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Quantum Information and Computation

Physically-motivated dynamical algorithms for the graph isomorphism problem

Shiue-Yuan Shiau, Robert Joynt, S. N. Coppersmith

Published Sep 1, 2005• 34 citations
Publisher

Abstract

The graph isomorphism problem (GI) plays a central role in the theory of computational complexity and has importance in physics and chemistry as well \cite{kobler93,fortin96}. No polynomial-time algorithm for solving GI is known. We investigate classical and quantum physics-based polynomial-time algorithms for solving the graph isomorphism problem in which the graph structure is reflected in the behavior of a dynamical system. We show that a classical dynamical algorithm proposed by Gudkov and Nussinov \cite{gudkov02} as well as its simplest quantum generalization fail to distinguish pairs of non-isomorphic strongly regular graphs. However, by combining the algorithm of Gudkov and Nussinov with a construction proposed by Rudolph \cite{rudolph02} in which one examines a graph describing the dynamics of two particles on the original graph, we find an algorithm that successfully distinguishes all pairs of non-isomorphic strongly regular graphs that we tested with up to 29 vertices.

DOI
10.26421/qic5.6-7

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The graph isomorphism problem (GI) plays a central role in the theory of computational complexity and has importance in physics and chemistry as well \cite{kobler93,fortin96}. No polynomial-time algorithm for solving GI is known. We investigate classical and quantum physics-based polynomial-time algorithms for solving the graph isomorphism problem in which the graph structure is reflected in the behavior of a dynamical system. We show that a classical dynamical algorithm proposed by Gudkov and Nussinov \cite{gudkov02} as well as its simplest quantum generalization fail to distinguish pairs of non-isomorphic strongly regular graphs. However, by combining the algorithm of Gudkov and Nussinov with a construction proposed by Rudolph \cite{rudolph02} in which one examines a graph describing the dynamics of two particles on the original graph, we find an algorithm that successfully distinguishes all pairs of non-isomorphic strongly regular graphs that we tested with up to 29 vertices.
We investigate classical and quantum physics-based algorithms for solving the graph isomorphism problem. Our work integrates and extends previous work by Gudkov et al. (cond-mat/0209112) and by Rudolph (quant-ph/0206068). Gudkov et al. propose an algorithm intended to solve the graph isomorphism problem in polynomial time by mimicking a classical dynamical many-particle process. We show that this algorithm fails to distinguish pairs of non-isomorphic strongly regular graphs, thus providing an infinite class of counterexamples. We also show that the simplest quantum generalization of the algorithm also fails. However, by combining Gudkov et al.'s algorithm with a construction proposed by Rudoph in which one examines a graph describing the dynamics of two particles on the original graph, we find an algorithm that successfully distinguishes all pairs of non-isomorphic strongly regular graphs that we tested (with up to 29 vertices).
In the graph isomorphism (GI) problem two NNN-vertex graphs GGG and ${G}^{\ensuremath{'}}$ are given and the task is to determine whether there exists a permutation of the vertices of GGG that preserves adjacency and transforms $G\ensuremath{\rightarrow}{G}^{\ensuremath{'}}$. If yes, then GGG and ${G}^{\ensuremath{'}}$ are said to be isomorphic; otherwise they are nonisomorphic. The GI problem is an important problem in computer science and is thought to be of comparable difficulty to integer factorization. In this paper we present a quantum algorithm that solves arbitrary instances of GI and which also provides an approach to determining all automorphisms of a given graph. We show how the GI problem can be converted to a combinatorial optimization problem that can be solved using adiabatic quantum evolution. We numerically simulate the algorithm's quantum dynamics and show that it correctly (i) distinguishes nonisomorphic graphs; (ii) recognizes isomorphic graphs and determines the permutation(s) that connect them; and (iii) finds the automorphism group of a given graph GGG. We then discuss the GI quantum algorithm's experimental implementation, and close by showing how it can be leveraged to give a quantum algorithm that solves arbitrary instances of the NP-complete subgraph isomorphism problem. The computational complexity of an adiabatic quantum algorithm is largely determined by the minimum energy gap $\ensuremath{\Delta}(N)$ separating the ground and first-excited states in the limit of large problem size $N\ensuremath{\gg}1$. Calculating $\ensuremath{\Delta}(N)$ in this limit is a fundamental open problem in adiabatic quantum computing, and so it is not possible to determine the computational complexity of adiabatic quantum algorithms in general, nor consequently, of the specific adiabatic quantum algorithms presented here. Adiabatic quantum computing has been shown to be equivalent to the circuit model of quantum computing, and so development of adiabatic quantum algorithms continues to be of great interest.
We show that the quantum dynamics of interacting and noninteracting quantum particles are fundamentally different in the context of solving a particular computational problem. Specifically, we consider the graph isomorphism problem, in which one wishes to determine whether two graphs are isomorphic (related to each other by a relabeling of the graph vertices), and focus on a class of graphs with particularly high symmetry called strongly regular graphs (SRGs). We study the Green's functions that characterize the dynamical evolution single-particle and two-particle quantum walks on pairs of nonisomorphic SRGs and show that interacting particles can distinguish nonisomorphic graphs that noninteracting particles cannot. We obtain the following specific results. (1) We prove that quantum walks of two noninteracting particles, fermions or bosons, cannot distinguish certain pairs of nonisomorphic SRGs. (2) We demonstrate numerically that two interacting bosons are more powerful than single particles and two noninteracting particles, in that quantum walks of interacting bosons distinguish all nonisomorphic pairs of SRGs that we examined. By utilizing high-throughput computing to perform over 500 million direct comparisons between evolution operators, we checked all tabulated pairs of nonisomorphic SRGs, including graphs with up to 64 vertices. (3) By performing a short-time expansion of the evolution operator, we derive distinguishing operators that provide analytic insight into the power of the interacting two-particle quantum walk.
The graph isomorphism problem asks whether two graphs are equivalent up to a permutation of their vertices. Its precise computational complexity remains unresolved, and it is still unknown whether a polynomial-time algorithm exists. We investigate whether simple graph-dependent Instantaneous Quantum Polynomial-time (IQP) and Quantum Approximate Optimisation Algorithm (QAOA) circuits can distinguish non-isomorphic graphs. We first show that suitable IQP and QAOA constructions allow the underlying graph to be reconstructed using a polynomial number of samples. Building on previous work using the QAOA energy, we show that Hamming weight distributions can distinguish graph pairs at circuit depths for which the numerically computed energy gap is zero. We then apply graph invariants to the matrix of ZZ correlators on the output distribution. For the specific case of the graph spectrum, at QAOA depth p=2p=2p=2, this invariant numerically distinguishes all 10,48610{,}48610,486 cospectral regular graph pairs tested on up to 18 vertices. For IQP circuits, we introduce a finer invariant based on probability multiplicities within Hamming weight sectors, which distinguishes every non-isomorphic graph pair tested numerically. Finally, we derive exact graph-theoretic characterisations of the IQP output distribution at θ=π/2θ=π/2θ=π/2 and θ=π/4θ=π/4θ=π/4. These results show that simple graph-dependent quantum circuits encode substantial structural information, while leaving open whether this information can be extracted efficiently for general graph isomorphism.
Graph isomorphism is an essential problem in graph theory and widely used in a variety of applications. With graph size increasing, graph isomorphism become difficult for classical computation since there is no polynomial algorithm for general graphs yet. Considering the advantages of quantum computation over classical computation in various tasks, quantum graph isomorphism algorithms have been studied to explore the potentials of quantum computation in graph isomorphism. In this work, we propose a graph isomorphism algorithm based on continuous-time quantum walks, where we construct the graph certificates from the output probabilities of continuous-time quantum walks on the tested graphs with added self-loops to graph vertices, and distinguish graphs by comparing the graph certificates. Numerous tests on diverse graph classes demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed GI algorithm, which is not limited to a specific topological structure graph. Moreover, we test the proposed algorithm on classes of strongly regular graphs, and the results show that the distinguishing ability of the algorithm can be improved with the increasement of the added self-loops to distinct vertices.
The graph isomorphism (GI) problem is the computational problem of finding a permutation of vertices of a given graph G1G_1G1​ that transforms G1G_1G1​ to another given graph G2G_2G2​ and preserves the adjacency. In this work, we propose a quantum algorithm to determine whether there exists such a permutation. To find such a permutation, we introduce isomorphic equivalent graphs of the given graphs to be tested. We proof that the GI problem of the equivalent graphs is equivalent to the GI problem of the given graphs. The idea of the algorithm is to determine whether there exists a permutation can transform the eigenvectors of the adjacency matrix of the equivalent graphs each other. The cost time of the algorithm is polynomial.