Hardness of Random Optimization Problems for Boolean Circuits, Low-Degree Polynomials, and Langevin Dynamics

DOI10.1137/22M150263XMaRDI QIDQ6203476FDOQ6203476

Authors: David Gamarnik, Aukosh Jagannath, Alexander S. Wein 

Publication date: 28 February 2024

Published in: SIAM Journal on Computing (Search for Journal in Brave)

Abstract: We consider the problem of finding nearly optimal solutions of optimization problems with random objective functions. Two concrete problems we consider are (a) optimizing the Hamiltonian of a spherical or Ising $p$-spin glass model, and (b) finding a large independent set in a sparse ErdH{o}s-R'{e}nyi graph. The following families of algorithms are considered: (a) low-degree polynomials of the input; (b) low-depth Boolean circuits; (c) the Langevin dynamics algorithm. We show that these families of algorithms fail to produce nearly optimal solutions with high probability. For the case of Boolean circuits, our results improve the state-of-the-art bounds known in circuit complexity theory (although we consider the search problem as opposed to the decision problem). Our proof uses the fact that these models are known to exhibit a variant of the overlap gap property (OGP) of near-optimal solutions. Specifically, for both models, every two solutions whose objectives are above a certain threshold are either close or far from each other. The crux of our proof is that the classes of algorithms we consider exhibit a form of stability. We show by an interpolation argument that stable algorithms cannot overcome the OGP barrier. The stability of Langevin dynamics is an immediate consequence of the well-posedness of stochastic differential equations. The stability of low-degree polynomials and Boolean circuits is established using tools from Gaussian and Boolean analysis -- namely hypercontractivity and total influence, as well as a novel lower bound for random walks avoiding certain subsets. In the case of Boolean circuits, the result also makes use of Linal-Mansour-Nisan's classical theorem. Our techniques apply more broadly to low influence functions and may apply more generally.

Full work available at URL: https://arxiv.org/abs/2004.12063

zbMATH Keywords

Boolean circuitsrandom graphsmaximum independent setspin glassesLangevin dynamicsaverage-case hardnessoverlap gap propertyrandom optimization problemslow-degree methods

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Analysis of algorithms and problem complexity (68Q25) Probability in computer science (algorithm analysis, random structures, phase transitions, etc.) (68Q87) Combinatorial optimization (90C27) Computational difficulty of problems (lower bounds, completeness, difficulty of approximation, etc.) (68Q17) Diffusion processes and stochastic analysis on manifolds (58J65) Statistical mechanics of random media, disordered materials (including liquid crystals and spin glasses) (82D30) Networks and circuits as models of computation; circuit complexity (68Q06)

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Cited In (1)

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