Title
Verifying Proofs In Constant Depth
Abstract
In this paper we initiate the study of proof systems where verification of proofs proceeds by NC0 circuits. We investigate the question which languages admit proof systems in this very restricted model. Formulated alternatively, we ask which languages can be enumerated by NC0 functions. Our results show that the answer to this problem is not determined by the complexity of the language. On the one hand, we construct NC0 proof systems for a variety of languages ranging from regular to NP complete. On the other hand, we show by combinatorial methods that even easy regular languages such as Exact- OR do not admit NC0 proof systems. We also show that Majority does not admit NC0 proof systems. Finally, we present a general construction of NC0 proof systems for regular languages with strongly connected NFA's.
Year
DOI
Venue
2012
10.1145/2462896.2462898
ACM TRANSACTIONS ON COMPUTATION THEORY
Keywords
DocType
Volume
Theory, Proof complexity, Proof circuits, small depth proofs, circuit complexity
Journal
5
Issue
ISSN
Citations 
1
1942-3454
0
PageRank 
References 
Authors
0.34
0
8
Name
Order
Citations
PageRank
Olaf Beyersdorff122330.33
Samir Datta220019.82
Andreas Krebs3172.86
Meena Mahajan468856.90
Gido Scharfenberger-Fabian521.44
Karteek Sreenivasaiah6135.30
Michael Thomas700.34
Heribert Vollmer880571.64