Search arXiv⌕ Search
Home/Archive/arXiv

arXiv · 2309.13698

Counting Vanishing Matrix-Vector Products

Cornelius Brand·Viktoriia Korchemna·Michael Skotnica·Kirill Simonov
View original source ↗Read source document ↗Export metadata ↓

Abstract

Consider the following parameterized counting variation of the classic subset sum problem, which arises notably in the context of higher homotopy groups of topological spaces: Let $\mathbf{v} \in \mathbb{Q}^d$ be a rational vector, $(T_{1}, T_{2} \ldots T_{m})$ a list of $d \times d$ rational matrices, $S \in \mathbb{Q}^{h \times d}$ a rational matrix not necessarily square and $k$ a parameter. The goal is to compute the number of ways one can choose $k$ matrices $T_{i_1}, T_{i_2}, \ldots, T_{i_k}$ from the list such that $ST_{i_k} \cdots T_{i_1}\mathbf{v} = \mathbf{0} \in \mathbb{Q}^h$. In this paper, we show that this problem is $\# W[2]$-hard for parameter $k$. As a consequence, computing the $k$-th homotopy group of a $d$-dimensional 1-connected topological space for $d > 3$ is $\# W[2]$-hard for parameter $k$. We also discuss a decision version of the problem and its several modifications for which we show $W[1]/W[2]$-hardness. This is in contrast to the parameterized $k$-sum problem, which is only $W[1]$-hard (Abboud-Lewi-Williams, ESA'14). In addition, we show that the decision version of the problem without parameter is an undecidable problem, and we give a fixed-parameter tractable algorithm for matrices of bounded size over finite fields, parameterized the matrix dimensions and the order of the field.

Explore related subjects

cs.CC

Keep this discovery

BibTeXRIS

Cornelius Brand, Viktoriia Korchemna, Michael Skotnica, Kirill Simonov. 2023-09-24. Counting Vanishing Matrix-Vector Products. https://arxiv.org/abs/2309.13698

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related papers

arXiv2026

The Computational Complexity of Holant Problems on 4-regular Graphs from the Stable Subgroup Sequence of $SL(2,\mathbb{C})$

The Holant framework provides a general setting for studying counting problems and includes graph homomorphisms (\#GH) and counting constraint satisfaction problems (\#CSP) as special cases. Over the past twenty years, a series of computational complexity dichotomies have been established for Holant problems, but the classification for complex-valued signatures is still open. The main obstacle is the case in which all signatures have even arity. In this paper, we establish a dichotomy for Holant problems with a complex-valued 4-ary signature, which is a key base case for the full classification of Holant problems. We present a new strategy by introducing Schur's theorem, the classification of finite subgroups of $\mathrm{SL}(2,\mathbb{C})$ and stable subgroup sequences into the proof. These new techniques are of independent interest.

cs.CC↗
arXiv2026

Topology inside NC$^1$

We show that ACC$^0$ is precisely what can be computed with constant-width circuits of polynomial size and polylogarithmic genus. This extends a characterization given by Hansen, showing that planar constant-width circuits also characterize ACC$^0$. Thus polylogarithmic genus provides no additional computational power in this model. We consider other generalizations of planarity, including crossing number and thickness. We show that constant-width circuits of polynomial size and thickness two already suffice to capture all of NC$^1$.

cs.CC↗