Deterministic identity testing paradigms for bounded top-fanin depth-4 circuits

Abstract

Polynomial Identity Testing (PIT) is a fundamental computational problem. The famous depth-$4$ reduction result by Agrawal and Vinay (FOCS 2008) has made PIT for depth-$4$ circuits an enticing pursuit. A restricted depth-4 circuit computing a $n$-variate degree-$d$ polynomial of the form $\sum_{i = 1}^{k} \prod_{j} g_{ij}$, where $\deg g_{ij} \leq \delta$ is called $\Sigma^{[k]}\Pi\Sigma\Pi^{[\delta]}$ circuit. On further restricting $g_{ij}$ to be sum of univariates we obtain $\Sigma^{[k]}\Pi\Sigma\wedge$ circuits. The largely open, special-cases of $\Sigma^{[k]}\Pi\Sigma\Pi^{[\delta]}$ for constant $k$ and $\delta$, and $\Sigma^{[k]}\Pi\Sigma\wedge$ have been a source of many great ideas in the last two decades. For eg. depth-$3$ ideas of Dvir and Shpilka (STOC 2005), Kayal and Saxena (CCC 2006), and Saxena and Seshadhri (FOCS 2010 and STOC 2011). Further, depth-$4$ ideas of Beecken, Mittmann and Saxena (ICALP 2011), Saha, Saxena and Saptharishi (Comput.Compl. 2013), Forbes (FOCS 2015), and Kumar and Saraf (CCC 2016). Additionally, geometric Sylvester-Gallai ideas of Kayal and Saraf (FOCS 2009), Shpilka (STOC 2019), and Peleg and Shpilka (CCC 2020, STOC 2021). Very recently, a subexponential-time blackbox PIT algorithm for constant-depth circuits was obtained via lower bound breakthrough of Limaye, Srinivasan, Tavenas (FOCS 2021). We solve two of the basic underlying open problems in this work. We give the first polynomial-time PIT for $\Sigma^{[k]}\Pi\Sigma\wedge$. We also give the first quasipolynomial time blackbox PIT for both $\Sigma^{[k]}\Pi\Sigma\wedge$ and $\Sigma^{[k]}\Pi\Sigma\Pi^{[\delta]}$. A key technical ingredient in all the three algorithms is how the logarithmic derivative, and its power-series, modify the top $\Pi$-gate to $\wedge$.