Open Access

Carsten Rössner, Jean-Pierre Seifert

• Given x small epsilon, Greek Rn an integer relation for x is a non-trivial vector m small epsilon, Greek Zn with inner product <m,x> = 0. In this paper we prove the following: Unless every NP language is recognizable in deterministic quasi-polynomial time, i.e., in time O(npoly(log n)), the &#8467;infinity-shortest integer relation for a given vector x small epsilon, Greek Qn cannot be approximated in polynomial time within a factor of 2log0.5 &#8722; small gamma, Greekn, where small gamma, Greek is an arbitrarily small positive constant. This result is quasi-complementary to positive results derived from lattice basis reduction. A variant of the well-known L3-algorithm approximates for a vector x small epsilon, Greek Qn the &#8467;2-shortest integer relation within a factor of 2n/2 in polynomial time. Our proof relies on recent advances in the theory of probabilistically checkable proofs, in particular on a reduction from 2-prover 1-round interactive proof-systems. The same inapproximability result is valid for finding the &#8467;infinity-shortest integer solution for a homogeneous linear system of equations over Q.