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Limits on Alternation Trading Proofs for Time–Space Lower Bounds

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Abstract

This paper characterizes alternation trading-based proofs that the Boolean satisfiability problem is not in the time- and space-bounded class DTISP\({(n^c,n^\epsilon)}\), for various values c < 2 and \({\epsilon < 1}\). We characterize exactly what can be proved in the \({\epsilon = 0}\) case with currently known methods and prove the conjecture of Williams that \({c=2\cos(\pi/7)}\) is optimal for this. For time–space trade-offs and lower bounds on satisfiability, we give a theoretical and computational analysis of the alternation trading proofs for \({0 < \epsilon < 1}\).

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Correspondence to Samuel R. Buss.

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Buss, S.R., Williams, R. Limits on Alternation Trading Proofs for Time–Space Lower Bounds. comput. complex. 24, 533–600 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00037-015-0104-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00037-015-0104-9

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