TCS+ Talk

Abstract: We show that it is NP-hard to distinguish CNF formulas that have Resolution refutations of almost linear length from CNF formulas that do not even have weakly exponentially long ones. It follows from this that Resolution is not automatable in polynomial time unless P = NP, or in weakly exponential time unless ETH fails. The proof of this is simple enough that all its ideas can be explained in a talk. Along the way, I will try to explain the process of discovery that led us to the result. This is joint work with Moritz Müller.