Abstract
We define and examine several probabilistic operators ranging over sets (i.e., operators of type 2), among others the formerly studied ALMOST-operator. We compare their power and prove that they all coincide for a wide variety of classes. As a consequence, we characterize the ALMOST-operator which ranges over infinite objects (sets) by a bounded-error probabilistic operator which ranges over strings, i.e. finite objects. This leads to a number of consequences about complexity classes of current interest. As applications, we obtain (a) a criterion for measure 1 inclusions of complexity classes, (b) a criterion for inclusions of complexity classes relative to a random oracle, (c) a new upper time bound for ALMOST-PSPACE, and (d) a characterization of ALMOST-PSPACE in terms of checking stack automata. Finally, a connection between the power of ALMOST-PSPACE and that of probabilistic NC1 circuits is given.
Research supported by NSF Grant CCR-93-02057, DFG Grant Wa 847/1, and a Feodor-Lynen-Fellowship from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. Research performed while the second and third author were visiting the Department of Mathematics, University of California, Santa Barbara.
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Book, R.V., Vollmer, H., Wagner, K.W. (1996). On type-2 probabilistic quantifiers. In: Meyer, F., Monien, B. (eds) Automata, Languages and Programming. ICALP 1996. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 1099. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-61440-0_143
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-61440-0_143
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