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The Dual Polynomial of Bipartite Perfect Matching

Gal Beniamini

Published Apr 29, 2020• 2 citations
OpenAlex

Abstract

We obtain a description of the Boolean dual function of the Bipartite Perfect Matching decision problem, as a multilinear polynomial over the Reals. We show that in this polynomial, both the number of monomials and the magnitude of their coefficients are at most exponential in $\mathcal{O}(n \log n)$. As an application, we obtain a new upper bound of $\mathcal{O}(n^{1.5} \sqrt{\log n})$ on the approximate degree of the bipartite perfect matching function, improving the previous best known bound of $\mathcal{O}(n^{1.75})$. We deduce that, beyond a $\mathcal{O}(\sqrt{\log n})$ factor, the polynomial method cannot be used to improve the lower bound on the bounded-error quantum query complexity of bipartite perfect matching.

Related papers

The Approximate Degree of Bipartite Perfect Matching

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The approximate degree of a Boolean function is the least degree of a real multilinear polynomial approximating it in the $\ell_\infty$-norm over the Boolean hypercube. We show that the approximate degree of the Bipartite Perfect Matching function, which is the indicator over all bipartite graphs having a perfect matching, is $\widetildeΘ(n^{3/2})$. The upper bound is obtained by fully characterizing the unique multilinear polynomial representing the Boolean dual of the perfect matching function, over the reals. Crucially, we show that this polynomial has very small $\ell_1$-norm -- only exponential in $Θ(n \log n)$. The lower bound follows by bounding the spectral sensitivity of the perfect matching function, which is the spectral radius of its cut-graph on the hypercube \cite{aaronson2020degree, huang2019induced}. We show that the spectral sensitivity of perfect matching is exactly $Θ(n^{3/2})$.

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Boolean Functions of Low Polynomial Degree for Quantum Query Complexity Theory

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Algorithmic Polynomials

Alexander A. Sherstov

The approximate degree of a Boolean function $f(x_{1},x_{2},\ldots,x_{n})$ is the minimum degree of a real polynomial that approximates $f$ pointwise within $1/3$. Upper bounds on approximate degree have a variety of applications in learning theory, differential privacy, and algorithm design in general. Nearly all known upper bounds on approximate degree arise in an existential manner from bounds on quantum query complexity. We develop a novel, first-principles approach to the polynomial approximation of Boolean functions. We use it to give the first constructive upper bounds on the approximate degree of several fundamental problems: $O(n^{\frac{3}{4}-\frac{1}{4(2^{k}-1)}})$ for the $k$-element distinctness problem; $O(n^{1-\frac{1}{k+1}})$ for the $k$-subset sum problem; $O(n^{1-\frac{1}{k+1}})$ for any $k$-DNF or $k$-CNF formula; and $O(n^{3/4})$ for the surjectivity problem. In all cases, we obtain explicit, closed-form approximating polynomials that are unrelated to the quantum arguments from previous work. Our first three results match the bounds from quantum query complexity. Our fourth result improves polynomially on the $\Theta(n)$ quantum query complexity of the problem and refutes the conjecture by several experts that surjectivity has approximate degree $\Omega(n)$. In particular, we exhibit the first natural problem with a polynomial gap between approximate degree and quantum query complexity.

SIAM Journal on Computing•Jan 1, 2020•4 citations
We obtain a description of the Boolean dual function of the Bipartite Perfect Matching decision problem, as a multilinear polynomial over the Reals. We show that in this polynomial, both the number of monomials and the magnitude of their coefficients are at most exponential in O(nlog⁡n)\mathcal{O}(n \log n)O(nlogn). As an application, we obtain a new upper bound of O(n1.5log⁡n)\mathcal{O}(n^{1.5} \sqrt{\log n})O(n1.5logn​) on the approximate degree of the bipartite perfect matching function, improving the previous best known bound of O(n1.75)\mathcal{O}(n^{1.75})O(n1.75). We deduce that, beyond a O(log⁡n)\mathcal{O}(\sqrt{\log n})O(logn​) factor, the polynomial method cannot be used to improve the lower bound on the bounded-error quantum query complexity of bipartite perfect matching.
The approximate degree of a Boolean function is the least degree of a real multilinear polynomial approximating it in the ℓ∞\ell_\inftyℓ∞​-norm over the Boolean hypercube. We show that the approximate degree of the Bipartite Perfect Matching function, which is the indicator over all bipartite graphs having a perfect matching, is Θ~(n3/2)\widetildeΘ(n^{3/2})Θ(n3/2). The upper bound is obtained by fully characterizing the unique multilinear polynomial representing the Boolean dual of the perfect matching function, over the reals. Crucially, we show that this polynomial has very small ℓ1\ell_1ℓ1​-norm -- only exponential in Θ(nlog⁡n)Θ(n \log n)Θ(nlogn). The lower bound follows by bounding the spectral sensitivity of the perfect matching function, which is the spectral radius of its cut-graph on the hypercube \cite{aaronson2020degree, huang2019induced}. We show that the spectral sensitivity of perfect matching is exactly Θ(n3/2)Θ(n^{3/2})Θ(n3/2).
The approximate degree of a Boolean function f(x1,x2,…,xn)f(x_{1},x_{2},\ldots,x_{n})f(x1​,x2​,…,xn​) is the minimum degree of a real polynomial that approximates fff pointwise within 1/31/31/3. Upper bounds on approximate degree have a variety of applications in learning theory, differential privacy, and algorithm design in general. Nearly all known upper bounds on approximate degree arise in an existential manner from bounds on quantum query complexity. We develop a first-principles, classical approach to the polynomial approximation of Boolean functions. We use it to give the first constructive upper bounds on the approximate degree of several fundamental problems: - O(n34−14(2k−1))O\bigl(n^{\frac{3}{4}-\frac{1}{4(2^{k}-1)}}\bigr)O(n43​−4(2k−1)1​) for the kkk-element distinctness problem; - O(n1−1k+1)O(n^{1-\frac{1}{k+1}})O(n1−k+11​) for the kkk-subset sum problem; - O(n1−1k+1)O(n^{1-\frac{1}{k+1}})O(n1−k+11​) for any kkk-DNF or kkk-CNF formula; - O(n3/4)O(n^{3/4})O(n3/4) for the surjectivity problem. In all cases, we obtain explicit, closed-form approximating polynomials that are unrelated to the quantum arguments from previous work. Our first three results match the bounds from quantum query complexity. Our fourth result improves polynomially on the Θ(n)Θ(n)Θ(n) quantum query complexity of the problem and refutes the conjecture by several experts that surjectivity has approximate degree Ω(n)Ω(n)Ω(n). In particular, we exhibit the first natural problem with a polynomial gap between approximate degree and quantum query complexity.
The degree of a polynomial representing (or approximating) a function f is a lower bound for the quantum query complexity of f. This observation has been a source of many lower bounds on quantum algorithms. It has been an open problem whether this lower bound is tight. This is why Boolean functions are needed with a high number of essential variables and a low polynomial degree. Unfortunately, it is a well-known problem to construct such functions. The best separation between these two complexity measures of a Boolean function was exhibited by Ambai- nis [5]. He constructed functions with polynomial degree M and number of variables Omega(M2). We improve such a separation to become exponential. On the other hand, we use a computerized exhaustive search to prove tightness of this bound.
In this work, we study bipartiteness and expansion testing, two canonical problems in graph property testing in the bounded-degree model through the lens of quantum query complexity. In the classical setting, it is known that Θ~(N)\widetildeΘ(\sqrt{N})Θ(N​) queries are necessary and sufficient for both these testing problems (Goldreich and Ron, 1999, 2000 & 2002), where NNN denotes the number of vertices of the input graph. Due to their significance, (Ambainis, Childs, and Liu, 2011) initiated the study of these problems in the quantum setting and designed quantum algorithms for bipartiteness and expansion testing that perform O~(N1/3)\widetilde{O}(N^{1/3})O(N1/3) queries, showing a polynomial speedup. They also proved that Ω~(N1/4)\widetildeΩ(N^{1/4})Ω(N1/4) queries are necessary for expansion testing, but the possibility of an exponential quantum advantage for bipartiteness testing remained open. Despite significant effort, there has been no improvement in these results in the last decade and a half. In this work, we prove essentially tight Ω~(N1/3)\widetildeΩ(N^{1/3})Ω(N1/3) quantum query lower bounds for both bipartiteness and expansion testing, thereby completely characterizing the quantum query complexity of these problems up to polylogarithmic factors. While our proofs use the polynomial method similarly to Ambainis, Childs, and Liu, we use intermediate problems that we relate to the main problems via reductions, and perform a more precise analysis of the resulting polynomials, leading to the near-optimal lower bounds.
The approximate degree of a Boolean function f(x1,x2,…,xn)f(x_{1},x_{2},\ldots,x_{n})f(x1​,x2​,…,xn​) is the minimum degree of a real polynomial that approximates fff pointwise within 1/31/31/3. Upper bounds on approximate degree have a variety of applications in learning theory, differential privacy, and algorithm design in general. Nearly all known upper bounds on approximate degree arise in an existential manner from bounds on quantum query complexity. We develop a novel, first-principles approach to the polynomial approximation of Boolean functions. We use it to give the first constructive upper bounds on the approximate degree of several fundamental problems: O(n34−14(2k−1))O(n^{\frac{3}{4}-\frac{1}{4(2^{k}-1)}})O(n43​−4(2k−1)1​) for the kkk-element distinctness problem; O(n1−1k+1)O(n^{1-\frac{1}{k+1}})O(n1−k+11​) for the kkk-subset sum problem; O(n1−1k+1)O(n^{1-\frac{1}{k+1}})O(n1−k+11​) for any kkk-DNF or kkk-CNF formula; and O(n3/4)O(n^{3/4})O(n3/4) for the surjectivity problem. In all cases, we obtain explicit, closed-form approximating polynomials that are unrelated to the quantum arguments from previous work. Our first three results match the bounds from quantum query complexity. Our fourth result improves polynomially on the Θ(n)\Theta(n)Θ(n) quantum query complexity of the problem and refutes the conjecture by several experts that surjectivity has approximate degree Ω(n)\Omega(n)Ω(n). In particular, we exhibit the first natural problem with a polynomial gap between approximate degree and quantum query complexity.