2009-2010 Seminars

The PCP Theorem shows that any mathematical proof can be efficiently converted into a form that can be checked probabilistically by making only *two* queries to the proof, and performing a "projection test" on the answers. This means that the answer...

A PCP is a proof system in which the proofs that can be verified by a verifier that reads only a very small part of the proof. One line of research concerning PCPs is trying to reduce their soundness error (i.e., the probability of accepting false...

We present two new approximation algorithms for Unique Games. The first generalizes the results of Arora et al. who give polynomial time approximation algorithms for graphs with high conductance. We give a polynomial time algorithm assuming only...

In his seminal work, Valiant defined algebraic analogs for the classes P and NP, which are known today as VP and VNP. He also showed that the permanent is VNP-complete (that is, the permanent is in VNP and any problem in VNP is reducible to it). We...

Constraint Satisfaction Problems appear everywhere. The study of their quantum analogues (in which the constraints no longer commute), has become a lively area of study, and various recent results provide interesting insights into quantum physics...

The general adversary bound is a lower bound on the number of input queries required for a quantum algorithm to evaluate a boolean function. We show that this lower bound is in fact tight, up to a logarithmic factor. The proof is based on span...

In his seminal work, Valiant defined algebraic analogs for the classes P and NP, which are known today as VP and VNP. He also showed that the permanent is VNP-complete (that is, the permanent is in VNP and any problem in VNP is reducible to it). We...