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arXiv:2610.00527

Polynomial-time local-unitary equivalence of graph states

Yuxuan Zhang

quant-phcond-mat.mtrl-scics.CCSubmitted Sep 30, 2026• Announced Oct 2, 2026• 0 citations
v1 · Sep 30, 2026v2 · Oct 4, 2026
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Abstract

Local-unitary (LU) equivalence asks whether two quantum states differ only by independent changes of basis on their qubits. For graph states, whether this relation can be decided in polynomial time has remained open for over a decade. We give a deterministic algorithm that decides LU equivalence for graphs on $n$ labelled vertices in $\widetilde O(n^{6.38})$ bit operations and constructs exact single-qubit unitaries whenever the states are equivalent. Building on Claudet and Perdrix's quasipolynomial algorithm, we replace the enumeration of vertex subsets by a compact system of constraints generated from pairs and triples. The remaining graph transformation is found by solving linear equations over the binary field. These new steps cost $\widetilde O(n^5)$ bit operations; the inherited graph preprocessing sets the overall bound. We also count the local-Clifford (LC) classes of graph states within any LU class: their number is a power of two, computable within the same bound. For any given graph state, this decides whether single-qubit Clifford gates reach every graph state in its LU class, and supplies a counterexample when they do not. The method also decides LU equivalence of stabilizer codes encoding one logical qubit.

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Local-unitary (LU) equivalence asks whether two quantum states differ only by independent changes of basis on their qubits. For graph states, whether this relation can be decided in polynomial time has remained open for over a decade. We give a deterministic algorithm that decides LU equivalence for graphs on nnn labelled vertices in O~(n6.38)\widetilde O(n^{6.38})O(n6.38) bit operations and constructs exact single-qubit unitaries whenever the states are equivalent. Building on Claudet and Perdrix's quasipolynomial algorithm, we replace the enumeration of vertex subsets by a compact system of constraints generated from pairs and triples. The remaining graph transformation is found by solving linear equations over the binary field. These new steps cost O~(n5)\widetilde O(n^5)O(n5) bit operations; the inherited graph preprocessing sets the overall bound. We also count the local-Clifford (LC) classes of graph states within any LU class: their number is a power of two, computable within the same bound. For any given graph state, this decides whether single-qubit Clifford gates reach every graph state in its LU class, and supplies a counterexample when they do not. The method also decides LU equivalence of stabilizer codes encoding one logical qubit.
We describe an algorithm with quasi-polynomial runtime nlog⁡2(n)+O(1)n^{\log_2(n)+O(1)}nlog2​(n)+O(1) for deciding local unitary (LU) equivalence of graph states. The algorithm builds on a recent graphical characterisation of LU-equivalence via generalised local complementation. By first transforming the corresponding graphs into a standard form using usual local complementations, LU-equivalence reduces to the existence of a single generalised local complementation that maps one graph to the other. We crucially demonstrate that this reduces to solving a system of quasi-polynomially many linear equations, avoiding an exponential blow-up. As a byproduct, we generalise Bouchet's algorithm for deciding local Clifford (LC) equivalence of graph states by allowing the addition of arbitrary linear constraints. We also improve existing bounds on the size of graph states that are LU- but not LC-equivalent. While the smallest known examples involve 27 qubits, and it is established that no such examples exist for up to 8 qubits, we refine this bound by proving that LU- and LC-equivalence coincide for graph states involving up to 19 qubits.
Graph states form a large family of quantum states that are in one-to-one correspondence with mathematical graphs. Graph states are used in many applications, such as measurement-based quantum computation, as multipartite entangled resources. It is thus crucial to understand when two such states have the same entanglement, i.e. when they can be transformed into each other using only local operations. In this case, we say that the graph states are LU-equivalent (local unitary). If the local operations are restricted to the so-called Clifford group, we say that the graph states are LC-equivalent (local Clifford). Interestingly, a simple graph rule called local complementation fully captures LC-equivalence, in the sense that two graph states are LC-equivalent if and only if the underlying graphs are related by a sequence of local complementations. While it was once conjectured that two LU-equivalent graph states are always LC-equivalent, counterexamples do exist and local complementation fails to fully capture the entanglement of graph states. We introduce in this thesis a generalization of local complementation that does fully capture LU-equivalence. Using this characterization, we prove the existence of an infinite strict hierarchy of local equivalences between LC- and LU-equivalence. This also leads to the design of a quasi-polynomial algorithm for deciding whether two graph states are LU-equivalent, and to a proof that two LU-equivalent graph states are LC-equivalent if they are defined on at most 19 qubits. Furthermore, we study graph states that are universal in the sense that any smaller graph state, defined on any small enough set of qubits, can be induced using only local operations. We provide bounds and an optimal, probabilistic construction.
Graph states form a large family of quantum states that are in one-to-one correspondence with mathematical graphs. Graph states are used in many applications, such as measurement-based quantum computation, as multipartite entangled resources. It is thus crucial to understand when two such states have the same entanglement, i.e. when they can be transformed into each other using only local operations. In this case, we say that the graph states are LU-equivalent (local unitary). If the local operations are restricted to the so-called Clifford group, we say that the graph states are LC-equivalent (local Clifford). Interestingly, a simple graph rule called local complementation fully captures LC-equivalence, in the sense that two graph states are LC-equivalent if and only if the underlying graphs are related by a sequence of local complementations. While it was once conjectured that two LU-equivalent graph states are always LC-equivalent, counterexamples do exist and local complementation fails to fully capture the entanglement of graph states. We introduce in this manuscript a generalization of local complementation that does fully capture LU-equivalence. Using this characterization, we prove the existence of an infinite strict hierarchy of local equivalences between LC- and LU-equivalence. This also leads to the design of a quasi-polynomial algorithm for deciding whether two graph states are LU-equivalent, and to a proof that two LU-equivalent graph states are LC-equivalent if they are defined on at most 19 qubits. Furthermore, we study graph states that are universal in the sense that any smaller graph state, defined on any small enough set of qubits, can be induced using only local operations. We provide bounds and an optimal, probabilistic construction.
The equivalence of stabilizer states under local transformations is of fundamental interest in understanding properties and uses of entanglement. Two stabilizer states are equivalent under the usual stochastic local operations and classical communication criterion if and only if they are equivalent under local unitary (LU) operations. More surprisingly, under certain conditions, two LU-equivalent stabilizer states are also equivalent under local Clifford (LC) operations, as was shown by Van den Nest et al. [Phys. Rev. A 71, 062323 (2005)]. Here, we broaden the class of stabilizer states for which LU equivalence implies LC equivalence $(\mathrm{LU}\ensuremath{\Leftrightarrow}\mathrm{LC})$ to include all stabilizer states represented by graphs with cycles of length neither 3 nor 4. To compare our result with Van den Nest et al.'s, we show that any stabilizer state of distance $\ensuremath{\delta}=2$ is beyond their criterion. We then further prove that $\mathrm{LU}\ensuremath{\Leftrightarrow}\mathrm{LC}$ holds for a more general class of stabilizer states of $\ensuremath{\delta}=2$. We also explicitly construct graphs representing $\ensuremath{\delta}>2$ stabilizer states which are beyond their criterion: we identify all 58 graphs with up to 11 vertices and construct graphs with ${2}^{m}\ensuremath{-}1$ $(m\ensuremath{\geqslant}4)$ vertices using quantum error-correcting codes which have non-Clifford transversal gates.
Graph states are a class of multipartite entangled quantum states that are ubiquitous in quantum information. We study equivalence relations between graph states under local unitaries (LU) to obtain distinguishing methods both in local and in networked settings. Based on the marginal structure of graph states, we introduce a family of easy-to-compute LU invariants. We show that these invariants uniquely identify the entanglement classes of every graph state up to eight qubits and discuss their reliability for larger numbers of qubits. To handle larger graphs, we generalize tools to test for local Clifford (LC) equivalence of graph states that work by condensing large graphs into smaller graphs. In turn, we show that statements on the equivalence of these smaller graphs (which are easier to compute) can be used to infer statements on the equivalence of the original, larger graphs. We analyze LU equivalence in two key settings, with and without allowing for the permutation of qubits. We identify entanglement classes, whose marginal structure does not allow us to distinguish them. As a result, we increase the bound on the number of qubits where the LU-LC conjecture holds from 8 to 10 qubits in the setting where qubit permutations are allowed.
It was once conjectured that two graph states are local unitary (LU) equivalent if and only if they are local Clifford (LC) equivalent. This so-called LU-LC conjecture was disproved in 2007, as a pair of 27-qubit graph states that are LU-equivalent, but not LC-equivalent, was discovered. We prove that this counterexample to the LU-LC conjecture is minimal. In other words, for graph states on up to 26 qubits, the notions of LU-equivalence and LC-equivalence coincide. This result is obtained by studying the structure of 2-local complementation, a special case of the recently introduced r-local complementation, and a generalization of the well-known local complementation. We make use of a connection with triorthogonal codes and Reed-Muller codes.