Abstract A locally decodable code encodes n-bit strings x in m-bit codewords C(x) in such a way that one can recover any bit xi from a corrupted codeword by querying only a few bits of that word. We use a quantum argument to prove that LDCs with 2 classical queries require exponential length: m = 2 \Omega (n). Previously this was known only for linear codes (Goldreich et al. 02). The

A “randomness extractor ” is an algorithm that given a sample from a distribution with sufficiently high min-entropy and a short random seed produces an output that is statistically indistinguishable from uniform. (Min-entropy is a measure of the amount of randomness in a distribution). We present a simple, self-contained extractor construction that produces good extractors for all min-entropies. Our construction is algebraic and builds on a new polynomial-based approach introduced by Ta-Shma, Zuckerman, and Safra [TSZS01]. Using our improvements, we obtain, for example, an extractor with output length m = k/(log n) O(1/α) and seed length (1 + α) log n for an arbitrary 0 < α ≤ 1, where n is the input length, and k is the min-entropy of the input distribution. A “pseudorandom generator ” is an algorithm that given a short random seed produces a long output that is computationally indistinguishable from uniform. Our technique also gives a new way to construct pseudorandom generators from functions that require large circuits. Our pseudorandom generator construction is not based on the Nisan-Wigderson generator [NW94], and turns worst-case hardness directly into pseudorandomness. The parameters of our generator match those in [IW97, STV01] and in particular are strong enough to obtain a new proof that P = BP P if E requires exponential size circuits.

We establish hardness versus randomness trade-offs for a broad class of randomized procedures. In particular, we create efficient nondeterministic simulations of bounded round Arthur-Merlin games using a language in exponential time that cannot be decided by polynomial size oracle circuits with access to satisfiability. We show that every language with a bounded round Arthur-Merlin game has subexponential size membership proofs for infinitely many input lengths unless exponential time coincides with the third level of the polynomial-time hierarchy (and hence the polynomial-time hierarchy collapses). This provides the first strong evidence that graph nonisomorphism has subexponential size proofs. We set up a general framework for derandomization which encompasses more than the traditional model of randomized computation. For a randomized procedure to fit within this framework, we only require that for any fixed input the complexity of checking whether the procedure succeeds on a given ...

Given a function f mapping n-variate inputs from a finite Kearns et. al. [21] (see also [27, 28, 22]). In the setting of ag-fieldFintoF, we consider the task of reconstructing a list nostic learning, the learner is to make no assumptions regarding of alln-variate degreedpolynomials which agree withfon a the natural phenomena underlying the input/output relationship tiny but non-negligible fraction, , of the input space. We give a of the function, and the goal of the learner is to come up with a randomized algorithm for solving this task which accessesfas a simple explanation which best fits the examples. Therefore the black box and runs in time polynomial in1;nand exponential in best explanation may account for only part of the phenomena. d, provided is(pd=jFj). For the special case whend=1, In some situations, when the phenomena appears very irregular, we solve this problem for jFj>0. In this case the providing an explanation which fits only part of it is better than nothing. Interestingly, Kearns et. al. did not consider the use of running time of our algorithm is bounded by a polynomial queries (but rather examples drawn from an arbitrary distribu-and exponential ind. Our algorithm generalizes a previously tion) as they were skeptical that queries could be of any help. known algorithm, due to Goldreich and Levin, that solves this We show that queries do seem to help (see below). task for the case whenF=GF(2)(andd=1).

Abstract Trevisan showed that many pseudorandom generator constructions give rise to constructionsof explicit extractors. We show how to use such constructions to obtain explicit lossless condensers. A lossless condenser is a probabilistic map using only O(log n) additional random bitsthat maps n bits strings to poly(log K) bit strings, such that any source with support size Kis mapped almost injectively to the smaller domain. Our construction remains the best lossless condenser to date.By composing our condenser with previous extractors, we obtain new, improved extractors. For small enough min-entropies our extractors can output all of the randomness with only O(log n) bits. We also obtain a new disperser that works for every entropy loss, uses an O(log n)bit seed, and has only O(log n) entropy loss. This is the best disperser construction to date,and yields other applications. Finally, our lossless condenser can be viewed as an unbalanced

We give explicit constructions of extractors which work for a source of any min-entropy on strings of length n. These extractors can extract any constant fraction of the min-entropy using O(log&sup2; n) additional random bits, and can extract all the min-entropy using O(log&sup3; n) additional random bits. Both of these constructions use fewer truly random bits than any previous construction which works for all min-entropies and extracts a constant fraction of the min-entropy. We then improve our second construction and show that we can reduce the entropy loss to 2 log(1=") +O(1) bits, while still using O(log&sup3; n) truly random bits (where entropy loss is defined as [(source min-entropy) + (# truly random bits used) (# output bits)], and " is the statistical difference from uniform achieved). This entropy loss is optimal up to a constant additive term. our...

We introduce a new approach to constructing extractors. Extractors are algorithms that transform a "weakly random" distribution into an almost uniform distribution. Explicit constructions of extractors have a variety of important applications, and tend to be very difficult to obtain.

Abstract. Impagliazzo and Wigderson (36th FOCS, 1998) gave the first construction of pseudorandom generators from a uniform complexity assumption on EXP (namely EXP � = BPP). Unlike results in the nonuniform setting, their result does not provide a continuous trade-off between worst-case hardness and pseudorandomness, nor does it explicitly establish an average-case hardness result. In this paper: ◦ We obtain an optimal worst-case to average-case connection for EXP: if EXP � ⊆ BPTIME(t(n)), then EXP has problems that cannot be solved on a fraction 1/2 + 1/t ′ (n) of the inputs by BPTIME(t ′ (n)) algorithms, for t ′ = t Ω(1). ◦ We exhibit a PSPACE-complete self-correctible and downward self-reducible problem. This slightly simplifies and strengthens the proof of Impagliazzo and Wigderson, which used a #P-complete problem with these properties. ◦ We argue that the results of Impagliazzo and Wigderson, and the ones in this paper, cannot be proved via “black-box ” uniform reductions.

We give an improved explicit construction of highly unbalanced bipartite expander graphs with expansion arbitrarily close to the degree (which is polylogarithmic in the number of vertices). Both the degree and the number of right-hand vertices are polynomially close to optimal, whereas the previous constructions of Ta-Shma, Umans, and Zuckerman (STOC ‘01) required at least one of these to be quasipolynomial in the optimal. Our expanders have a short and self-contained description and analysis, based on the ideas underlying the recent list-decodable errorcorrecting codes of Parvaresh and Vardy (FOCS ‘05). Our expanders can be interpreted as near-optimal “randomness condensers, ” that reduce the task of extracting randomness from sources of arbitrary min-entropy rate to extracting randomness from sources of min-entropy rate arbitrarily close to 1, which is a much easier task. Using this connection, we obtain a new construction of randomness extractors that is optimal up to constant factors, while being much simpler than the previous construction of Lu et al. (STOC ‘03) and improving upon it when the error parameter is small (e.g. 1/poly(n)).

This paper provides the first explicit construction of extractors which are simultaneously optimal up to constant factors in both seed length and output length. More precisely, for every n, k, our extractor uses a random seed of length O(log n) to transform any random source on n bits with (min-)entropy k, into a distribution on (1 − α)k bits that is ɛ-close to uniform. Here α and ɛ can be taken to be any positive constants. (In fact, ɛ can be almost polynomially small). Our improvements are obtained via three new techniques, each of which may be of independent interest. The first is a general construction of mergers [22] from locally decodable error-correcting codes. The second introduces new condensers that have constant seed length (and retain a constant fraction of the min-entropy in the random source). The third is a way to augment the “win-win repeated condensing” paradigm of [17] with error reduction techniques like [15] so that the our constant seed-length condensers can be used without error accumulation.