Introduction to Circuit Complexity

By Heribert Vollmer

Subjects: Computational complexity, Mathematics, Logic, symbolic and mathematical, Electronic digital computers, circuits, Computer science, Computer software, Electronics, Algebra, boolean

Description: This advanced textbook presents a broad and up-to-date view of the computational complexity theory of Boolean circuits. It combines the algorithmic and the computability-based approach, and includes extensive discussion of the literature to facilitate further study. It begins with efficient Boolean circuits for problems with high practical relevance, e.g., arithmetic operations, sorting, and transitive closure, then compares the computational model of Boolean circuits with other models such as Turing machines and parallel machines. Examination of the complexity of specific problems leads to the definition of complexity classes. The theory of circuit complexity classes is then thoroughly developed, including the theory of lower bounds and advanced topics such as connections to algebraic structures and to finite model theory.