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TheoremStatement: Literature-sourcedProof: AI-generatedprecheck passjudge pass (gpt-5.6-terra)audited 2026-09-05
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Subset sum polynomial-time many-one reduces to partition

Statement

SUBSET SUM polynomial-time many-one reduces to PARTITION.

Facts & Assumptions

Given: A SUBSET SUM instance (a1,,an;k) and the total A:=a1++an.

[L1]

A polynomial-time many-one reduction is a total polynomial-time function preserving membership in both directions, by Polynomial-time many-one reductions.

[F1]

SUBSET SUM asks for a subcollection summing to k, and PARTITION asks for a split into two subcollections of equal total sum, by Subset sum and partition decision problems.

Proof

technique · direct
1.1

If k>A, map the instance to the one-element list (1) for PARTITION. This is a correct no-instance because no subcollection of a1,,an can exceed the total A, and the list (1) cannot be partitioned into two equal sums. Thus it remains to treat the case kA. Define b:=2Ak and c:=A+k, and output the PARTITION instance with list (a1,,an,b,c).

F1givenconstruct
2.1

The new total sum is A+b+c=A+(2Ak)+(A+k)=4A, so any equal partition must split the numbers into two subcollections each summing to 2A.

step 1.1algebra
3.1

If the SUBSET SUM instance is positive, choose I{1,,n} with iIai=k. Then iIai+b=k+(2Ak)=2A. The complementary numbers among a1,,an therefore sum to Ak, and (Ak)+c=(Ak)+(A+k)=2A. So the augmented list is a yes-instance of PARTITION.

step 1.1step 2.1construct
3.2

Conversely, suppose the augmented list has a partition into two subcollections each summing to 2A. The numbers b and c cannot lie on the same side because b+c=3A>2A, and they cannot both be absent from one side because then that side would use only the original ai and so would sum at most A<2A. Hence exactly one of b,c lies on each side. The side containing b must then contain original numbers summing to 2Ab=2A(2Ak)=k. Those numbers witness a yes-instance of SUBSET SUM.

step 1.1step 2.1algebra
4.1

The construction adds only two binary integers computed from A and k, so it is polynomial-time. Steps 3.1 and 3.2 establish the required iff, and [L1] therefore gives a polynomial-time many-one reduction from SUBSET SUM to PARTITION.

L1step 1.1step 3.1step 3.2

Depends on

Used by

Nothing in the library uses this result yet.

Dependency tree · two levels

4 results within two dependency steps of this one, each drawn at its shortest distance from it. An arrow runs from a result to what uses it, so the chart reads left to right and ends at this result, which carries a heavier outline. Every node is a link to that result. Click elsewhere on the chart to enlarge it.

Sources