We prove new results regarding the complexity of various complexity classes under randomized oracle reductions. We first prove that BPP^{prSZK} \subseteq AM \cap coAM, where prSZK is the class of promise problems having statistical zero knowledge proofs. This strengthens the previously known facts that \prSZK is closed under NC^1 truth-table reductions (Sahai and Vadhan, J. ACM '03) and that P^{prSZK} \subseteq AM \cap coAM (Vadhan, personal communication). Our results imply that for most cryptographically interesting lattice problems, there is a sharp threshold for the approximation factor below which we do not know if the problems are even in AM, while above which the problems are in AM \cap coAM not only via Karp reductions but also via randomized oracle reductions.

Then we investigate the power of randomized oracle reductions with relation to the notion of instance checking (Blum and Kannan, J. ACM '95). We observe that a theorem of Beigel implies that if any problem in TFNP such as Nash equilibrium is NP-hard under randomized oracle reductions, then SAT is checkable.

We also observe that Beigel's theorem can be extended to an average-case setting by relating checking to the notion of program testing (Blum et al., JCSS '93). From this, we derive that if one-way functions can be based on NP-hardness via a randomized oracle reduction, then SAT is checkable. By showing that NP has a \emph{non-uniform} tester, we also show that worst-case to average-case randomized oracle reduction for any relation (or language) R \in NP implies that R has a non-uniform instance checker. These results hold even for adaptive randomized oracle reductions.

Introduction modified to include more intuition and motivation.

The closure of complexity classes is a delicate question and the answer varies depending on the type of reduction considered. The closure of most classes under many-to-one (Karp) reductions is clear, but the question becomes complicated when oracle (Cook) reductions are allowed, and even more so when the oracle reductions are allowed to be randomized.

We first prove that BPP^{SZK} \subseteq AM \cap coAM, strengthening the previously known facts that SZK is closed under NC^1 truth-table reductions (Sahai and Vadhan, J. ACM '03) and that P^{SZK} \subseteq AM \cap coAM (Vadhan, as cited in Goldreich, ECCC '05). Our proof relies on showing that a certain class of real-valued functions that we call RTFAM can be computed using an AM protocol.

Then we investigate the power of randomized oracle reductions with relation to the notion of program checking (Blum and Kannan, J. ACM '95). We observe that a theorem of Beigel implies that if any problem in TFNP such as Nash equilibrium is NP-hard under randomized oracle reductions, then SAT is checkable.

We also observe that Beigel's theorem can be extended to an average-case setting by relating checking to the notion of program \emph{testing} (Blum et al., JCSS '93). From this, we derive that if one-way functions can be based on NP-hardness via a randomized oracle reduction, then SAT is checkable. By showing that NP has a \emph{non-uniform} tester, we also show that if SAT has a worst-case to average-case randomized oracle reduction, then SAT is checkable with a non-uniform instance checker. These results hold even for adaptive randomized oracle reductions.

Acknowledgements added.

The closure of complexity classes is a delicate question and the answer varies depending on the type of reduction considered. The closure of most classes under many-to-one (Karp) reductions is clear, but the question becomes complicated when oracle (Cook) reductions are allowed, and even more so when the oracle reductions are allowed to be randomized.

We first prove that BPP^{SZK} \subseteq AM \cap coAM, strengthening the previously known facts that SZK is closed under NC^1 truth-table reductions (Sahai and Vadhan, J. ACM '03) and that P^{SZK} \subseteq AM \cap coAM (Vadhan, as cited in Goldreich, ECCC '05). Our proof relies on showing that a certain class of real-valued functions that we call RTFAM can be computed using an AM protocol.

Then we investigate the power of randomized oracle reductions with relation to the notion of program checking (Blum and Kannan, J. ACM '95). We observe that a theorem of Beigel implies that if any problem in TFNP such as Nash equilibrium is NP-hard under randomized oracle reductions, then SAT is checkable.

We also observe that Beigel's theorem can be extended to an average-case setting by relating checking to the notion of program \emph{testing} (Blum et al., JCSS '93). From this, we derive that if one-way functions can be based on NP-hardness via a randomized oracle reduction, then SAT is checkable. By showing that NP has a \emph{non-uniform} tester, we also show that if SAT has a worst-case to average-case randomized oracle reduction, then SAT is checkable with a non-uniform instance checker. These results hold even for adaptive randomized oracle reductions.

Typos fixed (in the abstract above and in the proof of Theorem 1.1)

The closure of complexity classes is a elicate question and the answer varies depending on the type of reduction considered. The closure of most classes under many-to-one (Karp) reductions is clear, but the question becomes complicated when oracle (Cook) reductions are allowed, and even more so when the oracle reductions are allowed to be randomized.

We first prove that BPP^{SZK} \subseteq AM \cap coAM, strengthening the previously known facts that SZK is closed under NC^1 truth-table reductions (Sahai and Vadhan, J. ACM '03) and that P^{SZK} \subseteq AM \cap coAM (Vadhan, as cited in Goldreich, ECCC '05). Our proof relies on showing that a certain class of real-valued functions that we call RTFAM can be computed using an AM protocol.

Then we investigate the power of randomized oracle reductions with relation to the notion of program checking (Blum and Kannan, J. ACM '95). We observe that a theorem of Beigel implies that if any problem in TFNP such as Nash equilibrium is NP-hard under randomized oracle reductions, then SAT is checkable.

We also observe that Beigel's theorem can be extended to an average-case setting by relating checking to the notion of program \emph{testing} (Blum et al., JCSS '93). From this, we derive that if one-way functions can be based on NP-hardness via a randomized oracle reduction, then SAT is checkable. By showing that NP has a \emph{non-uniform} tester, we also show that if SAT has a worst-case to average-case randomized oracle reduction, then SAT is checkable with a non-uniform instance checker. These results hold even for adaptive randomized oracle reductions.