Downward Collapse from a Weaker Hypothesis

Abstract

Hemaspaandra et al. proved that, for $m > 0$ and $0 < i < k - 1$: if $\Sigma_i^p \BoldfaceDelta DIFF_m(\Sigma_k^p)$ is closed under complementation, then $DIFF_m(\Sigma_k^p) = coDIFF_m(\Sigma_k^p)$. This sharply asymmetric result fails to apply to the case in which the hypothesis is weakened by allowing the $\Sigma_i^p$ to be replaced by any class in its difference hierarchy. We so extend the result by proving that, for $s,m > 0$ and $0 < i < k - 1$: if $DIFF_s(\Sigma_i^p) \BoldfaceDelta DIFF_m(\Sigma_k^p)$ is closed under complementation, then $DIFF_m(\Sigma_k^p) = coDIFF_m(\Sigma_k^p)$.