Exponential hierarchy

In computational complexity theory, the exponential hierarchy is a hierarchy of complexity classes that is an exponential time analogue of the polynomial hierarchy. As elsewhere in complexity theory, “exponential” is used in two different meanings (linear exponential bounds ${\displaystyle 2^{cn}}$ for a constant c, and full exponential bounds ${\displaystyle 2^{n^{c}}}$), leading to two versions of the exponential hierarchy. This hierarchy is sometimes also referred to as the weak exponential hierarchy, to differentiate it from the strong exponential hierarchy.