Improved lower bounds for decomposable randomized encoding

Abstract

A decomposable randomized encoding (DRE) for a function $f$ allows $n$ parties, using shared randomness, to encode their individual inputs locally so that the collection of encodings reveals $f(x_1,\ldots,x_n)$ and nothing else. DREs are widely used in efficient multiparty computation. Their main complexity measure is size, the total bit length of the local encodings. Yet the optimal DRE size remains poorly understood even for the $n$-bit OR function. We prove the first superlinear lower bound for OR and, more generally, for every non-periodic symmetric function. Under an additional symmetry assumption, we prove a sharp $\Omega(n\log n)$ lower bound for OR, matching the classic construction of Feige, Kilian, and Naor (STOC 1994). We also prove the first $\Omega(n^2)$ lower bound on DRE size for non-explicit Boolean functions.