We develop three new quantum algorithms for searching the desired target state in the unstructured database of size N. The first algorithm requires Log N iterative steps. It constructs two quantum bags of equal size in terms of two quantum states, out of which exactly one quantum state will have nonzero overlap with the target state. This determination of overlap is done by taking the inner product, in Log N time [2], of the implicitly known target state with any one of these two quantum states. The second algorithm requires just one single step which uses a new suitable operator and the choice of this operator is problem dependent, i.e. it depends upon the number of qubits required to be used to represent an element in the index set. The third algorithm again requires only a single step and this algorithm makes use of a fixed (same) operator. It is known that algorithm for unstructured database search can be easily adaptable for solving NP-Complete problems. However, the computational complexity of NP-Complete problems after the adaptations of both the classical as well as quantum [1] search algorithms remains of the exponential order as the exponent for quantum [1] algorithm changes only to one-half times the exponent for classical algorithm. But for our quantum algorithms the exponent falls substantially so that our new quantum algorithms for unstructured search are capable if reducing the computational complexity of NP-Complete problems to polynomial order!
We develop three new quantum algorithms for searching the desired target state in the unstructured database of size N. The first algorithm requires Log N iterative steps. It constructs two quantum bags of equal size in terms of two quantum states, out of which exactly one quantum state will have nonzero overlap with the target state. This determination of overlap is done by taking the inner product, in Log N time [2], of the implicitly known target state with any one of these two quantum states. The second algorithm requires just one single step which uses a new suitable operator and the choice of this operator is problem dependent, i.e. it depends upon the number of qubits required to be used to represent an element in the index set. The third algorithm again requires only a single step and this algorithm makes use of a fixed (same) operator. It is known that algorithm for unstructured database search can be easily adaptable for solving NP-Complete problems. However, the computational complexity of NP-Complete problems after the adaptations of both the classical as well as quantum [1] search algorithms remains of the exponential order as the exponent for quantum [1] algorithm changes only to one-half times the exponent for classical algorithm. But for our quantum algorithms the exponent falls substantially so that our new quantum algorithms for unstructured search are capable if reducing the computational complexity of NP-Complete problems to polynomial order!
Grover's quantum algorithm was developed to solve the problem of searching an unstructured database for a certain unique element. In general, this problem can be formulated as follows: an unstructured database consists of elements and contains one unique element that has a certain property that can be tested with polynomial complexity, and which must be found with minimal time and complexity. Classical methods require querying the database to find the desired element, while Grover's algorithm allows you to perform only approximately steps, which are iterations of the procedure, to the database and be sure that the resulting element will be exactly the desired element with a probability close to 1. As in quantum algorithms aimed at cryptanalysis of symmetric transformations, Grover's algorithm repeats the procedure (Grover's iteration) to increase the probability of obtaining the correct result. Similarly to such algorithms in Grover's method, when iterations are continued after reaching the required number of iterations, the probability of obtaining the correct result decreases. This is due to the fact that during the execution of Grover's iteration, a rotation is performed in the complex space. Thus, each iteration, making a turn, brings the register closer and closer to the desired state, but at a certain point a maximum closeness is reached, at which the continued use of iterations will lead to a turn past the desired state, which will move the state of the system away from the desired state. The database for this algorithm can be any search space consisting of a certain number of elements. So, for example, it can be applied to find a secret key for a symmetric cryptograms formation or to find a collision for a hashing function.
The Subset Sum Problem is a member of the NP-complete class, so no known polynomial time algorithm exists for it. Although there are polynomial time approximations and heuristics, these are not always acceptable, yet exact-solution algorithms are unfeasible for large input. Quantum computation offers new insights for not only the Subset Sum Problem but also the entire NP-complete class; most notably, Grover's quantum algorithm for an unstructured database search can be tailored to identify solutions to problems within mathematics and computer science. This paper discusses the physical and conceptual feasibility of quantum computation and demonstrates the utility of quantum search by analyzing the time complexities of the classical dynamic programming algorithm and Grover's algorithm in solving the Subset Sum Problem, evincing the implications this has on the NP-complete class in general.
The problem of unstructured search plays the central role in our current understanding of the computational power of quantum computers. Improvement in the efficiency of solving unstructured search problem has an immediate consequence in the improvement in solving NP-complete problems. We introduce the new framework of natural continuous time quantum search algorithms, that in contrast to the adiabatic quantum algorithms, require neither the ground state initialization nor the adiabatic change of the Hamiltonian parameters. We moreover provide the concrete examples of transliteration from the unique marked element unstructured search problem into the particular class of quantum Hamiltonians, that facilitate the search in quantum continuous constant time. Since it is not clear how to implement that class of Hamiltonians one can either consider this result as a step toward proving that NP is a subset of BQP or as an indication that, that class of Hamiltonians is NP-hard to implement.Multiplicative weights update rule has been used in a few different fields as the underlying algorithmic structure. In its two different forms, vector and matrix, multiplicative update method provided a surprising simplicity and promised a small performance regret. We derive a slightly more general bound for the cumulative matrix multiplicative weights algorithm and introduce the iterative (streaming) matrix multiplicative weights algorithm with the same computational complexity and regret bound. In particular we also define the iterative Hadamard updates, matrix multiplicative updates algorithm, with the improved computational complexity for nonnegative games, from O(n³) to O(n²), and the same regret bound.Furthermore, we address the following question:"What is the minimal size quantum circuit required to exactly implement a specified nqubit unitary operation U, without the use of ancilla qubits?" Nielsen proved that a lower bound on the minimal size circuit is provided by the length of the geodesic between the identity I and U, where the length is defined by a suitable Finsler metric on SU(2ⁿ). We prove that the minimum circuit size that simulates U is in linear relation with the geodesic length and simulation parameters, for the given Finsler structure F. As a corollary we prove the highest lower bound and the lowest upper bound for the standard simulation technique, that show that by standard simulation one can not expect a better then n² times improvement in the upper bound over the result from Nielsen, Dowling, Gu and Doherty. Moreover, our equivalence result can be applied to the arbitrary path on the manifold including the one that is generated adiabatically.Finally we investigate the n-dimensional hypercube quantum random walk (QRW) as a particularly appealing example of a quantum walk because it has a natural implementation on a register on n qubits. However, any real implementation will encounter decoherence effects due to interactions with uncontrollable degrees of freedom. We present a complete characterization of the mixing properties of the hypercube QRW under a physically relevant Markovian decoherence model. In the local decoherence model considered the non-unitary dynamics are modeled as a sum of projections on individual qubits to an arbitrary direction on the Bloch sphere. We prove that there is always a classical asymptotic mixing in this model and specify the conditions under which instantaneous mixing always exists. We show that the latter mixing property, as well as the classical mixing time, depend heavily on the exact environmental interaction and its strength. Therefore, algorithmic applications of the QRW on the hypercube, if they intend to employ mixing properties, need to consider both the walk dynamics and the precise decoherence model.
A quantum algorithm is known that solves an unstructured search problem in a number of iterations of order d, where d is the dimension of the search space, whereas any classical algorithm necessarily scales as O(d). It is shown here that an improved quantum search algorithm can be devised that exploits the structure of a tree search problem by nesting one quantum search within another. The average number of iterations required to find the solution of a typical hard instance of a constraint satisfaction problem is found to scale as $\sqrt{{d}^{\ensuremath{\alpha}}},$ with the constant $\ensuremath{\alpha}<1$ depending on the nesting depth and the type of problem considered. This corresponds to a square-root speedup over a classical nested search algorithm, of which our algorithm is the quantum counterpart. When applying a single nesting level to a problem with constraints of size 2 such as the graph coloring problem, $\ensuremath{\alpha}$ is estimated to be around 0.62.
Grover’s algorithm harnesses the power of quantum computing to swiftly locate specific elements in an unstructured database, outperforming classical computers in tasks like database searching. This algorithm capitalizes on the unique ability of qubits to be in both 0 and 1 states simultaneously (superposition), allowing it to scan the entire search space at once. It then boosts the probability of the target element, making it more prominent. While the foundational concepts of Grover’s algorithm are well-documented, practical implementation using quantum operators, especially for large search spaces, remains less explored beyond basic examples with a small number of qubits. Existing general synthesis techniques often involve numerous operators or are time-consuming. Our proposed methods specifically address the amplitude-amplification component of Grover’s algorithm for any size of search space. These methods detail the required types and quantities of qubits and operators, emphasizing minimal usage and efficient assembly. Developed and evaluated in Python, our methods consistently identified target elements with over 95% accuracy and achieved configurations comparably compact as those in the existing literature but at a faster pace. We anticipate that these methods facilitate practical implementations of Grover’s algorithm across various domains.
We have seen in the previous chapters that quantum computers seem to be more powerful than classical computers for certain problems. There are limits on the power of quantum computers, however. Since a classical computer can simulate a quantum computer, a quantum computer can only compute the same set of functions that a classical computer can. The advantage of using a quantum computer is that the amount of resources needed by a quantum algorithm might be much less than what is needed by the best classical algorithm. In Section 9.1 we briefly define some classical and quantum complexity classes and give some relationships between them. Most of the interesting questions relating classical and quantum complexity classes remain open. For example, we do not yet know if a quantum computer is capable of efficiently solving an NP-complete problem (defined later). One can prove upper bounds on the difficulty of a problem by providing an algorithm that solves that problem, and proving that it will work within in a given running time. But how does one prove a lower bound on the computational complexity of a problem? For example, if we wish to find the product of two n-bit numbers, computing the answer requires outputting roughly 2n bits and that requires Ω(n) steps (in any computing model with finite-sized gates). The best-known upper bound for integer multiplication is O(n log n log log n) steps. It has proved extremely difficult to derive non-trivial lower bounds on the computational complexity of a problem. Most of the known non-trivial lower bounds are in the ‘black-box’ model (for both classical and quantum computing), where we only query the input via a ‘black-box’ of a specific form. We discuss the black-box model in more detail in Section 9.2. We then sketch several approaches for proving black-box lower bounds. The first technique has been called the ‘hybrid method’ and was used to prove that quantum searching requires Ω(√n) queries to succeed with constant probability. The second technique is called the ‘polynomial method’. We then describe a technique based on ‘block sensitivity’, and conclude with a technique known as the ‘adversary method’.