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arXiv · 2610.12804

The Complexity of Finding Additional Solutions

Saman Farhat
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Abstract

We study the difficulty of finding a new solution when a list of distinct solutions is already supplied. For any fixed finite collection of list lengths, we can prescribe the additional-solution degrees while preserving a given $1$-paddable domain and first-solution degree. We also prove an exact compatibility condition for prescribing an arbitrary positive-list degree at the same time: it must dominate every prescribed fixed-level degree, and this condition suffices. All degrees use polynomial-time reductions with at most one oracle query and correct behavior on empty fibers; the realization needs no assumption about P versus NP. The combined construction gives each underlying witness exponentially many short counter copies. A list that exhausts these copies is long enough to pay for exhaustive search through the underlying witness bound. Separately, we construct a total problem whose first-solution task and every fixed-length additional-solution task are polynomial-time solvable, while its arbitrary-list task is FNP-complete. Assuming P differs from NP, the domain, first degree, and entire fixed-level degree sequence therefore do not determine the arbitrary-list degree. A constant fiber cap restores determination by finitely many fixed levels. The constructions change witness sets and do not prescribe an infinite sequence of degrees or enumerate all remaining solutions.

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Saman Farhat. 2026-10-08. The Complexity of Finding Additional Solutions. https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.12804

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