We address the following question in the average-case complexity: does there exists a language L such that for all easy distributions D the distributional problem (L, D) is easy on the average while there exists some more hard distribution D′ such that (L, D′) is hard on the average? We consider two complexity measures of distributions: the complexity of sampling and the complexity of computing the distribution function. For the complexity of sampling of distribution, we establish a connection between the above question and the hierarchy theorem for sampling distribution recently studied by Thomas Watson. Using this connection we prove that for every 0 < a < b there exist a language L, an ensemble of distributions D samplable in nlogb n steps and a linear-time algorithm A such that for every ensemble of distribution F that samplable in nloga n steps, A correctly decides L on all inputs from {0, 1}n except for a set that has infinitely small F-measure, and for every algorithm B there are infinitely many n such that the set of all elements of {0, 1}n for which B correctly decides L has infinitely small D-measure. In case of complexity of computing the distribution function we prove the following tight result: for every a > 0 there exist a language L, an ensemble of polynomial-time computable distributions D, and a linear-time algorithm A such that for every computable in na steps ensemble of distributions F, A correctly decides L on all inputs from {0, 1}n except for a set that has F-measure at most 2-n/2, and for every algorithm B there are infinitely many n such that the set of all elements of {0, 1}n for which B correctly decides L has D-measure at most 2-n+1.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publication27th International Symposium on Algorithms and Computation, ISAAC 2016
EditorsSeok-Hee Hong
PublisherSchloss Dagstuhl- Leibniz-Zentrum fur Informatik GmbH, Dagstuhl Publishing
Pages38.1-38.12
ISBN (Electronic)9783959770262
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Dec 2016
Event27th International Symposium on Algorithms and Computation, ISAAC 2016 - Sydney, Australia
Duration: 12 Dec 201614 Dec 2016

Publication series

NameLeibniz International Proceedings in Informatics, LIPIcs
Volume64
ISSN (Print)1868-8969

Conference

Conference27th International Symposium on Algorithms and Computation, ISAAC 2016
Country/TerritoryAustralia
CitySydney
Period12/12/1614/12/16

    Research areas

  • Average-case complexity, Diagonalization, Hierarchy theorem, Sampling distributions

    Scopus subject areas

  • Software

ID: 49785539