Consequences of the provability of NP ⊆ P/poly

Abstract

AbstractWe prove the following results: (i) PV proves NP ⊆ P/poly iff PV proves coNP ⊆ NP/O(1). (ii) If PV proves NP ⊆ P/poly then PV proves that the Polynomial Hierarchy collapses to the Boolean Hierarchy, (iii) proves NP ⊆ P/poly iff proves coNP ⊆ NP/O(log n). (iv) If proves NP ⊆ P/poly then proves that the Polynomial Hierarchy collapses to PNP[log n]. (v) If proves NP ⊆ P/poly then proves that the Polynomial Hierarchy collapses to PNP.Motivated by these results we introduce a new concept in proof complexity: proof systems with advice, and we make some initial observations about them.