Fast Modular Subset Sum using Linear Sketching

Given n positive integers, the Modular Subset Sum problem asks if a subset adds up to a given target t modulo a given integer m. This is a natural generalization of the Subset Sum problem (where m = +∞) with ties to additive combinatorics and cryptography.Recently, in [Bri17, KX17], efficient algorithms have been developed for the non-modular case, running in near-linear pseudo-polynomial time. For the modular case, however, the best known algorithm by Koiliaris and Xu [KX17] runs in time O(m5/4).In this paper, we present an algorithm running in O(m) randomized time, which matches a recent conditional lower bound of [ABHS17] based on the Strong Exponential Time Hypothesis. Interestingly, in contrast to most previous results on Subset Sum, our algorithm does not use the Fast Fourier Transform. Instead, it is able to simulate the "textbook" Dynamic Programming algorithm much faster, using ideas from linear sketching. This is one of the first applications of sketching-based techniques to obtain fast algorithms for exact combinatorial problems in an offline setting.