Linear Space Streaming Lower Bounds for Approximating CSPs

Abstract: We consider the approximability of constraint satisfaction problems in the streaming setting. For every constraint satisfaction problem (CSP) on $n$ variables taking values in ${0,\ldots,q-1}$, we prove that improving over the trivial approximability by a factor of $q$ requires $\Omega(n)$ space even on instances with $O(n)$ constraints. We also identify a broad subclass of problems for which any improvement over the trivial approximability requires $\Omega(n)$ space. The key technical core is an optimal, $q^{-(k-1)}$-inapproximability for the Max $k$-LIN-mod $q$ problem, which is the Max CSP problem where every constraint is given by a system of $k-1$ linear equations $\bmod q$ over $k$ variables. Our work builds on and extends the breakthrough work of Kapralov and Krachun (Proc. STOC 2019) who showed a linear lower bound on any non-trivial approximation of the MaxCut problem in graphs. MaxCut corresponds roughly to the case of Max $k$-LIN-mod $q$ with ${k=q=2}$. For general CSPs in the streaming setting, prior results only yielded $\Omega(\sqrt{n})$ space bounds. In particular no linear space lower bound was known for an approximation factor less than $1/2$ for any CSP. Extending the work of Kapralov and Krachun to Max $k$-LIN-mod $q$ to $k>2$ and $q>2$ (while getting optimal hardness results) is the main technical contribution of this work. Each one of these extensions provides non-trivial technical challenges that we overcome in this work.