MATH 345 PSet 1

Andrew Hu
Modern Combinatoris
September 29, 2015
Problem 1. 1.1 f,i,l,o
f. First, let us compute the probability distribution of each coordinate. Suppose each
coordinate is 1 with probability p and 1 with probability 1p. Then, we have the following
equation:
= p + (1)(1 p)
which solves to give p =

1+
.
2

The product on {1, 1}n can only be 1 or 1. Let (x) be the density function that we
are asked to find the Fourier coefficients for. Let q be the probability that the product on
{1, 1}n is 1. That is (1) = q, (1) = 1 q. Then:
1
1
1
1
1

()
= E() = (1) + (1) = q + (1 q) =
2
2
2
2
2

It remains to find ({1})

= E({1} ) = 21 ((x)|x = 1) 12 ((x)|x = 1) = 12 q 21 (1 q) =
1
q 2 , where we have broken up expectation using conditional expectation. We now compute
n
.
q in terms of . We claim that q = 1+
2
We proceed by induction. The base case n = 1 is clear from our discussion earlier. Now
n
suppose q = 1+
for some n. Then in the case of the product probability distribution on
2
n+1
{1, 1} , the probability of getting 1 is the probability of getting 1 on product probability
distribution on n times p plus the probability of getting -1 on product probability distribution
on n times 1 p. In particular, this is:
1 + n 1 + 1 n 1
1 + n+1
+
=
2
2
2
2
2

as needed. Therefore ({1})

=
R.

n
.
2

Thus, we may write (x) = 12 + 2 x where : {1, 1}

i First, note that f() = E(f ) = 2 22

n . Now, we need to find f (S) for an arbitrary S n .
We use the form f(S) = E(f S ). We know f (x) = 0 for x = (1)n , (1)n and f (x) = 1
otherwise; therefore, we can write:
X
1
f(S) = n
S (x)
2
n n

x6=(1) ,1

MATH 345: PSet 1

Andrew Hu

P
Now, for |S| odd, we have x6=(1)n ,1n S (x) = 0 because we have removed one case where
S (x) is 1 and one case where
of S. For |S| is even, we have removed two
P it is 1, regardlessn1
cases where S (x) is 1 so x6=(1)n ,1n S (x) = 2
2 2n1 = 2. Therefore, we have:
n
2 2

2n
f(S) = 0

1
2n1

|S| = 0
|S| odd
|S| even

l. We simply compute:
x1
0
0
0
0
1
1
1
1

x2
0
0
1
1
0
0
1
1

x3
0
1
0
1
0
1
0
1

OXR(x)
0
1
1
0
1
1
1
1

Then, by direct computation in the form of f(S) = E(f S ), we get:

3
f() =
4
1
f({1}) =
4

f ({2}) = f ({3}) = 0
f({1, 2}) = f({1, 3}) = 0
1
f({2, 3}) =
4
1
f({1, 2, 3}) =
4
o. First, note that the majority function is odd f (x) = f (x) so the f(S) for |S| even is
0. Second, since the function is symmetric, we only need to determine the coefficient for a
representative of the set of subsets of a particular size |S|.
First, the majority-5 function. For |S| = 1, we write:
1
1
E(f S ) = E(f |x1 = 1) E(f |x1 = 1)
2


2
4
4
1
1
3
= ( 24 ) ( 24 ) =
2 2
2
2
8

MATH 345: PSet 1

n
k

Where we use

Andrew Hu
n
nk

to deal with annoying binomial coefficients. For |S| = 5, we write:

1
1
E(f S ) = E(S |f = 1) E(S |x1 = 1)
2








2


5
5
5
5
5
+ 55
1 0 + 2
1
3
3
1
4
= (
(

+
)
=
2
24
24
2
24
24
8
Thus, we can write:
M aj5 (x) =

X
3X
3
xi + f(S)
xi xj xk + x1 x2 x3 x4 x5
8 i
8
i6=j6=k

where |S| = 3. Since the sum of the Fourier coefficeints squared is 1, we know f(S) = 18 .
Then, checking x = 15 gives us that f(S) = 18 for |S| = 3 so:
M aj5 (x) =

3
3X
1 X
xi xj xk + x1 x2 x3 x4 x 5
xi
8 i
8 i6=j6=k
8

Next, the majority-7 function; we follow a lot of the same machinery and do not reproduce
the calculations in full detail. For |S| = 1, we have:
1
1
E(f S ) = E(f |x1 = 1) E(f |x1 = 1)
2


2
6
6
1
1
5
= ( 36 ) ( 36 ) =
2 2
2
2
16
For |S| = 3, we have:
1
1
E(f S ) = E(S |f = 1) E(S |x1 = 1)
2
2
1 2
1 2
1
= ( 6 ) ( 6) =
2 2
2 2
16
Then, we note that due to the symmetry of the majority function and the parity function,
it is the case that |f(S)| = |f(n S)|. In particular, we have:
M aj7 (x) =

X
5 X
1 X
1
5
xi
xi xj xk +
xi xj xk xm + x1 x2 x3 x 4 x5 x6 x7
16 i
16 i6=j6=k
16 i6=j6=k6=l6=m
16

Trying a couple of cases (all 1s, all -1s) we find:

M aj7 (x) =

X
5 X
1 X
1
5
xi
xi xj x k +
xi xj xk xm x1 x2 x3 x4 x5 x6 x7
16 i
16 i6=j6=k
16 i6=j6=k6=l6=m
16

Problem 2. 1.2
P
We know that for f : {1, 1}n {1, 1}, we have S f2 (S) = 1. In particular, if for only
one S f2 (S) 6= 0, then f(S) = 1. Since there are 2n choices of S and 2 choices for each S,
there are 2n+1 such boolean functions.
3

MATH 345: PSet 1

Andrew Hu

Problem 3. 1.5
It is well known that the Hamming distance (and thus relative hamming distance) satisfies the
triangle inequality. Assume by way of contradiction that we have |f(S)| > 12 and |f(T )| > 12
for S 6= T . As long as S 6= T , we know dist(S , T ) = 21 since we can simply fix one of them
and the other has equal probability to equal or not equal over all x. Furthermore, we know:
1
|1 2dist(f, S )| = | < f, S > | = |f(S)| >
2
Solving out the inequality gives us two possible cases for each d(f, S ) <
AND d(f, T ) < 41 or d(f, T ) > 34 .

1
4

or d(f, S ) >

3
4

We first do the case where d(f, S ) < 14 and d(f, T ) < 41 . Then, by the triangle inequality,
we have d(S , T ) d(f, S ) + d(f, T ) = 12 < 12 , a contradiction.
If d(f, S ) > 34 and d(f, T ) > 43 , we know that these come from the cases when f(S), f(T ) <
12 . Then, f is also a boolean function with f(S), f(T ) > 12 and the first case generates a
contradiction on f so this cannot be the case as well.
For the last two cases, WLOG, let us take d(f, S ) > 43 and d(f, T ) < 14 . Then, by the
triangle inequality, we have 34 = d(f, S ) d(f, T ) + d(T , S ) < 34 , another contradiction.
Therefore, it is impossible for a Boolean-valued function two have more than one Fourier
coefficient exceeding 12 . This is not true in general for functions with norm 1 because the proof
takes advantage of the triangle inequality, which only exists for Boolean-valued functions.
Problem 4. 1.11 b,c
b. We take 1.9 for given. From 1.9(d), we can rewrite the result as:
p(x) = 1 2q(

1 xn
1 x1
,...,
)
2
2

Since 1.9(c) tells us that each Fourier coefficient in q(x) is an integer, we can deduce the
form of Fourier coefficients in p(x). Since |S| k by the degree of q, each Fourier coefficient
receives at most k 21 s from the expansion of q with the xs replaced. Since there is a
constant of 2 outside q, the Fourier coefficients of p are all integer multiples of 21k .
(S) = aS 21k . Then, we have P f(S)2 = 1 =
c. Note
that
from
above,
we
can
write
f
P
222k a2S = 1 which gives us:
X
a2S = 22k2
S[n]

Since aS is an integer, we have

P
|aS | a2S . This allows us to continue:
X
|aS | 22k2
X
|aS 21k | 2k1
X
|f(S)| 2k1

as needed.
4

MATH 345: PSet 1

Andrew Hu

Problem 5. 1.28
a. We have for all S 6= S , we have d(S , S ) = 21 (where we write dist(., .) as d(., .)). By
hypothesis, we have d(f, S ) = . Then, by the triangle inequality, we have d(f, S )
d(S , S ) + d(S , f ) and d(S , S ) d(f, S ) + d(S , f ). Simplifying, this gives us:
1
+
2
1
d(f, S )
2
d(f, S )

S>
. First suppose
Now, recall that we have < f, S >= 1 2d(f, S ) d(f, S ) = 1<f,
2
1<f,S >
1
1
2 + = < f, S > 2. Alternatively,
d(f, S ) 2 + . Then, we have
2
1<f,S >
1
suppose d(f, S ) 2 . Then, we have
12 = < f, S > 2. These two
2
statements together give us | < f, S > | 2.

b. From
in the proof of Theorem 1.30, we have that the P r[BLRrejects] =
P thework
1
1
3
f
(S)
.
From
part (a), we have that |f(S)| 2 for S 6= S and f(S ) = 1 2

S[n]
2
2
(from Lemma 1.9). Thus, we write:
1 1 X 3
P r[BLRreject] =
f (S)
2 2
S[n]

X
1 1
f(S)3 )
= (f(S )3 +
2 2
S6=S

X
1 1
f(S)2 )
((1 2)3 + max f(S)
S6
=
S
2 2
S6=S

as in 1.30

1 1
(1 6 + 12 2 8 3 + 2(1 (1 2)2 )) part a and Parseval
2 2
1 1
= (1 6 + 20 2 16 3 )
2 2
= 3 10 2 + 8 3
=

where in the inequality, we use the facts derived in part a and Parsevals theorem.
c. This can be seen immediately from the computation of the probability above. The only
inequality is in line 3. Equality holds if f(S) is the same for all S 6= S . Since this constraint
can easily be constructed while maintaining the property of the function, we see that the
computed probability is strict and cannot be improved to any c O( 2 ) for c > 3.
Problem 6. 2.3
a. We do the easy direction first. Suppose f can be expressed as a weighted majority
function with a1 = a2 = . . . = an = 1. Then, since all xi have the same constant 1 on them
and addition is commutative, f is P
symmetric. Now, P
suppose that x y coordinate wise,
xi yi i. Then f (x) = sgn(a0 + xi ) sgn(a0 + yi ) = f (y) so f is monotone since
sgn(.) is monotone.
Now suppose that f is symmetric and Q
monotone.
P We know that f can be expressed as a
linear combination of parity functions
xi ,
f (S)S and that we may write Infi (f ) =
5

MATH 345: PSet 1

Andrew Hu

f(S)2 . Since f is monotone, we also have that Infi (f ) = f({i}). In particular, this
demonstrates that in the Fourier expansion of f , f(S) = 0 for |S| 2. Furthermore, since
f is symmetric, all
Pthe Fourier coefficients on S for |S| = 1 are the same and we can write

f (x) = f () + a xi . By renormalizing and and composing with another monotone (in

the same direction) and symmetric function sgn(.), itPis now clear that any boolean-valued
function of this form can be represented as sgn(a0 + xi ), as needed.
P
b. By part (a), we can
write
f
(x)
=
sgn(a
+
xi ). SincePf is odd, we havePf (x) =
0
P
P
f (x) = sgn(a0 xi ) = sgn(a0 + xi ) = sgn(a0 xi ) = sgn(a
P 0 xi ) =
sgn(a0 ) = sgn(a0 ) = a0 = 0. Then, if n is even, we find that sgn( xi ) could be 0
which is out of the range of a boolean valued function. Therefore n is odd and f = M ajn .
P

iS

Problem 7. Influences
f. If = 0, then (1) = (1) = 0 and the influence of 1 is 0. Otherwise, (1) 6= (1) so
the influence of 1 is 1.
i. Note that this function is symmetric so it suffices to compute Inf1 (f ). The only case that
flipping the first bit would cause a change in the NAE function is if all bits are equal (value
changes from 0 to 1 with bit change) or if they are almost all equal except for the first bit.
1
This gives 4 cases in total. Therefore, the Inf1 (f ) = 24n = 2n2
.
l. Using the table in problem 1, we compute directly:
1
2
1
Inf2 (f ) =
2
1
Inf3 (f ) =
2

Inf1 (f ) =

o. Since the majority function is monotone, we know that Infi (f ) = f(i). For majority 5,
5
.
this value is 38 . For majority 7, this value is 16
Problem 8. 2.5a
We have Infi (f ) = EDi2 (f ) |EDi (f )| = |Di(f )()| = |f(i)| as needed. The inequality
comes from the fact that Di2 (f ) and Di (f ) are non-zero at the same x and Di2 (f ) is nonnegative, while Di (f ) could be 1 or 1, resulting in a lower expectation.
Equality is obtained iff EDi2 (f ) = |EDi (f )|, which is true iff x : Di (f )(x) 6= 0, Di (f )(x)
has the same sign. This is equivalent to being unate in the i-th direction.
Problem 9. 2.6
P
Let f (x) = sgn(a0 + ai xi ) be an arbitrary linear threshold function. Fix some i. Then:
X
f (x(i1) ) = sgn(a0 ai +
aj x j )
j6=i

f (x

(i1)

) = sgn(a0 + ai +

X
j6=i

aj x j )

MATH 345: PSet 1

Andrew Hu

It is immediately clear that if ai > 0, then f (x(i1) ) f (x(i1) ) and if ai < 0, then
f (x(i1) ) f (x(i1) ) since sgn(.) is weakly monotonic. Thus f is unate in direction i and
since i was arbitrarily chosen f is unate.
Problem 10. 2.8
We show the hint Infi (f ) 2min(P r[f = 1], P r[f = 1]). Fix some i. Note that each
of the possible x {1, 1}n come in 2n1 pairs, one in which xi is positive and one in
which it is negative. Take an arbitrary pair (x, y). There are 4 possibilities: f (x) = f (y) =
1; f (x) = 1, f (y) = 1; f (x) = 1, f (y) = 1; f (x) = f (y) = 1, suppose these cases happen
in counts A, B, C, D respectively (A + B + C + D = 2n1 , that many pairs). Then, the
. 2P r[f = 1] = 2B+2C+4D
, P r[f = 1] = 2B+2C+4A
. Since A, D 0, it is
Infi (f ) = 2B+2C
2n
2n
2n
clear that Infi (f ) 2 min(P r[f = 1], P r[f = 1]).
Now, if we can prove 2 min(P r[f = 1], P r[f = 1]) V ar(f ), well be done. From fact
1.14, we know V ar(f ) = 4P r[f = 1]P r[f = 1]. Suppose a = min(P r[f = 1], P r[f = 1]).
Then, we wish to show that 2a 4a(1 a) = a 2a(1 a) for 0 a 12 . The boundary
cases can easily be checked so let us consider 0 < a < 21 . Then, the inequality we wish to
show can be simplified to 1 2(1 a) = a 12 . Keeping in mind that a < 21 , this
becomes true and we are done. Combining the two statements, we have Infi (f ) V ar(f ).