The “log rank” conjecture for modular communication complexity

Abstract.

The “log rank” conjecture involves the question of how precisely the deterministic communication complexity of a problem can be described in terms of algebraic invariants of the communication matrix of this problem. We answer this question in the context of modular communication complexity. We show that the modular communication complexity can be exactly characterised in terms of the logarithm of a certain rigidity function of the communication matrix. Thus, we are able to exactly determine the modular communication complexity of several problems, such as, e.g., set disjointness, comparability, and undirected graph connectivity. From the bounds obtained for the modular communication complexity we deduce exponential lower bounds on the size of depth-two circuits having arbitrary symmetric gates at the bottom level and a MOD _m -gate at the top.