Let $X$ be a $p$-variate random vector and $\widetilde{X}$ a knockoff copy of $X$ (in the sense of \cite{CFJL18}). A new approach for constructing $\widetilde{X}$ (henceforth, NA) has been introduced in \cite{JSPI}. NA has essentially three advantages: (i) To build $\widetilde{X}$ is straightforward; (ii) The joint distribution of $(X,\widetilde{X})$ can be written in closed form; (iii) $\widetilde{X}$ is often optimal under various criteria. However, for NA to apply, $X_1,\ldots, X_p$ should be conditionally independent given some random element $Z$. Our first result is that any probability measure $\mu$ on $\mathbb{R}^p$ can be approximated by a probability measure $\mu_0$ of the form $$\mu_0\bigl(A_1\times\ldots\times A_p\bigr)=E\Bigl\{\prod_{i=1}^p P(X_i\in A_i\mid Z)\Bigr\}.$$ The approximation is in total variation distance when $\mu$ is absolutely continuous, and an explicit formula for $\mu_0$ is provided. If $X\sim\mu_0$, then $X_1,\ldots,X_p$ are conditionally independent. Hence, with a negligible error, one can assume $X\sim\mu_0$ and build $\widetilde{X}$ through NA. Our second result is a characterization of the knockoffs $\widetilde{X}$ obtained via NA. It is shown that $\widetilde{X}$ is of this type if and only if the pair $(X,\widetilde{X})$ can be extended to an infinite sequence so as to satisfy certain invariance conditions. The basic tool for proving this fact is de Finetti's theorem for partially exchangeable sequences. In addition to the quoted results, an explicit formula for the conditional distribution of $\widetilde{X}$ given $X$ is obtained in a few cases. In one of such cases, it is assumed $X_i\in\{0,1\}$ for all $i$.
A subset $S$ of the Boolean hypercube $\mathbb{F}_2^n$ is a sumset if $S = \{a + b : a, b\in A\}$ for some $A \subseteq \mathbb{F}_2^n$. Sumsets are central objects of study in additive combinatorics, featuring in several influential results. We prove a lower bound of $\Omega(2^{n/2})$ for the number of queries needed to test whether a Boolean function $f:\mathbb{F}_2^n \to \{0,1\}$ is the indicator function of a sumset. Our lower bound for testing sumsets follows from sharp bounds on the related problem of shift testing, which may be of independent interest. We also give a near-optimal $2^{n/2} \cdot \mathrm{poly}(n)$-query algorithm for a smoothed analysis formulation of the sumset refutation problem.
For a fixed integer $r \geq 1$, a distance-$r$ dominating set (D$r$DS) of a graph $G = (V, E)$ is a vertex subset $D \subseteq V$ such that every vertex in $V$ is within distance $r$ from some member of $D$. Given two D$r$DSs $D_s, D_t$ of $G$, the Distance-$r$ Dominating Set Reconfiguration (D$r$DSR) problem asks if there is a sequence of D$r$DSs that transforms $D_s$ into $D_t$ (or vice versa) such that each intermediate member is obtained from its predecessor by applying a given reconfiguration rule exactly once. The problem for $r = 1$ has been well-studied in the literature. We consider D$r$DSR for $r \geq 2$ under two well-known reconfiguration rules: Token Jumping ($\mathsf{TJ}$, which involves replacing a member of the current D$r$DS by a non-member) and Token Sliding ($\mathsf{TS}$, which involves replacing a member of the current D$r$DS by an adjacent non-member). It is known that under any of $\mathsf{TS}$ and $\mathsf{TJ}$, the problem on split graphs is $\mathtt{PSPACE}$-complete for $r = 1$. We show that for $r \geq 2$, the problem is in $\mathtt{P}$, resulting in an interesting complexity dichotomy. Along the way, we prove some non-trivial bounds on the length of a shortest reconfiguration sequence on split graphs when $r = 2$ which may be of independent interest. Additionally, we design a linear-time algorithm under $\mathsf{TJ}$ on trees. On the negative side, we show that D$r$DSR for $r \geq 1$ on planar graphs of maximum degree three and bounded bandwidth is $\mathtt{PSPACE}$-complete, improving the degree bound of previously known results. We also show that the known $\mathtt{PSPACE}$-completeness results under $\mathsf{TS}$ and $\mathsf{TJ}$ for $r = 1$ on bipartite graphs and chordal graphs can be extended for $r \geq 2$.
This paper addresses the computational problem of deciding invertibility (or one to one-ness) of a Boolean map $F$ in $n$-Boolean variables. This problem has a special case of deciding invertibilty of a map $F:\mathbb{F}_{2}^n\rightarrow\mathbb{F}_{2}^n$ over the binary field $\mathbb{F}_2$. Further the problem can be extended and stated over a finite field $\mathbb{F}$ instead of $\mathbb{F}_2$. Algebraic condition for invertibility of $F$ in this special case over a finite field is well known to be equivalent to invertibility of the Koopman operator of $F$ as shown in \cite{RamSule}. In this paper a condition for invertibility is derived in the special case of Boolean maps $F:B_0^n\rightarrow B_0^n$ where $B_0$ is the two element Boolean algebra in terms of \emph{implicants} of Boolean equations. This condition is then extended to the case of general maps in $n$ variables. Hence this condition answers the special case of invertibility of the map $F$ defined over the binary field $\mathbb{F}_2$ alternatively, in terms of implicants instead of the Koopman operator. The problem of deciding invertibility of a map $F$ (or that of finding its $GOE$) over finite fields appears to be distinct from the satisfiability problem (SAT) or the problem of deciding consistency of polynomial equations over finite fields. Hence the well known algorithms for deciding SAT or of solvability using Grobner basis for checking membership in an ideal generated by polynomials is not known to answer the question of invertibility of a map. Similarly it appears that algorithms for satisfiability or polynomial solvability are not useful for computation of $GOE(F)$ even for maps over the binary field $\mathbb{F}_2$.
The hull of a linear code $C$ is the intersection of $C$ with its dual code. We present and analyze the number of linear $q$-ary codes of the same length and dimension but with different dimensions for their hulls. We prove that for given dimension $k$ and length $n\ge 2k$ the number of all $[n,k]_q$ linear codes with hull dimension $l$ decreases as $l$ increases. We also present classification results for binary and ternary linear codes with trivial hulls (LCD and self-orthogonal) for some values of the length $n$ and dimension $k$, comparing the obtained numbers with the number of all linear codes for the given $n$ and $k$.
Let $\mathcal{H}=(X,\mathcal{E})$ be a hypergraph. A support is a graph $Q$ on $X$ such that for each $E\in\mathcal{E}$, the subgraph of $Q$ induced on the elements in $E$ is connected. In this paper, we consider hypergraphs defined on a host graph. Given a graph $G=(V,E)$, with $c:V\to\{\mathbf{r},\mathbf{b}\}$, and a collection of connected subgraphs $\mathcal{H}$ of $G$, a primal support is a graph $Q$ on $\mathbf{b}(V)$ such that for each $H\in \mathcal{H}$, the induced subgraph $Q[\mathbf{b}(H)]$ on vertices $\mathbf{b}(H)=H\cap c^{-1}(\mathbf{b})$ is connected. A \emph{dual support} is a graph $Q^*$ on $\mathcal{H}$ s.t. for each $v\in X$, the induced subgraph $Q^*[\mathcal{H}_v]$ is connected, where $\mathcal{H}_v=\{H\in\mathcal{H}: v\in H\}$. We present sufficient conditions on the host graph and hyperedges so that the resulting support comes from a restricted family. We primarily study two classes of graphs: $(1)$ If the host graph has genus $g$ and the hypergraphs satisfy a topological condition of being \emph{cross-free}, then there is a primal and a dual support of genus at most $g$. $(2)$ If the host graph has treewidth $t$ and the hyperedges satisfy a combinatorial condition of being \emph{non-piercing}, then there exist primal and dual supports of treewidth $O(2^t)$. We show that this exponential blow-up is sometimes necessary. As an intermediate case, we also study the case when the host graph is outerplanar. Finally, we show applications of our results to packing and covering, and coloring problems on geometric hypergraphs.
The Strong Exponential Hierarchy $SEH$ was shown to collapse to $P^{NExp}$ by Hemachandra by proving $P^{NExp} = NP^{NExp}$ via a census argument. Nonetheless, Hemachandra also asked for certificate-based and alternating Turing machine characterizations of the $SEH$ levels, in the hope that these might have revealed deeper structural reasons behind the collapse. These open questions have thus far remained unanswered. To close them, by building upon the notion of Hausdorff reductions, we investigate a natural normal form for the intermediate levels of the (generalized) exponential hierarchies, i.e., the single-, the double-Exponential Hierarchy, and so on. Although the two characterizations asked for derive from our Hausdorff characterization, it is nevertheless from the latter that a surprising structural reason behind the collapse of $SEH$ is uncovered as a consequence of a very general result: the intermediate levels of the exponential hierarchies are precisely characterized by specific "Hausdorff classes", which define these levels without resorting to oracle machines. By this, contrarily to oracle classes, which may have different shapes for a same class (e.g., $P^{NP}_{||} = P^{NP[Log]} = LogSpace^{NP}$), hierarchy intermediate levels are univocally identified by Hausdorff classes (under the hypothesis of no hierarchy collapse). In fact, we show that the rather simple reason behind many equivalences of oracle classes is that they just refer to different ways of deciding the languages of a same Hausdorff class, and this happens also for $P^{NExp}$ and $NP^{NExp}$. In addition, via Hausdorff classes, we define complete problems for various intermediate levels of the exponential hierarchies. Through these, we obtain matching lower-bounds for problems known to be in $P^{NExp[Log]}$, but whose hardness was left open due to the lack of known $P^{NExp[Log]}$-complete problems.
The volume function V(t) of a compact set S\in R^d is just the Lebesgue measure of the set of points within a distance to S not larger than t. According to some classical results in geometric measure theory, the volume function turns out to be a polynomial, at least in a finite interval, under a quite intuitive, easy to interpret, sufficient condition (called ``positive reach'') which can be seen as an extension of the notion of convexity. However, many other simple sets, not fulfilling the positive reach condition, have also a polynomial volume function. To our knowledge, there is no general, simple geometric description of such sets. Still, the polynomial character of $V(t)$ has some relevant consequences since the polynomial coefficients carry some useful geometric information. In particular, the constant term is the volume of S and the first order coefficient is the boundary measure (in Minkowski's sense). This paper is focused on sets whose volume function is polynomial on some interval starting at zero, whose length (that we call ``polynomial reach'') might be unknown. Our main goal is to approximate such polynomial reach by statistical means, using only a large enough random sample of points inside S. The practical motivation is simple: when the value of the polynomial reach , or rather a lower bound for it, is approximately known, the polynomial coefficients can be estimated from the sample points by using standard methods in polynomial approximation. As a result, we get a quite general method to estimate the volume and boundary measure of the set, relying only on an inner sample of points and not requiring the use any smoothing parameter. This paper explores the theoretical and practical aspects of this idea.
If $G$ is a group, we say a subset $S$ of $G$ is product-free if the equation $xy=z$ has no solutions with $x,y,z \in S$. For $D \in \mathbb{N}$, a group $G$ is said to be $D$-quasirandom if the minimal dimension of a nontrivial complex irreducible representation of $G$ is at least $D$. Gowers showed that in a $D$-quasirandom finite group $G$, the maximal size of a product-free set is at most $|G|/D^{1/3}$. This disproved a longstanding conjecture of Babai and S\'os from 1985. For the special unitary group, $G=SU(n)$, Gowers observed that his argument yields an upper bound of $n^{-1/3}$ on the measure of a measurable product-free subset. In this paper, we improve Gowers' upper bound to $\exp(-cn^{1/3})$, where $c>0$ is an absolute constant. In fact, we establish something stronger, namely, product-mixing for measurable subsets of $SU(n)$ with measure at least $\exp(-cn^{1/3})$; for this product-mixing result, the $n^{1/3}$ in the exponent is sharp. Our approach involves introducing novel hypercontractive inequalities, which imply that the non-Abelian Fourier spectrum of the indicator function of a small set concentrates on high-dimensional irreducible representations. Our hypercontractive inequalities are obtained via methods from representation theory, harmonic analysis, random matrix theory and differential geometry. We generalize our hypercontractive inequalities from $SU(n)$ to an arbitrary $D$-quasirandom compact connected Lie group for $D$ at least an absolute constant, thereby extending our results on product-free sets to such groups. We also demonstrate various other applications of our inequalities to geometry (viz., non-Abelian Brunn-Minkowski type inequalities), mixing times, and the theory of growth in compact Lie groups.
In this paper we study the Cayley graph $\mathrm{Cay}(S_n,T)$ of the symmetric group $S_n$ generated by a set of transpositions $T$. We show that for $n\geq 5$ the Cayley graph is normal. As a corollary, we show that its automorphism group is a direct product of $S_n$ and the automorphism group of the transposition graph associated to $T$. This provides an affirmative answer to a conjecture raised by Ganesan in arXiv:1703.08109, showing that $\mathrm{Cay}(S_n,T)$ is normal if and only if the transposition graph is not $C_4$ or $K_n$.
The forcing number of a graph with a perfect matching $M$ is the minimum number of edges in $M$ whose endpoints need to be deleted, such that the remaining graph only has a single perfect matching. This number is of great interest in theoretical chemistry, since it conveys information about the structural properties of several interesting molecules. On the other hand, in bipartite graphs the forcing number corresponds to the famous feedback vertex set problem in digraphs. Determining the complexity of finding the smallest forcing number of a given planar graph is still a widely open and important question in this area, originally proposed by Afshani, Hatami, and Mahmoodian in 2004. We take a first step towards the resolution of this question by providing an algorithm that determines the set of all possible forcing numbers of an outerplanar graph in polynomial time. This is the first polynomial-time algorithm concerning this problem for a class of graphs of comparable or greater generality.