theorem
NLSubsetP.nspace_log_config_graph_poly_time_decidable
{Γ : Type}
(A : Set (List Γ))
(Q : Type)
[DecidableEq Q]
(M : SpaceComplexity.NTM Q Γ)
(hLang : M.language = A)
(g : ℕ → ℕ)
(hgBound : SpaceComplexity.IsAsympBoundedBy g LogSpace.log)
(hSpace : M.RunsInSpace g)
:
If an NTM M recognizing A runs in O(log n) space (with bound g),
then A ∈ P. The proof uses the configuration-graph reachability simulation:
since the NTM uses log space, it has polynomially many configurations, so a
polynomial-time deterministic decider can search the configuration graph.
Sipser, Lecture 20. NL ⊆ P. Every language decided by a
nondeterministic log-space TM is also decided by a deterministic polynomial-time
TM.