We present three new quantum algorithms in the quantum query model for \textsc{graph-collision} problem: \begin{itemize} \item an algorithm based on tree decomposition that uses $O\left(\sqrt{n}t^{\sfrac{1}{6}}\right)$ queries where $t$ is the treewidth of the graph; \item an algorithm constructed on a span program that improves a result by Gavinsky and Ito. The algorithm uses $O(\sqrt{n}+\sqrt{α^{**}})$ queries, where $α^{**}(G)$ is a graph parameter defined by \[α^{**}(G):=\min_{VC\text{-- vertex cover of}G}{\max_{\substack{I\subseteq VC\\I\text{-- independent set}}}{\sum_{v\in I}{°{v}}}};\] \item an algorithm for a subclass of circulant graphs that uses $O(\sqrt{n})$ queries. \end{itemize} We also present an example of a possibly difficult graph $G$ for which all the known graphs fail to solve graph collision in $O(\sqrt{n} \log^c n)$ queries.
We present three new quantum algorithms in the quantum query model for \textsc{graph-collision} problem: \begin{itemize} \item an algorithm based on tree decomposition that uses O(nt\sfrac16) queries where t is the treewidth of the graph; \item an algorithm constructed on a span program that improves a result by Gavinsky and Ito. The algorithm uses O(n+α∗∗) queries, where α∗∗(G) is a graph parameter defined by [α^{**}(G):=\min_{VC\text{-- vertex cover of}G}{\max_{\substack{I\subseteq VC\I\text{-- independent set}}}{\sum_{v\in I}{°{v}}}};] \item an algorithm for a subclass of circulant graphs that uses O(n) queries. \end{itemize} We also present an example of a possibly difficult graph G for which all the known graphs fail to solve graph collision in O(nlogcn) queries.
We construct a new quantum algorithm for the graph collision problem; that is, the problem of deciding whether the set of marked vertices contains a pair of adjacent vertices in a known graph G. The query complexity of our algorithm is O(sqrt(n)+sqrt(alpha*(G))), where n is the number of vertices and alpha*(G) is the maximum total degree of the vertices in an independent set of G. Notably, if G is a random graph where every edge is present with a fixed probability independently of other edges, then our algorithm requires O(sqrt(n log n)) queries on most graphs, which is optimal up to the sqrt(log n) factor on most graphs.
In this paper, we consider the parameterized quantum query complexity for graph problems. We design parameterized quantum query algorithms for k-vertex cover and k-matching problems, and present lower bounds on the parameterized quantum query complexity. Then, we show that our quantum query algorithms are optimal up to a constant factor when the parameters are small. Our main results are as follows. Parameterized quantum query complexity of vertex cover. In the k-vertex cover problem, we are given an undirected graph G with n vertices and an integer k, and the objective is to determine whether G has a vertex cover of size at most k. We show that the quantum query complexity of the k-vertex cover problem is O(√kn + k^{3/2}√n) in the adjacency matrix model. For the design of the quantum query algorithm, we use the method of kernelization, a well-known tool for the design of parameterized classical algorithms, combined with Grover’s search. Parameterized quantum query complexity of matching. In the k-matching problem, we are given an undirected graph G with n vertices and an integer k, and the objective is to determine whether G has a matching of size at least k. We show that the quantum query complexity of the k-matching problem is O(√kn + k²) in the adjacency matrix model. We obtain this upper bound by using Grover’s search carefully and analyzing the number of Grover’s searches by making use of potential functions. We also show that the quantum query complexity of the maximum matching problem is O(√pn + p²) where p is the size of the maximum matching. For small p, it improves known bounds Õ(n^{3/2}) for bipartite graphs [Blikstad-v.d.Brand-Efron-Mukhopadhyay-Nanongkai, FOCS 2022] and O(n^{7/4}) for general graphs [Kimmel-Witter, WADS 2021]. Lower bounds on parameterized quantum query complexity. We also present lower bounds on the quantum query complexities of the k-vertex cover and k-matching problems. The lower bounds prove the optimality of the above parameterized quantum query algorithms up to a constant factor when k is small. Indeed, the quantum query complexities of the k-vertex cover and k-matching problems are both Θ(√k n) when k = O(√n) and k = O(n^{2/3}), respectively.
In this thesis we provide new upper and lower bounds on the quantum query complexity of a diverse set of problems. Specifically, we study quantum algorithms for Hamiltonian simulation, matrix multiplication, oracle identification, and graph-property recognition. \n \nFor the Hamiltonian simulation problem, we provide a quantum algorithm with query complexity sublogarithmic in the inverse error, an exponential improvement over previous methods. Our algorithm is based on a new quantum algorithm for implementing unitary matrices that can be written as linear combinations of efficiently implementable unitary gates. This algorithm uses a new form of ``oblivious amplitude amplification'' that can be applied even though the reflection about the input state is unavailable. \n \nIn the oracle identification problem, we are given oracle access to an unknown N-bit string x promised to belong to a known set of size M, and our task is to identify x. We present the first quantum algorithm for the problem that is optimal in its dependence on N and M. Our algorithm is based on ideas from classical learning theory and a new composition theorem for solutions of the filtered gamma_2-norm semidefinite program. \n \nWe then study the quantum query complexity of matrix multiplication and related problems over rings, semirings, and the Boolean semiring in particular. Our main result is an output-sensitive algorithm for Boolean matrix multiplication that multiplies two n x n Boolean matrices with query complexity O(n sqrt{l}), where l is the sparsity of the output matrix. The algorithm is based on a reduction to the graph collision problem and a new algorithm for graph collision. \n \nFinally, we study the quantum query complexity of minor-closed graph properties and show that most minor-closed properties---those that cannot be characterized by a finite set of forbidden subgraphs---have quantum query complexity Theta(n^{3/2}) and those that do have such a characterization can be solved strictly faster, with o(n^{3/2}) queries. Our lower bound is based on a detailed analysis of the structure of minor-closed properties with respect to forbidden topological minors and forbidden subgraphs. Our algorithms are a novel application of the quantum walk search framework and give improved upper bounds for several subgraph-finding problems.
We study the quantum query complexity of several basic graph problems. 1) We prove a tight Θ(n3/2) bound for finding a maximum-out-degree vertex in an n-vertex tournament, resolving a conjecture of Mande, Paraashar, and Saurabh [FSTTCS'23]. 2) Using the same proof idea, we give a direct proof that finding a maximum-degree vertex in an n-vertex undirected graph requires Θ(n3/2) quantum queries, a bound implicit in the work of Apers and Lee [CCC'21]. Both lower bounds above hold even for computing only the maximum degree or maximum out-degree. 3) We also study Maximum (k,n−k)-Cut, which asks for the largest cut with one side of size k. For every constant k≥1, we give an O(n2−1/(k+1))-query quantum algorithm. 4) We establish a reduction to Maximum (k,n−k)-Cut involving k-Graph Collision, which asks whether the marked vertices of a known graph contain a k-clique. For k≥3, this yields unconditional lower bounds with exponents strictly larger than 3/2, showing that this problem is strictly harder than computing maximum degree. Additionally, under a conjecture we propose for k-Graph Collision, the reduction yields a lower bound matching our upper bound above.
The quantum query complexity of subgraph-containment problems, which ask whether a given subgraph H is present in an input graph G, has been the subject of considerable study. However, even for relatively simple subgraphs, such as paths and cycles, a complete understanding of their query complexities remains elusive. In this work, we consider several variants of path- and cycle-containment problems in the adjacency matrix model, where we search for paths or cycles of constant length k. We compare the settings where the graphs are directed or undirected, where the goal is to detect or find the existence of a path/cycle, and where the path/cycle we are looking for has length exactly k, or at most k. We also consider several promise versions of these problems, where we suppose that the input graph has a certain structure. We characterize the relative difficulty of these variants of the path/cycle-containment problems, by relating them to one another using randomized reductions, and grouping them into equivalence classes.
When we restrict our attention to path-containment problems, we get a dichotomy result. Some of the path-containment problems can be solved using a linear number of queries, and all the others are equivalent to one another (and additionally to several cycle-containment problems) under randomized reductions, up to constant overhead. For the latter equivalence class, we prove a novel quantum-walk-based algorithm that achieves query complexity O(n3/2−αk), where αk∈Θ(c−k) and c=3+17/2≈1.33, beating the previous best upper bound O(n3/2) on its query complexity. We also provide a conditional lower bound based on the graph-collision problem, which implies that this equivalence class does not admit linear-query quantum algorithms unless graph collision admits an O(n) query algorithm.
Quantum algorithms for graph problems are considered, both in the adjacency matrix model and in an adjacency list-like array model. We give almost tight lower and upper bounds for the bounded error quantum query complexity of Connectivity, Strong Connectivity, Minimum Spanning Tree, and Single Source Shortest Paths. For example, we show that the query complexity of Minimum Spanning Tree is in Θ(n3/2) in the matrix model and in Θ(nm) in the array model, while the complexity of Connectivity is also in Θ(n3/2) in the matrix model but in Θ(n) in the array model. The upper bounds utilize search procedures for finding minima of functions under various conditions.