Counting Vanishing Matrix-Vector Products

TL;DR

This paper introduces a parameterized counting problem related to matrix-vector products, proves its computational hardness, and explores its implications in algebraic topology, while also providing algorithms for special cases.

Contribution

It establishes the  W[2]-hardness of counting specific matrix products, linking it to topological invariants, and offers fixed-parameter algorithms for bounded matrix sizes over finite fields.

Findings

Counting problem is  W[2]-hard for parameter k.

Computing the k-th homotopy group is  W[2]-hard for d > 3.

Decision problem without parameter is undecidable.

Abstract

Consider the following parameterized counting variation of the classic subset sum problem, which arises notably in the context of higher homotopy groups of topological spaces: Let $\mathbf{v} \in \mathbb{Q}^d$ be a rational vector, $(T_{1}, T_{2} \ldots T_{m})$ a list of $d \times d$ rational matrices, $S \in \mathbb{Q}^{h \times d}$ a rational matrix not necessarily square and $k$ a parameter. The goal is to compute the number of ways one can choose $k$ matrices $T_{i_1}, T_{i_2}, \ldots, T_{i_k}$ from the list such that $ST_{i_k} \cdots T_{i_1}\mathbf{v} = \mathbf{0} \in \mathbb{Q}^h$. In this paper, we show that this problem is $\# W[2]$-hard for parameter $k$. As a consequence, computing the $k$-th homotopy group of a $d$-dimensional 1-connected topological space for $d > 3$ is $\# W[2]$-hard for parameter $k$. We also discuss a decision version of the problem and its several modifications for which we show $W[1]/W[2]$-hardness. This is in contrast to the parameterized $k$-sum problem, which is only $W[1]$-hard (Abboud-Lewi-Williams, ESA'14). In addition, we show that the decision version of the problem without parameter is an undecidable problem, and we give a fixed-parameter tractable algorithm for matrices of bounded size over finite fields, parameterized the matrix dimensions and the order of the field.