Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

arXiv:0705.3806 · Annual Symposium on Foundations of Computer Science

A Hypercontractive Inequality for Matrix-Valued Functions with Applications to Quantum Computing and LDCs

Avraham Ben-Aroya, Oded Regev, Ronald de Wolf

Published Oct 1, 2008• 86 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

The Bonami-Beckner hypercontractive inequality is a powerful tool in Fourier analysis of real-valued functions on the Boolean cube. In this paper we present a version of this inequality for matrix-valued functions on the Boolean cube. Its proof is based on a powerful inequality by Ball, Carlen, and Lieb. We also present a number of applications. First, we analyze maps that encode n classical bits into m qubits, in such a way that each set of k bits can be recovered with some probability by an appropriate measurement on the quantum encoding; we show that if m < 0.7 n, then the success probability is exponentially small in k. This result may be viewed as a direct product version of Nayak's quantum random access code bound. It in turn implies strong direct product theorems for the one-way quantum communication complexity of Disjointness and other problems. Second, we prove that error-correcting codes that are locally decodable with 2 queries require length exponential in the length of the encoded string. This gives what is arguably the first "non-quantum" proof of a result originally derived by Kerenidis and de Wolf using quantum information theory.

DOI
10.1109/focs.2008.45

Related papers

Matrix hypercontractivity, streaming algorithms and LDCs: the large alphabet case

Srinivasan Arunachalam, João Fernando Doriguello

We prove a hypercontractive inequality for matrix-valued functions defined over large alphabets. In order to do so, we prove a generalization of the powerful 2-uniform convexity inequality for trace norms of Ball, Carlen, Lieb (Inventiones Mathematicae’94). Using our hypercontractive inequality, we present upper and lower bounds for the communication complexity of the Hidden Hypermatching problem defined over large alphabets. We then consider streaming algorithms for approximating the value of Unique Games on a hypergraph with t -size hyperedges. By using our communication lower bound, we show that every streaming algorithm in the adversarial model achieving an \((r-\varepsilon)\) -approximation of this value requires \(\Omega (n^{1-2/t})\) quantum space, where r is the alphabet size. We next present a lower bound for locally decodable codes ( \(\mathsf {LDC}\) ) \(\mathbb {Z}_r^n\rightarrow \mathbb {Z}_r^N\) over large alphabets with recoverability probability at least \(1/r + \varepsilon\) . Using hypercontractivity, we give an exponential lower bound \(N= 2^{\Omega (\varepsilon ^4 n/r^4)}\) for 2-query (possibly non-linear) \(\mathsf {LDC}\) s over \(\mathbb {Z}_r\) and using the non-commutative Khintchine inequality we prove an improved lower bound of \(N= 2^{\Omega (\varepsilon ^2 n/r^2)}\) .

arXiv:2109.02600•ACM Transactions on Computation Theory•Aug 27, 2024•3 citations

Exponential lower bound for 2-query locally decodable codes via a quantum argument

Iordanis Kerenidis, Ronald de Wolf

A locally decodable code encodes n-bit strings x in m-bit codewords C(x), in such a way that one can recover any bit xi from a corrupted codeword by querying only a few bits of that word. We use a quantum argument to prove that LDCs with 2 classical queries need exponential length: m=2Ω(n). Previously this was known only for linear codes (Goldreich et al. 02). Our proof shows that a 2-query LDC can be decoded with only 1 quantum query, and then proves an exponential lower bound for such 1-query locally quantum-decodable codes. We also show that q quantum queries allow more succinct LDCs than the best known LDCs with q classical queries. Finally, we give new classical lower bounds and quantum upper bounds for the setting of private information retrieval. In particular, we exhibit a quantum 2 server PIR scheme with O(n3/10) qubits of communication, improving upon the O(n1/3) bits of communication of the best known classical 2-server PIR.

ACM Symposium on Theory of Computing (STOC)•Jun 9, 2003•194 citations

Exponential lower bound for 2-query locally decodable codes via a quantum argument

Iordanis Kerenidis, Ronald de Wolf

A locally decodable code encodes n-bit strings x in m-bit codewords C(x), in such a way that one can recover any bit xi from a corrupted codeword by querying only a few bits of that word. We use a quantum argument to prove that LDCs with 2 classical queries need exponential length: m=2Ω(n). Previously this was known only for linear codes (Goldreich et al. 02). Our proof shows that a 2-query LDC can be decoded with only 1 quantum query, and then proves an exponential lower bound for such 1-query locally quantum-decodable codes. We also show that q quantum queries allow more succinct LDCs than the best known LDCs with q classical queries. Finally, we give new classical lower bounds and quantum upper bounds for the setting of private information retrieval. In particular, we exhibit a quantum 2 server PIR scheme with O(n3/10) qubits of communication, improving upon the O(n1/3) bits of communication of the best known classical 2-server PIR.

ACM Symposium on Theory of Computing (STOC)•Jan 1, 2003•25 citations

Quantum boolean functions

Ashley Montanaro, Tobias J. Osborne

In this paper we introduce the study of quantum boolean functions, which are unitary operators f whose square is the identity: f^2 = I. We describe several generalisations of well-known results in the theory of boolean functions, including quantum property testing; a quantum version of the Goldreich-Levin algorithm for finding the large Fourier coefficients of boolean functions; and two quantum versions of a theorem of Friedgut, Kalai and Naor on the Fourier spectra of boolean functions. In order to obtain one of these generalisations, we prove a quantum extension of the hypercontractive inequality of Bonami, Gross and Beckner.

arXiv:0810.2435•Chicago Journal of Theoretical Computer Science•Oct 14, 2008•58 citations

Strong Selective and List-Decoding Direct Product Theorems for Quantum Query Complexity

Paul Beame, Niels Kornerup, Michael Whitmeyer

Quantum strong direct-product theorems for specific functions have been known for nearly two decades. These have been extended to general results for function computation and state generation. The proofs of these results use a version of the multiplicative adversary method that does not naturally extend to relations. Standard strong direct-product theorems apply when algorithms must correctly answer every given question. Prior work extended them to equivalent threshold direct-product theorems, which require answers to all questions but only require that most answers are correct. We focus on two further generalizations. Strong selective direct-products apply to algorithms that adaptively choose, based on what they learn from queries, which questions from a large list to answer. This generalization is relational and useful for proving time-space tradeoffs. We prove a quantum strong selective direct-product theorem for all functions using a relational formulation of the multiplicative adversary method by Jeffery and Zur which we prove, via an equivalent formulation, satisfies a strong selective direct product property and captures any query lower bound for functions proven by negative-weights adversaries. The second generalization is list-decoding direct product problems introduced by Ben-David and Blais for classical query complexity. These allow an algorithm to produce a large list of possible output vectors such that one of them is fully correct. They proved that such theorems hold for randomized complexity of all Boolean functions. We prove a quantum analogue of this theorem for all partial Boolean-valued functions. We show that strong list-decoding direct-product theorems are implied by a special case of multiplicative adversaries which we show, via a new reduction, can be obtained from negative-weights adversaries for any Boolean-valued function.

cs.CCCross-listedarXiv:2609.26678•Sep 23, 2026•0 citations

A Strong Direct Product Theorem for Quantum Query Complexity

Troy Lee, Jérémie Roland

We show that quantum query complexity satisfies a strong direct product theorem. This means that computing $k$ copies of a function with less than $k$ times the quantum queries needed to compute one copy of the function implies that the overall success probability will be exponentially small in $k$. For a boolean function $f$ we also show an XOR lemma -- computing the parity of $k$ copies of $f$ with less than $k$ times the queries needed for one copy implies that the advantage over random guessing will be exponentially small. We do this by showing that the multiplicative adversary method, which inherently satisfies a strong direct product theorem, characterizes bounded-error quantum query complexity. In particular, we show that the multiplicative adversary bound is always at least as large as the additive adversary bound, which is known to characterize bounded-error quantum query complexity.

arXiv:1104.4468•IEEE Conference on Computational Complexity (CCC)•Jun 1, 2012•6 citations
The Bonami-Beckner hypercontractive inequality is a powerful tool in Fourier analysis of real-valued functions on the Boolean cube. In this paper we present a version of this inequality for matrix-valued functions on the Boolean cube. Its proof is based on a powerful inequality by Ball, Carlen, and Lieb. We also present a number of applications. First, we analyze maps that encode n classical bits into m qubits, in such a way that each set of k bits can be recovered with some probability by an appropriate measurement on the quantum encoding; we show that if m < 0.7 n, then the success probability is exponentially small in k. This result may be viewed as a direct product version of Nayak's quantum random access code bound. It in turn implies strong direct product theorems for the one-way quantum communication complexity of Disjointness and other problems. Second, we prove that error-correcting codes that are locally decodable with 2 queries require length exponential in the length of the encoded string. This gives what is arguably the first "non-quantum" proof of a result originally derived by Kerenidis and de Wolf using quantum information theory.
We prove a hypercontractive inequality for matrix-valued functions defined over large alphabets. In order to do so, we prove a generalization of the powerful 2-uniform convexity inequality for trace norms of Ball, Carlen, Lieb (Inventiones Mathematicae’94). Using our hypercontractive inequality, we present upper and lower bounds for the communication complexity of the Hidden Hypermatching problem defined over large alphabets. We then consider streaming algorithms for approximating the value of Unique Games on a hypergraph with t -size hyperedges. By using our communication lower bound, we show that every streaming algorithm in the adversarial model achieving an (r−ε)(r-\varepsilon)(r−ε) -approximation of this value requires Ω(n1−2/t)\Omega (n^{1-2/t})Ω(n1−2/t) quantum space, where r is the alphabet size. We next present a lower bound for locally decodable codes ( LDC\mathsf {LDC}LDC ) Zrn→ZrN\mathbb {Z}_r^n\rightarrow \mathbb {Z}_r^NZrn​→ZrN​ over large alphabets with recoverability probability at least 1/r+ε1/r + \varepsilon1/r+ε . Using hypercontractivity, we give an exponential lower bound N=2Ω(ε4n/r4)N= 2^{\Omega (\varepsilon ^4 n/r^4)}N=2Ω(ε4n/r4) for 2-query (possibly non-linear) LDC\mathsf {LDC}LDC s over Zr\mathbb {Z}_rZr​ and using the non-commutative Khintchine inequality we prove an improved lower bound of N=2Ω(ε2n/r2)N= 2^{\Omega (\varepsilon ^2 n/r^2)}N=2Ω(ε2n/r2) .
A locally decodable code encodes n-bit strings x in m-bit codewords C(x), in such a way that one can recover any bit xi from a corrupted codeword by querying only a few bits of that word. We use a quantum argument to prove that LDCs with 2 classical queries need exponential length: m=2Ω(n). Previously this was known only for linear codes (Goldreich et al. 02). Our proof shows that a 2-query LDC can be decoded with only 1 quantum query, and then proves an exponential lower bound for such 1-query locally quantum-decodable codes. We also show that q quantum queries allow more succinct LDCs than the best known LDCs with q classical queries. Finally, we give new classical lower bounds and quantum upper bounds for the setting of private information retrieval. In particular, we exhibit a quantum 2 server PIR scheme with O(n3/10) qubits of communication, improving upon the O(n1/3) bits of communication of the best known classical 2-server PIR.
A locally decodable code encodes n-bit strings x in m-bit codewords C(x), in such a way that one can recover any bit xi from a corrupted codeword by querying only a few bits of that word. We use a quantum argument to prove that LDCs with 2 classical queries need exponential length: m=2Ω(n). Previously this was known only for linear codes (Goldreich et al. 02). Our proof shows that a 2-query LDC can be decoded with only 1 quantum query, and then proves an exponential lower bound for such 1-query locally quantum-decodable codes. We also show that q quantum queries allow more succinct LDCs than the best known LDCs with q classical queries. Finally, we give new classical lower bounds and quantum upper bounds for the setting of private information retrieval. In particular, we exhibit a quantum 2 server PIR scheme with O(n3/10) qubits of communication, improving upon the O(n1/3) bits of communication of the best known classical 2-server PIR.
In this paper we introduce the study of quantum boolean functions, which are unitary operators f whose square is the identity: f^2 = I. We describe several generalisations of well-known results in the theory of boolean functions, including quantum property testing; a quantum version of the Goldreich-Levin algorithm for finding the large Fourier coefficients of boolean functions; and two quantum versions of a theorem of Friedgut, Kalai and Naor on the Fourier spectra of boolean functions. In order to obtain one of these generalisations, we prove a quantum extension of the hypercontractive inequality of Bonami, Gross and Beckner.
Quantum strong direct-product theorems for specific functions have been known for nearly two decades. These have been extended to general results for function computation and state generation. The proofs of these results use a version of the multiplicative adversary method that does not naturally extend to relations. Standard strong direct-product theorems apply when algorithms must correctly answer every given question. Prior work extended them to equivalent threshold direct-product theorems, which require answers to all questions but only require that most answers are correct. We focus on two further generalizations. Strong selective direct-products apply to algorithms that adaptively choose, based on what they learn from queries, which questions from a large list to answer. This generalization is relational and useful for proving time-space tradeoffs. We prove a quantum strong selective direct-product theorem for all functions using a relational formulation of the multiplicative adversary method by Jeffery and Zur which we prove, via an equivalent formulation, satisfies a strong selective direct product property and captures any query lower bound for functions proven by negative-weights adversaries. The second generalization is list-decoding direct product problems introduced by Ben-David and Blais for classical query complexity. These allow an algorithm to produce a large list of possible output vectors such that one of them is fully correct. They proved that such theorems hold for randomized complexity of all Boolean functions. We prove a quantum analogue of this theorem for all partial Boolean-valued functions. We show that strong list-decoding direct-product theorems are implied by a special case of multiplicative adversaries which we show, via a new reduction, can be obtained from negative-weights adversaries for any Boolean-valued function.
We show that quantum query complexity satisfies a strong direct product theorem. This means that computing kkk copies of a function with less than kkk times the quantum queries needed to compute one copy of the function implies that the overall success probability will be exponentially small in kkk. For a boolean function fff we also show an XOR lemma -- computing the parity of kkk copies of fff with less than kkk times the queries needed for one copy implies that the advantage over random guessing will be exponentially small. We do this by showing that the multiplicative adversary method, which inherently satisfies a strong direct product theorem, characterizes bounded-error quantum query complexity. In particular, we show that the multiplicative adversary bound is always at least as large as the additive adversary bound, which is known to characterize bounded-error quantum query complexity.