Promise problem

In computational complexity theory, a promise problem is a generalization of a decision problem where the input is promised to belong to a particular subset of all possible inputs.[1] Unlike decision problems, the yes instances (the inputs for which an algorithm must return yes) and no instances do not exhaust the set of all inputs. Intuitively, the algorithm has been promised that the input does indeed belong to set of yes instances or no instances. There may be inputs which are neither yes nor no. If such an input is given to an algorithm for solving a promise problem, the algorithm is allowed to output anything, and may even not halt.

  1. ^ "Promise problem". Complexity Zoo.