Abstract:
We study the Minimum Circuit Size Problem (MCSP): given the
truth-table of a Boolean function f and a number k, does there exist a
Boolean circuit of size at most k computing f? This is a fundamental
NP problem that is not known to be NP-complete. Previous work has
studied consequences of the NP-completeness of MCSP. We extend this
work and consider whether MCSP may be complete for NP under more
powerful reductions. We also show that NP-completeness of MCSP allows
for amplification of circuit complexity. We show the following
results.
If MCSP is NP-complete via many-one reductions, the following circuit
complexity amplification result holds: If NP ∩ co-NP requires 2nΩ(1)-size circuits, then ENP requires 2Ω(n)-size circuits.
If MCSP is NP-complete under truth-table reductions, then EXP ≠ NP ∩
SIZE(2nε) for some ε > 0 and EXP
≠ ZPP. This result extends to polylog Turing reductions.
Versions:
Proceedings of the 35th IARCS Conference on Foundations of Software Technology and Theoretical Computer Science (Bangalore, India, December
15-19, 2015). Volume 45 of Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics, pages
236-245, 2015.
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