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Complexity.Computability.QueryComplexity.Relations

Relations between block sensitivity, certificate and decision tree complexity #

Block sensitivity bounds certificate and decision tree complexity polynomially, so that the three are polynomially related [BdW02]. For a value b, the one-sided measures s_b(f), bs_b(f) and C_b(f) are the largest sensitivity, block sensitivity and certificate complexity of f at an input of value b.

With D(¬f) = D(f) this turns D(f) ≤ bs₀(f) C₁(f) into its dual D(f) ≤ bs₁(f) C₀(f) (DecisionTree.complexity_le_blockSensitivityFor_not_mul_certificateComplexityFor), hence D(f) ≤ min(C₀(f), C₁(f)) bs(f), and with the one-sided Nisan bound it gives D(f) ≤ bs_{¬b}(f) s_{¬b}(f) bs_b(f), in particular D(f) ≤ bs₀(f) bs₁(f) s(f). With C(f) ≤ s(f) bs(f) ≤ bs(f)² it gives D(f) ≤ s(f) bs(f)² ≤ bs(f)³ (DecisionTree.complexity_le_sensitivity_mul_blockSensitivity_sq, DecisionTree.complexity_le_blockSensitivity_pow_three; [BdW02], Corollary 1).

Main results #

References #

C(f) ≤ s(f) bs(f) #

A sensitive block contains a minimal sensitive block.

A sensitive block is nonempty.

A minimal sensitive block at x has at most s_{¬f(x)}(f) coordinates: they are all sensitive at x with the block flipped, where f has the other value.

Restricting by the answers to a certificate #

Decision tree complexity from block sensitivity and certificates: D(f) ≤ bs₀(f) C₁(f), a one-sided form of the bound D(f) ≤ C₁(f) bs(f) of Beals, Buhrman, Cleve, Mosca and de Wolf [BBC+01].

Decision tree complexity from one-sided measures: D(f) ≤ bs_{¬b}(f) C_b(f) for either value b. For b = 1 this is D(f) ≤ bs₀(f) C₁(f), a one-sided form of the bound of Beals, Buhrman, Cleve, Mosca and de Wolf [BBC+01]; negating the function gives the dual D(f) ≤ bs₁(f) C₀(f).

D(f) ≤ bs_{¬b}(f) s_{¬b}(f) bs_b(f), from D(f) ≤ bs_{¬b}(f) C_b(f) and the one-sided Nisan bound.

D(f) ≤ s(f) bs(f)², from D(f) ≤ C(f) bs(f) and Nisan's C(f) ≤ s(f) bs(f).

Decision tree complexity is at most the cube of block sensitivity: D(f) ≤ bs(f)³ [BBC+01].