We study how symmetry constrains quantum advantage in two-party communication complexity. For partial functions over any fixed alphabet of size $q$ that are invariant under simultaneous coordinate permutations, we prove that public-coin randomized and entanglement-assisted quantum communication complexities satisfy $R^{\mathrm{pub}}(f)=O_q(Q^{\ast}(f)^2\log n)$, where $n$ is the input length. We also characterize quantum communication complexity by a combinatorial parameter up to a logarithmic factor. These results extend the binary-alphabet result of Guan et al. and improve its logarithmic overhead. Input-length dependence is necessary: for every fixed $\varepsilon\in(0,1)$, binary permutation-invariant partial functions can have quantum complexity $O_\varepsilon(\log\log n)$ and randomized complexity $Ω_\varepsilon((\log n)^{1-\varepsilon})$.
Growing alphabets and graph symmetries permit exponential separations. For every fixed $\varepsilon\in(0,1)$, we construct permutation-invariant partial functions on length-$n$ strings over an $n$-symbol alphabet with quantum complexity $O_\varepsilon(\log n)$ and randomized complexity $Ω_\varepsilon(n^{1-\varepsilon})$. We also construct graph-invariant partial functions on $v$-vertex graphs with quantum complexity $O_\varepsilon(\log v)$ and randomized complexity $Ω_\varepsilon(v^{2-\varepsilon})$. All separation protocols use neither prior entanglement nor shared randomness.
We study how symmetry constrains quantum advantage in two-party communication complexity. For partial functions over any fixed alphabet of size q that are invariant under simultaneous coordinate permutations, we prove that public-coin randomized and entanglement-assisted quantum communication complexities satisfy Rpub(f)=Oq(Q∗(f)2logn), where n is the input length. We also characterize quantum communication complexity by a combinatorial parameter up to a logarithmic factor. These results extend the binary-alphabet result of Guan et al. and improve its logarithmic overhead. Input-length dependence is necessary: for every fixed ε∈(0,1), binary permutation-invariant partial functions can have quantum complexity Oε(loglogn) and randomized complexity Ωε((logn)1−ε).
Growing alphabets and graph symmetries permit exponential separations. For every fixed ε∈(0,1), we construct permutation-invariant partial functions on length-n strings over an n-symbol alphabet with quantum complexity Oε(logn) and randomized complexity Ωε(n1−ε). We also construct graph-invariant partial functions on v-vertex graphs with quantum complexity Oε(logv) and randomized complexity Ωε(v2−ε). All separation protocols use neither prior entanglement nor shared randomness.
This paper gives a nearly tight characterization of the quantum communication complexity of permutation-invariant Boolean functions. With such a characterization, we show that the quantum and randomized communication complexity of permutation-invariant Boolean functions are quadratically equivalent (up to a polylogarithmic factor of the input size). Our results extend a recent line of research regarding query complexity to communication complexity, showing symmetry prevents exponential quantum speedups. Furthermore, we show that the Log-rank Conjecture holds for any non-trivial total permutation-invariant Boolean function. Moreover, we establish a relationship between the quantum/classical communication complexity and the approximate rank of permutation-invariant Boolean functions. This implies the correctness of the Log-approximate-rank Conjecture for permutation-invariant Boolean functions in both randomized and quantum settings (up to a polylogarithmic factor of the input size).
We study the one-way communication complexity of the f-Boolean Hidden Partition problem. Here, Alice is given an n-bit string and Bob is given Ω(n) disjoint blocks of its indices together with a string of labels. Under the promise that the evaluations of f on these blocks either agree with all of the labels or disagree with all of them, Bob must determine which is the case using a single message from Alice. This problem generalizes the Boolean Hidden Matching and Hidden Hypermatching problems, which capture the special case where f is the parity function.
We establish classical and quantum communication bounds for f-Boolean Hidden Partition in terms of the sign degree d of f, proving a conjecture of Doriguello and Montanaro (TQC 2020). Their prior work gave logarithmic communication upper bounds for classical protocols when d≤1 and quantum protocols when d≤2, as well as polynomial lower bounds for certain structured functions with larger sign degree. We show that for every f of sign degree d≥2, the randomized classical communication complexity of this problem is Θ(n1−1/d) while its quantum communication complexity lies between Ω(n1−2/d) and $\bO{n^{1-1/\lceil d/2 \rceil} \log n}$. This completely characterizes the functions f admitting polynomial quantum advantage as those for which d≥2, with a new infinite family of exponential separations given by the case d=2.
This paper gives a nearly tight characterization of the quantum communication complexity of the permutation-invariant Boolean functions. With such a characterization, we show that the quantum and randomized communication complexity of the permutation-invariant Boolean functions are quadratically equivalent (up to a logarithmic factor). Our results extend a recent line of research regarding query complexity \cite{AA14, Cha19, BCG+20} to communication complexity, showing symmetry prevents exponential quantum speedups. Furthermore, we show the Log-rank Conjecture holds for any non-trivial total permutation-invariant Boolean function. Moreover, we establish a relationship between the quantum/classical communication complexity and the approximate rank of permutation-invariant Boolean functions. This implies the correctness of the Log-approximate-rank Conjecture for permutation-invariant Boolean functions in both randomized and quantum settings (up to a logarithmic factor).
We study the advantages of quantum communication models over classical communication models that are equipped with a limited number of qubits of entanglement. In this direction, we give explicit partial functions on n bits for which reducing the entanglement increases the classical communication complexity exponentially. Our separations are as follows. For every k≥1: Q∥∗ versus R2∗: We show that quantum simultaneous protocols with Θ~(k5log3n) qubits of entanglement can exponentially outperform two-way randomized protocols with O(k) qubits of entanglement. This resolves an open problem from [Gav08] and improves the state-of-the-art separations between quantum simultaneous protocols with entanglement and two-way randomized protocols without entanglement [Gav19, GRT22]. R∥∗ versus Q∥∗: We show that classical simultaneous protocols with Θ~(klogn) qubits of entanglement can exponentially outperform quantum simultaneous protocols with O(k) qubits of entanglement, resolving an open question from [GKRW06, Gav19]. The best result prior to our work was a relational separation against protocols without entanglement [GKRW06]. R∥∗ versus R1∗: We show that classical simultaneous protocols with Θ~(klogn) qubits of entanglement can exponentially outperform randomized one-way protocols with O(k) qubits of entanglement. Prior to our work, only a relational separation was known [Gav08]. Our techniques can also be used to show advantages of quantum communication models over hybrid classical-quantum models, i.e., models that have a large amount of both classical communication and quantum simultaneous communication.
The private simultaneous messages model is a non-interactive version of the multiparty secure computation, which has been intensively studied to examine the communication cost of the secure computation. We consider its quantum counterpart, the private simultaneous quantum messages (PSQM) model, and examine the advantages of quantum communication and prior entanglement of this model. In the PSQM model, k parties P1,…,Pk initially share a common random string (or entangled states in a stronger setting), and they have private classical inputs x1,…,xk. Every Pi generates a quantum message from the private input xi and the shared random string (entangled states), and then sends it to the referee R. Receiving the messages, R computes F(x1,…,xk). Then, R learns nothing except for F(x1,…,xk) as the privacy condition. We obtain the following results for this PSQM model. (1) We demonstrate that the privacy condition inevitably increases the communication cost in the two-party PSQM model as well as in the classical case presented by Applebaum, Holenstein, Mishra, and Shayevitz. In particular, we prove a lower bound (3−o(1))n of the communication complexity in two-party PSQM protocols with a shared random string for random Boolean functions of 2n-bit input, which is larger than the trivial upper bound 2n of the communication complexity without the privacy condition. (2) We demonstrate a factor two gap between the communication complexity of PSQM protocols with shared entangled states and with shared random strings by designing a multiparty PSQM protocol with shared entangled states for a total function that extends the two-party equality function. (3) We demonstrate an exponential gap between the communication complexity of PSQM protocols with shared entangled states and with shared random strings for a two-party partial function.
We study the relative power of public randomness and quantum communication in the multiparty Simultaneous Message Passing (SMP) model. By analyzing a total Boolean function and a relational problem, we establish polynomial and exponential separations between classical public-coin protocols and quantum protocols without shared randomness or prior entanglement.
We first introduce XOR Equality, a total Boolean function in which each of k players receives an unrestricted string xj∈{0,1}n, and the referee must decide whether x1⊕⋯⊕xk=0n. For k≥8 and worst-case error at most 1/3, we prove quantum lower bounds of Ω(min{n,k2}) on total communication and Ω(min{n/k,k}) on maximum message length. A classical public-coin protocol uses two bits per player with error at most 1/4. For n=k2 and worst-case error at most 1/3, we prove that quantum protocols require maximum message length Ω(n) qubits, whereas two public-coin bits per player suffice.
We then turn to relations, for which we obtain exponential separations. Specifically, we study Multiparty Index Coordination, a k-player generalization of the two-player relation studied by Gavinsky, Kempe, Regev, and de Wolf (STOC 2006). We prove an unambiguous quantum lower bound of Ω(n1−1/k) on maximum message length, matched by a classical private-coin protocol. For any fixed error ε∈(0,1/8), we also prove a bounded-error quantum lower bound of Ω(n(k−1)/(k+1)) while we show that public-coin protocols solve the relation unambiguously with maximum message length O(logn), giving exponential separations in both regimes. The implicit constants are independent of k, and both quantum lower bounds become linear when k≥clogn for any fixed c>0.