arXiv subjects

Mason DiCicco

Publications and source records attributed to Mason DiCicco.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Improved Upper Bounds for Slicing the Hypercube

A collection of hyperplanes $\mathcal{H}$ slices all edges of the $n$-dimensional hypercube $Q_n$ with vertex set $\{-1,1\}^n$ if, for every edge $e$ in the hypercube, there exists a hyperplane in $\mathcal{H}$ intersecting $e$ in its interior. Let $S(n)$ be the minimum number of hyperplanes needed to slice $Q_n$. We prove that $S(n) \leq \lceil \frac{4n}{5} \rceil$, except when $n$ is an odd multiple of $5$, in which case $S(n) \leq \frac{4n}{5} +1$. This improves upon the previously known upper bound of $S(n) \leq \lceil\frac{5n}{6} \rceil$ due to Paterson reported in 1971. We also obtain new lower bounds on the maximum number of edges in $Q_n$ that can be sliced using $k<n$ hyperplanes. We prove the improved upper bound on $S(n)$ by constructing $8$ hyperplanes slicing $Q_{10}$ aided by the recently introduced CPro1: an automatic tool that uses reasoning LLMs coupled with automated hyperparameter tuning to create search algorithms for the discovery of mathematical constructions.

cs.AI↗

arXiv2025

The Karp Dataset

Understanding the mathematical reasoning capabilities of Large Language Models (LLMs) is a central topic in the study of artificial intelligence. This new domain necessitates the creation of datasets of reasoning tasks for both training and benchmarking the performance of LLMs. To this end, we introduce the Karp dataset: The first dataset composed of detailed proofs of NP-completeness reductions. The reductions vary in difficulty, ranging from simple exercises of undergraduate courses to more challenging reductions from academic papers. We compare the performance of state-of-the-art models on this task and demonstrate the effect of fine-tuning with the Karp dataset on reasoning capacity.

cs.LG↗

arXiv2024

Nearest Neighbor Complexity and Boolean Circuits

A nearest neighbor representation of a Boolean function $f$ is a set of vectors (anchors) labeled by $0$ or $1$ such that $f(\vec{x}) = 1$ if and only if the closest anchor to $\vec{x}$ is labeled by $1$. This model was introduced by Hajnal, Liu, and Turán (2022), who studied bounds on the number of anchors required to represent Boolean functions under different choices of anchors (real vs. Boolean vectors) as well as the more expressive model of $k$-nearest neighbors. We initiate the study of the representational power of nearest and $k$-nearest neighbors through Boolean circuit complexity. To this end, we establish a connection between Boolean functions with polynomial nearest neighbor complexity and those that can be efficiently represented by classes based on linear inequalities -- min-plus polynomial threshold functions -- previously studied in relation to threshold circuits. This extends an observation of Hajnal et al. (2022). We obtain exponential lower bounds on the $k$-nearest neighbors complexity of explicit $n$-variate functions, assuming $k \leq n^{1-ε}$. Previously, no superlinear lower bound was known for any $k>1$. Next, we further extend the connection between nearest neighbor representations and circuits to the $k$-nearest neighbors case. As a result, we show that proving superpolynomial lower bounds for the $k$-nearest neighbors complexity of an explicit function for arbitrary $k$ would require a breakthrough in circuit complexity. In addition, we prove an exponential separation between the nearest neighbor and $k$-nearest neighbors complexity (for unrestricted $k$) of an explicit function. These results address questions raised by Hajnal et al. (2022) of proving strong lower bounds for $k$-nearest neighbors and understanding the role of the parameter $k$. Finally, we devise new bounds on the nearest neighbor complexity for several explicit functions.

cs.CC↗

arXiv2023

Inoculation strategies for bounded degree graphs

We analyze a game-theoretic abstraction of epidemic containment played on an undirected graph $G$: each player is associated with a node in $G$ and can either acquire protection from a contagious process or risk infection. After decisions are made, an infection starts at a random node $v$ and propagates through all unprotected nodes reachable from $v$. It is known that the price of anarchy (PoA) in $n$-node graphs can be as large as $Θ(n)$. Our main result is a tight bound of order $\sqrt{nΔ}$ on the PoA, where $Δ$ is the maximum degree of the graph. We also study additional factors that can reduce the PoA, such as higher thresholds for contagion and varying the costs of becoming infected vs. acquiring protection.

cs.GT↗

arXiv2023

The Learning and Communication Complexity of Subsequence Containment

We consider the learning and communication complexity of subsequence containment. In the learning problem, we seek to learn a classifier that positively labels a binary string $x$ if it contains a fixed binary string $y$ as a subsequence. In the communication problem, $x$ and $y$ are partitioned between two players, Alice and Bob, who wish to determine if $x$ contains $y$ as a subsequence using a minimal amount of communication. We devise asymptotically tight bounds for the sample complexity (VC dimension) of the learning problem and the communication complexity of the communication problem. Our results illustrate that the sample complexity of our learning problem can be considerably larger when the subsequence occurs in non-contiguous locations.

cs.DM↗