In search of an easy witness: exponential time vs. probabilistic polynomial time

AbstractRestricting the search space {0,1}n to the set of truth tables of “easy” Boolean functions on logn variables, as well as using some known hardness–randomness tradeoffs, we establish a number of results relating the complexity of exponential-time and probabilistic polynomial-time complexity classes. In particular, we show that NEXP⊂P/poly⇔NEXP=MA; this can be interpreted as saying that no derandomization of MA (and, hence, of promise-BPP) is possible unless NEXP contains a hard Boolean function. We also prove several downward closure results for ZPP, RP, BPP, and MA; e.g., we show EXP=BPP⇔EE=BPE, where EE is the double-exponential time class and BPE is the exponential-time analogue of BPP