Pseudorandomness and Combinatorial Constructions

Luca Trevisan

Home/Archive/arXiv

arXiv · cs/0601100

Pseudorandomness and Combinatorial Constructions

Luca Trevisan

View original source ↗Read source document ↗Export metadata ↓

Abstract

In combinatorics, the probabilistic method is a very powerful tool to prove the existence of combinatorial objects with interesting and useful properties. Explicit constructions of objects with such properties are often very difficult, or unknown. In computer science, probabilistic algorithms are sometimes simpler and more efficient than the best known deterministic algorithms for the same problem. Despite this evidence for the power of random choices, the computational theory of pseudorandomness shows that, under certain complexity-theoretic assumptions, every probabilistic algorithm has an efficient deterministic simulation and a large class of applications of the the probabilistic method can be converted into explicit constructions. In this survey paper we describe connections between the conditional ``derandomization'' results of the computational theory of pseudorandomness and unconditional explicit constructions of certain combinatorial objects such as error-correcting codes and ``randomness extractors.''

Explore related subjects

cs.CC math.CO

Keep this discovery

BibTeX RIS

Luca Trevisan. 2006-01-23. Pseudorandomness and Combinatorial Constructions. https://arxiv.org/abs/cs/0601100

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

Max Independent Set Remains NP-hard when Excluding a Planar Induced Minor

We show that there is a fixed planar graph $H$, namely the $5 \times 5$ grid, such that Max Independent Set remains NP-hard in $H$-induced-minor-free graphs. This refutes the Dallard--Milani\v{c}--\v{S}torgel conjecture and a weakening of it by Gartland and Lokshtanov, and by Korhonen.

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↗