proof in size n(O(w)) is essentially tight. Moreover,...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Atserias, Albert|||0000-0002-3732-1989, Lauria, Massimo, Nordström, Jakob
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2016
País:España
Institución:Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC)
Repositorio:UPCommons. Portal del coneixement obert de la UPC
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:upcommons.upc.edu:2117/99737
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/2117/99737
https://dx.doi.org/10.1145/2898435
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Computational complexity
Proof complexity
Resolution
Width
Polynomial calculus
Polynomial calculus resolution
PCR
Sherali-Adams
SAR
Degree
Complexitat computacional
Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Informàtica::Informàtica teòrica
Descripción
Sumario:We prove that there are 3-CNF formulas over n variables that can be refuted in resolution in width w but require resolution proofs of size n(Omega(w)). This shows that the simple counting argument that any formula refutable in width w must have a proof in size n(O(w)) is essentially tight. Moreover, our lower bound generalizes to polynomial calculus resolution and Sherali-Adams, implying that the corresponding size upper bounds in terms of degree and rank are tight as well. The lower bound does not extend all the way to Lasserre, however, since we show that there the formulas we study have proofs of constant rank and size polynomial in both n and w.