Abstract. Motivated by algorithmic problems arising in quantum field theories whose dynamical variables are geometric in nature, we provide a quantum algorithm that efficiently approximates the colored Jones polynomial. The construction is based on the complete solution of Chern-Simons topological quantum field theory and its connection to Wess-Zumino-Witten conformal field theory. The colored Jones polynomial is expressed as the expectation value of the evolution of the q-deformed spin-network quantum automaton. A quantum circuit is constructed capable of simulating the automaton and hence of computing such expectation value. The latter is efficiently approximated using a standard sampling procedure in quantum computation. PACS numbers: 03.67.Lx, 02.10.Kn, 04.60.Kz, 04.60.NcQuantum geometry and quantum algorithms 2 1.
Abstract. Motivated by algorithmic problems arising in quantum field theories whose dynamical variables are geometric in nature, we provide a quantum algorithm that efficiently approximates the colored Jones polynomial. The construction is based on the complete solution of Chern-Simons topological quantum field theory and its connection to Wess-Zumino-Witten conformal field theory. The colored Jones polynomial is expressed as the expectation value of the evolution of the q-deformed spin-network quantum automaton. A quantum circuit is constructed capable of simulating the automaton and hence of computing such expectation value. The latter is efficiently approximated using a standard sampling procedure in quantum computation. PACS numbers: 03.67.Lx, 02.10.Kn, 04.60.Kz, 04.60.NcQuantum geometry and quantum algorithms 2 1.
Motivated by algorithmic problems arising in quantum field theories whose dynamical variables are geometric in nature, we provide a quantum algorithm that efficiently approximates the coloured Jones polynomial. The construction is based on the complete solution of the Chern–Simons topological quantum field theory and its connection to Wess–Zumino–Witten conformal field theory. The coloured Jones polynomial is expressed as the expectation value of the evolution of the q -deformed spin-network quantum automaton. A quantum circuit is constructed capable of simulating the automaton and hence of computing such an expectation value. The latter is efficiently approximated using a standard sampling procedure in quantum computation.
We construct a quantum algorithm to approximate efficiently the colored Jones polynomial of the plat presentation of any oriented link L at a fixed root of unity q. Our construction is based on SU(2) Chern-Simons topological quantum field theory (and associated Wess-Zumino-Witten conformal field theory) and exploits the q-deformed spin network as computational background. As proved in (S. Garnerone, A. Marzuoli, M. Rasetti, quant-ph/0601169), the colored Jones polynomial can be evaluated in a number of elementary steps, bounded from above by a linear function of the number of crossings of the link, and polynomially bounded with respect to the number of link strands. Here we show that the Kaul unitary representation of colored oriented braids used there can be efficiently approximated on a standard quantum circuit.
A quantum algorithm for approximating efficiently three–manifold topological invariants in the framework of SU(2) Chern–Simons–Witten (CSW) topological quantum field theory at finite values of the coupling constant k is provided. The model of computation adopted is the q-deformed spin network model viewed as a quantum recognizer in the sense of [1], where each basic unitary transition function can be efficiently processed by a standard quantum circuit. This achievement is an extension of the algorithm for approximating polynomial invariants of colored oriented links found in "Spin networks, quantum automata and link invariants" and "An efficient quantum algorithm for colored Jones polynomials." Thus all the significant quantities — partition functions and observables — of quantum CSW theory can be processed efficiently on a quantum computer, reflecting the intrinsic, field-theoretic solvability of such theory at finite k. The paper is supplemented by a critical overview of the basic conceptual tools underlying the construction of quantum invariants of links and three–manifolds and connections with algorithmic questions that arise in geometry and quantum gravity models are discussed.
A quantum algorithm for approximating efficiently 3--manifold topological invariants in the framework of SU(2) Chern-Simons-Witten (CSW) topological quantum field theory at finite values of the coupling constant k is provided. The model of computation adopted is the q-deformed spin network model viewed as a quantum recognizer in the sense of Wiesner and Crutchfield, where each basic unitary transition function can be efficiently processed by a standard quantum circuit. This achievement is an extension of the algorithm for approximating polynomial invariants of colored oriented links found in Refs 2,3. Thus all the significant quantities - partition functions and observables - of quantum CSW theory can be processed efficiently on a quantum computer, reflecting the intrinsic, field-theoretic solvability of such theory at finite k. The paper is supplemented by a critical overview of the basic conceptual tools underlying the construction of quantum invariants of links and 3-manifolds and connections with algorithmic questions that arise in geometry and quantum gravity models are discussed.
The spin--network quantum simulator model, which essentially encodes the (quantum deformed) SU(2) Racah--Wigner tensor algebra, is particularly suitable to address problems arising in low dimensional topology and group theory. In this combinatorial framework we implement families of finite--states and discrete--time quantum automata capable of accepting the language generated by the braid group, and whose transition amplitudes are colored Jones polynomials. The automaton calculation of the polynomial of (the plat closure of) a link L on 2N strands at any fixed root of unity is shown to be bounded from above by a linear function of the number of crossings of the link, on the one hand, and polynomially bounded in terms of the braid index 2N, on the other. The growth rate of the time complexity function in terms of the integer k appearing in the root of unity q can be estimated to be (polynomially) bounded by resorting to the field theoretical background given by the Chern--Simons theory.
The Jones polynomial, discovered in 1984, is an important knot invariant in topology. Among its many connections to various mathematical and physical areas, it is known (due to Witten) to be intimately connected to Topological Quantum Field Theory (TQFT). The works of Freedman, Kitaev, Larsen and Wang provide an efficient simulation of TQFT by a quantum computer, and vice versa. These results implicitly imply the existence of an efficient quantum algorithm that provides a certain additive approximation of the Jones polynomial at the fifth root of unity, e^{2πi/5}, and moreover, that this problem is BQP-complete. Unfortunately, this important algorithm was never explicitly formulated. Moreover, the results mentioned are heavily based on TQFT, which makes the algorithm essentially inaccessible to computer scientists. We provide an explicit and simple polynomial quantum algorithm to approximate the Jones polynomial of an n-strands braid with m crossings at any primitive root of unity e^{2πi/k}, where the running time of the algorithm is polynomial in m,n and k. Our algorithm is based, rather than on TQFT, on well known mathematical results. By the results of Freedman et. al., our algorithm solves a BQP complete problem. The algorithm we provide exhibits a structure which we hope is generalizable to other quantum algorithmic problems. Candidates of particular interest are the approximations of other #P-hard problems, most notably, the partition function of the Potts model, a model which is known to be tightly connected to the Jones polynomial.