Linearity testing in characteristic two

Let Dist(f,g)=Pr/sub u/ [f(u)/spl ne/g(u)] denote the relative distance between functions f,g mapping from a group G to a group H, and let Dist(f) denote the minimum, over all linear functions (homomorphisms) g, of Dist(f,g). Given a function f:G/spl rarr/H we let Err(f)=Pr/sub u/,v[f(u)+f(v)/spl ne/f(u+v)] denote the rejection probability of the BLR (Blum-Luby-Rubinfeld) linearity test. Linearity testing is the study of the relationship between Err(f) and Dist(f), and in particular the study of lower bounds on Err(f) in terms of Dist(f). The case we are interested in is when the underlying groups are G=GF(2)/sup n/ and H=GF(2). The corresponding test is used in the construction of efficient PCPs and thence in the derivation of hardness of approximation results, and, in this context, improved analyses translate into better non-approximability results. However, while several analyses of the relation of Err(f) to Dist(f) are known, none is tight. We present a description of the relationship between Err(f) and Dist(f) which is nearly complete in all its aspects, and entirely complete (i.e. tight) in some. In particular we present functions L,U:[0,1]/spl rarr/[0,1] such that for all x/spl isin/[0,1] we have L(x)