Recognizing Sumsets is NP-Complete

Fuente: arXiv
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Autores principales: Abboud, Amir, Fischer, Nick, Safier, Ron, Wallheimer, Nathan
Formato: Preprint
Publicado: 2024
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author Abboud, Amir
Fischer, Nick
Safier, Ron
Wallheimer, Nathan
author_facet Abboud, Amir
Fischer, Nick
Safier, Ron
Wallheimer, Nathan
contents Sumsets are central objects in additive combinatorics. In 2007, Granville asked whether one can efficiently recognize whether a given set $S$ is a sumset, i.e. whether there is a set $A$ such that $A+A=S$. Granville suggested an algorithm that takes exponential time in the size of the given set, but can we do polynomial or even linear time? This basic computational question is indirectly asking a fundamental structural question: do the special characteristics of sumsets allow them to be efficiently recognizable? In this paper, we answer this question negatively by proving that the problem is NP-complete. Specifically, our results hold for integer sets and over any finite field. Assuming the Exponential Time Hypothesis, our lower bound becomes $2^{Ω(n^{1/4})}$.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2410_18661
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Recognizing Sumsets is NP-Complete
Abboud, Amir
Fischer, Nick
Safier, Ron
Wallheimer, Nathan
Data Structures and Algorithms
Computational Complexity
Discrete Mathematics
Sumsets are central objects in additive combinatorics. In 2007, Granville asked whether one can efficiently recognize whether a given set $S$ is a sumset, i.e. whether there is a set $A$ such that $A+A=S$. Granville suggested an algorithm that takes exponential time in the size of the given set, but can we do polynomial or even linear time? This basic computational question is indirectly asking a fundamental structural question: do the special characteristics of sumsets allow them to be efficiently recognizable? In this paper, we answer this question negatively by proving that the problem is NP-complete. Specifically, our results hold for integer sets and over any finite field. Assuming the Exponential Time Hypothesis, our lower bound becomes $2^{Ω(n^{1/4})}$.
title Recognizing Sumsets is NP-Complete
topic Data Structures and Algorithms
Computational Complexity
Discrete Mathematics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2410.18661