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arXiv:2011.08611

Quantum algorithms for learning a hidden graph and beyond

Ashley Montanaro, Changpeng Shao

Published Nov 17, 2020• 1 citation
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Abstract

We study the problem of learning an unknown graph provided via an oracle using a quantum algorithm. We consider three query models. In the first model ("OR queries"), the oracle returns whether a given subset of the vertices contains any edges. In the second ("parity queries"), the oracle returns the parity of the number of edges in a subset. In the third model, we are given copies of the graph state corresponding to the graph. We give quantum algorithms that achieve speedups over the best possible classical algorithms in the OR and parity query models, for some families of graphs, and give quantum algorithms in the graph state model whose complexity is similar to the parity query model. For some parameter regimes, the speedups can be exponential in the parity query model. On the other hand, without any promise on the graph, no speedup is possible in the OR query model. A main technique we use is the quantum algorithm for solving the combinatorial group testing problem, for which a query-efficient quantum algorithm was given by Belovs. Here we additionally give a time-efficient quantum algorithm for this problem, based on the algorithm of Ambainis et al.\ for a "gapped" version of the group testing problem. We also give simple time-efficient quantum algorithms based on Fourier sampling and amplitude amplification for learning the exact-half and majority functions, which almost match the optimal complexity of Belovs' algorithms.

DOI
10.48550/arxiv.2011.08611

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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.

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We study the problem of learning an unknown graph provided via an oracle using a quantum algorithm. We consider three query models. In the first model ("OR queries"), the oracle returns whether a given subset of the vertices contains any edges. In the second ("parity queries"), the oracle returns the parity of the number of edges in a subset. In the third model, we are given copies of the graph state corresponding to the graph. We give quantum algorithms that achieve speedups over the best possible classical algorithms in the OR and parity query models, for some families of graphs, and give quantum algorithms in the graph state model whose complexity is similar to the parity query model. For some parameter regimes, the speedups can be exponential in the parity query model. On the other hand, without any promise on the graph, no speedup is possible in the OR query model. A main technique we use is the quantum algorithm for solving the combinatorial group testing problem, for which a query-efficient quantum algorithm was given by Belovs. Here we additionally give a time-efficient quantum algorithm for this problem, based on the algorithm of Ambainis et al.\ for a "gapped" version of the group testing problem. We also give simple time-efficient quantum algorithms based on Fourier sampling and amplitude amplification for learning the exact-half and majority functions, which almost match the optimal complexity of Belovs' algorithms.
We study the problem of learning an unknown graph provided via an oracle using a quantum algorithm. We consider three query models. In the first model (OR queries), the oracle returns whether a given subset of the vertices contains any edges. In the second (parity queries), the oracle returns the parity of the number of edges in a subset. In the third model, we are given copies of the graph state corresponding to the graph. We give quantum algorithms that achieve speedups over the best possible classical algorithms in the OR and parity query models, for some families of graphs, and give quantum algorithms in the graph state model whose complexity is similar to the parity query model. For some parameter regimes, the speedups can be exponential in the parity query model. On the other hand, without any promise on the graph, no speedup is possible in the OR query model. A main technique we use is the quantum algorithm for solving the combinatorial group testing problem, for which a query-efficient quantum algorithm was given by Belovs. Here we additionally give a time-efficient quantum algorithm for this problem, based on the algorithm of Ambainis et al. for a gapped version of the group testing problem. We also give simple time-efficient quantum algorithms based on Fourier sampling and amplitude amplification for learning the exact-half and majority functions, which almost match the optimal complexity of Belovs' algorithms.
We are presented with a graph, GGG, on nnn vertices with mmm edges whose edge set is unknown. Our goal is to learn the edges of GGG with as few queries to an oracle as possible. When we submit a set SSS of vertices to the oracle, it tells us whether or not SSS induces at least one edge in GGG. This so-called OR-query model has been well studied, with Angluin and Chen giving an upper bound on the number of queries needed of O(mlog⁡n)O(m \log n)O(mlogn) for a general graph GGG with mmm edges. When we allow ourselves to make *quantum* queries (we may query subsets in superposition), then we can achieve speedups over the best possible classical algorithms. In the case where GGG has maximum degree ddd and is O(1)O(1)O(1)-colorable, Montanaro and Shao presented an algorithm that learns the edges of GGG in at most O~(d2m3/4)\tilde{O}(d^2m^{3/4})O~(d2m3/4) quantum queries. This gives an upper bound of O~(m3/4)\tilde{O}(m^{3/4})O~(m3/4) quantum queries when GGG is a matching or a Hamiltonian cycle, which is far away from the lower bound of Ω(m)Ω(\sqrt{m})Ω(m​) queries given by Ambainis and Montanaro. We improve on the work of Montanaro and Shao in the case where GGG has bounded degree. In particular, we present a randomized algorithm that, with high probability, learns cycles and matchings in O~(m)\tilde{O}(\sqrt{m})O~(m​) quantum queries, matching the theoretical lower bound up to logarithmic factors.
We show that the quantum query complexity of detecting if an n-vertex graph contains a triangle is O(n9/7). This improves the previous best algorithm of Belovs [2] making O(n35/27) queries. For the problem of determining if an operation o : S × S → S is associative, we give an algorithm making O(|S|10/7) queries, the first improvement to the trivial O(|S|3/2) application of Grover search. Our algorithms are designed using the learning graph framework of Belovs. We give a family of algorithms for detecting constant-sized subgraphs, which can possibly be directed and colored. These algorithms are designed in a simple high-level language; our main theorem shows how this high-level language can be compiled as a learning graph and gives the resulting complexity. The key idea to our improvements is to allow more freedom in the parameters of the database kept by the algorithm. As in our previous work [9], the edge slots maintained in the database are specified by a graph whose edges are the union of regular bipartite graphs, the overall structure of which mimics that of the graph of the certificate. By allowing these bipartite graphs to be unbalanced and of variable degree we obtain better algorithms.
We consider two combinatorial problems. The first we call ``search with wildcards'': given an unknown nnn-bit string xxx, and the ability to check whether any subset of the bits of xxx is equal to a provided query string, the goal is to output xxx. We give a nearly optimal O(nlog⁡n)O(\sqrt{n} \log n)O(n​logn) quantum query algorithm for search with wildcards, beating the classical lower bound of Ω(n)\Omega(n)Ω(n) queries. Rather than using amplitude amplification or a quantum walk, our algorithm is ultimately based on the solution to a state discrimination problem. The second problem we consider is combinatorial group testing, which is the task of identifying a subset of at most kkk special items out of a set of nnn items, given the ability to make queries of the form ``does the set SSS contain any special items?''\ for any subset SSS of the nnn items. We give a simple quantum algorithm which uses O(k)O(k)O(k) queries to solve this problem, as compared with the classical lower bound of Ω(klog⁡(n/k))\Omega(k \log(n/k))Ω(klog(n/k)) queries.
In the search with wildcards problem [Ambainis, Montanaro, Quantum Inf.~Comput.'14], one's goal is to learn an unknown bit-string x∈{−1,1}nx \in \{-1,1\}^nx∈{−1,1}n. An algorithm may, at unit cost, test equality of any subset of the hidden string with a string of its choice. Ambainis and Montanaro showed a quantum algorithm of cost O(nlog⁡n)O(\sqrt{n} \log n)O(n​logn) and a near-matching lower bound of Ω(n)Ω(\sqrt{n})Ω(n​). Belovs [Comput.~Comp.'15] subsequently showed a tight O(n)O(\sqrt{n})O(n​) upper bound. We consider a natural generalization of this problem, parametrized by a subset Q⊆2[n]\cal{Q} \subseteq 2^{[n]}Q⊆2[n], where an algorithm may test whether xS=bx_S = bxS​=b for an arbitrary S∈QS \in \cal{Q}S∈Q and b∈{−1,1}Sb \in \{-1,1\}^Sb∈{−1,1}S of its choice, at unit cost. We show near-tight bounds when Q\cal{Q}Q is any of the following collections: bounded-size sets, contiguous blocks, prefixes, and only the full set. All of these results are derived using a framework that we develop. Using symmetries of the task at hand we show that the quantum query complexity of learning xxx is characterized, up to a constant factor, by an optimization program, which is succinctly described as follows: `maximize over all odd functions f:{−1,1}n→Rf : \{-1,1\}^n \to \mathbb{R}f:{−1,1}n→R the ratio of the maximum value of fff to the maximum (over T∈QT \in \cal{Q}T∈Q) standard deviation of fff on a subcube whose free variables are exactly TTT.' To the best of our knowledge, ours is the first work to use the primal version of the negative-weight adversary bound (which is a maximization program typically used to show lower bounds) to show new quantum query upper bounds without explicitly resorting to SDP duality.
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.