Robert A. Reckhow 2026-11-05
Robert A. Reckhow coauthored the 1979 paper establishing a general computational framework for propositional proof systems with Stephen Cook. Their formulation represents a proof system by a polynomial-time computable surjection onto the logical tautologies, separating verification cost from the length of the shortest proof.[ref]
The paper compares systems using efficient translations of proofs. If proofs in one system can be converted to proofs in another by a polynomial-time procedure, the translated proofs can grow only polynomially in length. Such a comparison is stronger than observing that both systems eventually prove the same formulas: completeness alone places no useful bound on the cost of converting evidence. This gives proof complexity a way to compare proof formats as computational representations.[ref]
By Stephen Cook and Robert A. Reckhow. Journal of Symbolic Logic 44(1), 36–50, March 1979.
Locator: §1, Definition 1.3 and pp.38–39 describe the polynomial-time surjective proof function and encoding invalid proofs as a fixed tautology.