We show several results related to interactive proof modes of communication complexity. First we show lower bounds for the QMA-communication complexity of the functions Inner Product and Disjointness. We describe a general method to prove lower bounds for QMA-communication complexity, and show how one can 'transfer' hardness under an analogous measure in the query complexity model to the communication model using Sherstov's pattern matrix method.Combining a result by Vereshchagin and the pattern matrix method we find a partial function with AM-communication complexity O(log n), PP-communication complexity Ω(n1/3), and QMA-communication complexity Ω(n1/6). Hence in the world of communication complexity noninteractive quantum proof systems are not able to efficiently simulate co-nondeterminism or interaction. These results imply that the related questions in Turing machine complexity theory cannot be resolved by 'algebrizing' techniques. Finally we show that in MA-protocols there is an exponential gap between one-way protocols and two-way protocols for a partial function (this refers to the interaction between Alice and Bob). This is in contrast to nondeterministic, AM-, and QMA-protocols, where one-way communication is essentially optimal.
We show several results related to interactive proof modes of communication complexity. First we show lower bounds for the QMA-communication complexity of the functions Inner Product and Disjointness. We describe a general method to prove lower bounds for QMA-communication complexity, and show how one can 'transfer' hardness under an analogous measure in the query complexity model to the communication model using Sherstov's pattern matrix method.Combining a result by Vereshchagin and the pattern matrix method we find a partial function with AM-communication complexity O(log n), PP-communication complexity Ω(n1/3), and QMA-communication complexity Ω(n1/6). Hence in the world of communication complexity noninteractive quantum proof systems are not able to efficiently simulate co-nondeterminism or interaction. These results imply that the related questions in Turing machine complexity theory cannot be resolved by 'algebrizing' techniques. Finally we show that in MA-protocols there is an exponential gap between one-way protocols and two-way protocols for a partial function (this refers to the interaction between Alice and Bob). This is in contrast to nondeterministic, AM-, and QMA-protocols, where one-way communication is essentially optimal.
We show several results related to interactive proof modes of communication complexity. First we show lower bounds for the QMA-communication complexity of the functions Inner Product and Disjointness. We describe a general method to prove lower bounds for QMA-communication complexity, and show how one can 'transfer' hardness under an analogous measure in the query complexity model to the communication model using Sherstov's pattern matrix method. Combining a result by Vereshchagin and the pattern matrix method we find a communication problem with AM-communication complexity O(logn), PP-communication complexity Ω(n1/3), and QMA-communication complexity Ω(n1/6). Hence in the world of communication complexity noninteractive quantum proof systems are not able to efficiently simulate co-nondeterminism or interaction. These results imply that the related questions in Turing machine complexity theory cannot be resolved by 'algebrizing' techniques. Finally we show that in MA-protocols there is an exponential gap between one-way protocols and two-way protocols (this refers to the interaction between Alice and Bob). This is in contrast to nondeterministic, AM-, and QMA-protocols, where one-way communication is essentially optimal.
The complexity of free games with two or more classical players was essentially settled by Aaronson, Impagliazzo, and Moshkovitz (CCC’14). In the quantum world, there are two complexity classes that can be considered quantum analogues of classical free games: (1) AM*, the multiprover interactive proof class corresponding to free games with entangled players, and, somewhat less obviously, (2) BellQMA(2), the class of quantum Merlin-Arthur proof systems with two unentangled Merlins, whose proof states are separately measured by Arthur. In this work, we make significant progress towards a tight characterization of both of these classes. (1) We show a BellQMA(2) protocol for 3SAT on n variables, where the total amount of communication is Õ(√n). This answers an open question of Chen and Drucker (2010) and also shows, conditional on ETH, that the algorithm of Brandão, Christandl and Yard (STOC’11) for optimizing over separable states is tight up to logarithmic factors. (2) We show that AM* with nprovers = 2, question length O(1), and answer-length log(n) is equal to RE, i.e. that free entangled games with constant-sized questions are as powerful as general entangled games. (In contrast, Aaronson, Impagliazzo and Moshkovitz show that classical free games are much weaker than general classical games.) We show this using a question “hyper-compression” theorem that iteratively applies the introspection technique of Ji et al. (2020). Our result is a significant improvement over the headline result of Ji et al., whose MIP* protocol for the halting problem has (n)-sized questions and answers. (3) By the same techniques, we obtain a zero-gap AM* protocol for a Π2 complete language with constant-size questions and almost logarithmically (O(logn · log* n)) large answers, improving on the headline result of Mousavi, Nezhadi and Yuen (STOC’22). (4) Using a connection to the nonuniform complexity of the halting problem we show that any MIP* protocol for RE requires Ω(logn) bits of communication. It follows that our results in item 3 are optimal up to an O(log* n) factor, and that the gapless compression theorems of Mousavi, Nezhadi and Yuen are asymptotically optimal. We conjecture that these bounds can be saturated in the gapped case as well.
We introduce and study a new model of interactive proofs: AM(k), or Arthur-Merlin with k non-communicating Merlins. Unlike with the better-known MIP, here the assumption is that each Merlin receives an independent random challenge from Arthur. One motivation for this model (which we explore in detail) comes from the close analogies between it and the quantum complexity class QMA(k), but the AM(k) model is also natural in its own right. We illustrate the power of multiple Merlins by giving an AM(2) protocol for 3SAT, in which the Merlins' challenges and responses consist of only n1/2+o(1)bits each. Our protocol has the consequence that, assuming the Exponential Time Hypothesis (ETH), any algorithm for approximating a dense CSP with a polynomial-size alphabet must take n(log n)1-o(1)time. Algorithms nearly matching this lower bound are known, but their running times had never been previously explained. Brandao and Harrow have also recently used our 3SAT protocol to show quasipolynomial hardness for approximating the values of certain entangled games. In the other direction, we give a simple quasipolynomial-time approximation algorithm for free games, and use it to prove that, assuming the ETH, our 3SAT protocol is essentially optimal. More generally, we show that multiple Merlins never provide more than a polynomial advantage over one: that is, AM(k) = AM for all k=poly(n). The key to this result is a sub sampling theorem for free games, which follows from powerful results by Alon et al. And Barak et al. On sub sampling dense CSPs, and which says that the value of any free game can be closely approximated by the value of a logarithmic-sized random subgame.
We introduce and study a new model of interactive proofs: AM(k), or Arthur-Merlin with k non-communicating Merlins. Unlike with the better-known MIP, here the assumption is that each Merlin receives an independent random challenge from Arthur. One motivation for this model (which we explore in detail) comes from the close analogies between it and the quantum complexity class QMA(k), but the AM(k) model is also natural in its own right. We illustrate the power of multiple Merlins by giving an AM(2) protocol for 3SAT, in which the Merlins' challenges and responses consist of only n^{1/2+o(1)} bits each. Our protocol has the consequence that, assuming the Exponential Time Hypothesis (ETH), any algorithm for approximating a dense CSP with a polynomial-size alphabet must take n^{(log n)^{1-o(1)}} time. Algorithms nearly matching this lower bound are known, but their running times had never been previously explained. Brandao and Harrow have also recently used our 3SAT protocol to show quasipolynomial hardness for approximating the values of certain entangled games. In the other direction, we give a simple quasipolynomial-time approximation algorithm for free games, and use it to prove that, assuming the ETH, our 3SAT protocol is essentially optimal. More generally, we show that multiple Merlins never provide more than a polynomial advantage over one: that is, AM(k)=AM for all k=poly(n). The key to this result is a subsampling theorem for free games, which follows from powerful results by Alon et al. and Barak et al. on subsampling dense CSPs, and which says that the value of any free game can be closely approximated by the value of a logarithmic-sized random subgame.
For nearly three decades, the model of interactive proof systems and its variants have been central to many important and exciting developments in computational complexity theory such as exact characterization of some well known complexity classes, development of probabilistically checkable proof systems and theory of hardness of approximation, and formalization of fundamental cryptographic primitives. \n \nOn the other hand, the theory of quantum information, which is primarily concerned with harnessing quantum mechanical features for algorithmic, cryptographic, and information processing tasks has found many applications. In the past three decades, quantum information has been used to develop unconditionally secure quantum cryptography protocols, efficient quantum algorithms for certain problems that are believed to be intractable in classical world, and communication efficient protocols. \n \nIn this thesis, we study the impact of quantum information on the models of interactive proof systems and their multi-prover variants. We study various quantum models and explore two questions. The first question we address pertains to the expressive power of such models with or without resource constraints. The second question is related to error reduction technique of such proof systems via parallel repetition. \n \nThe question related to the expressive power of models of quantum interactive proof systems and their variants lead us to the following results. \n \n(1) We show that the expressive power of quantum interactive proof systems is exactly PSPACE, the class of problems that can be solved by a polynomial-space deterministic Turing machines and that also admit a classical interactive proof systems. This result shows that in terms of complexity-theoretic characterization, both the models are equivalent. The result is obtained using an algorithmic technique known as the matrix multiplicative weights update method to solve a semidefinite program that characterizes the success probability of the quantum prover. \n\t \n(2) We show that polynomially many logarithmic-size unentangled quantum proofs are no more powerful than a classical proof if the verifier has the ability to process quantum information. This result follows from an observation that logarithmic-size quantum states can be efficiently represented classically and such classical representation can be used to efficiently generate the quantum state. \n\t \n(3) We also establish that the model of multi-prover quantum Merlin Arthur proof system, where the verifier is only allowed to apply nonadaptive unentangled measurement on each proof and then a quantum circuit on the classical outcomes, is no more powerful than QMA under the restriction that there are only polynomial number of outcomes per proof. This result follows from showing that such proof systems also admit a QMA verification procedure. \n \nThe question related to error reduction via parallel repetition lead us to following results on a class of two-prover one-round games with quantum provers and a class of multi-prover QMA proof systems. \n \n(1) We establish that for a certain class of two-prover one-round games known as XOR games, admit a perfect parallel repetition theorem in the following sense. When the provers play a collection of XOR games, an optimal strategy of the provers is to play each instance of the collection independently and optimally. In particular, the success probability of the quantum provers in the n-fold repetition of an XOR game G with quantum value w(G) is exactly (w(G))^n. \n\t \n(2) We show a parallel repetition theorem for two-prover one-round unique games. More specifically, we prove that if the quantum value of a unique game is 1-e, then the quantum value of n-fold repetition of the game is at most (1-e^2/49)^n. We also establish that for certain class of unique games, the quantum value of the n-fold repetition of the game is at most (1-e/4)^n. For the special case of XOR games, our proof technique gives an alternate proof of result mentioned above. \n\t \n3. Our final result on parallel repetition is concerned with SepQMA(m) proof systems, where the verifier receives m unentangled quantum proofs and the measurement operator corresponding to outcome "accept" is a fully separable operator. We give an alternate proof of a result of Harrow and Montanaro [HM10] that states that perfect parallel repetition theorem holds for such proof systems. \n \nThe first two results follow from the duality of semidefinite programs and the final result follows from cone programming duality.
There are three different types of nondeterminism in quantum communication: i) $\nqp$-communication, ii) $\qma$-communication, and iii) $\qcma$-communication. In this \redout{paper} we show that multiparty $\nqp$-communication can be exponentially stronger than $\qcma$-communication. This also implies an exponential separation with respect to classical multiparty nondeterministic communication complexity. We argue that there exists a total function that is hard for $\qcma$-communication and easy for $\nqp$-communication. The proof of it involves an application of the pattern tensor method and a new lower bound for polynomial threshold degree. Another important consequence of this result is that nondeterministic rank can be exponentially lower than the discrepancy bound.