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Revealing contextuality of quantum configurations with a SAT solver

Axel Müller, Метод Санига, Alain Giorgetti, Henri de Boutray, Frédéric Holweck

Published Jun 5, 2023• 0 citations
OpenAlex

Abstract

We present a use of a SAT solver to decide the quantum contextuality and evaluate the contextuality degree (a way to quantify contextuality) for a variety of point-line geometries located in binary symplectic polar spaces of small rank. With this code we were not only able to recover, in a more efficient way, all the results of a recent paper by de Boutray et al (J. Phys. A: Math. Theor. 55 475301, 2022), but also arrived at a bunch of new noteworthy results. This poster describes the approach, and presents the results for a number of subspaces of symplectic polar spaces whose rank ranges from two to seven, as well as the proofs that were found with the help of these results. Working group: LVP

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New and improved bounds on the contextuality degree of multi-qubit configurations

Axel Müller, Метод Санига, Alain Giorgetti +2 more

Abstract We present algorithms and a C code to reveal quantum contextuality and evaluate the contextuality degree (a way to quantify contextuality) for a variety of point-line geometries located in binary symplectic polar spaces of small rank. With this code we were not only able to recover, in a more efficient way, all the results of a recent paper by de Boutray et al. [(2022). Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and Theoretical55 475301], but also arrived at a bunch of new noteworthy results. The paper first describes the algorithms and the C code. Then it illustrates its power on a number of subspaces of symplectic polar spaces whose rank ranges from 2 to 7. The most interesting new results include: (i) non-contextuality of configurations whose contexts are subspaces of dimension 2 and higher, (ii) non-existence of negative subspaces of dimension 3 and higher, (iii) considerably improved bounds for the contextuality degree of both elliptic and hyperbolic quadrics for rank 4, as well as for a particular subgeometry of the three-qubit space whose contexts are the lines of this space, (iv) proof for the non-contextuality of perpsets and, last but not least, (v) contextual nature of a distinguished subgeometry of a multi-qubit doily, called a two-spread, and computation of its contextuality degree. Finally, in the three-qubit polar space we correct and improve the contextuality degree of the full configuration and also describe finite geometric configurations formed by unsatisfiable/invalid constraints for both types of quadrics as well as for the geometry whose contexts are all 315 lines of the space.

arXiv:2305.10225•Mathematical Structures in Computer Science•Apr 1, 2024•5 citations

Disclosing Quantum Contextuality: A Geometric Approach to N-Qubit Configurations

Axel Müller, Метод Санига, Alain Giorgetti +2 more

In the intriguing realm of quantum physics, the concept of contextuality raises interesting questions about the nature of quantum systems. Since the commutation relation in the N-qubits Pauli group corresponds to the colinearity relation in the symplectic polar space W(2N − 1, 2), we study subgeometries of this space in order to discover new contextual quantum configurations. We have developed algorithms and a corresponding software in C language, that can effectively determine quantum contextuality and quantify it, by charting these symplectic polar spaces of various ranks. This tool allowed us to uncover new insights that go beyond the achievements of earlier work, such as that of de Boutray et al (J. Phys. A: Math. Theor. 55 475301, 2022). Our study spans across these geometric structures of ranks from two to seven, offering significant findings.In my talk I will explicitly illustrate the concept of quantum contextuality on certain wellknown finite-geometric configurations living in W(5,2), like the doily (and its two-spread), an elliptic quadric (and its spread of lines) and a hyperbolic quadric (and its associated Heawoodgraph); I will also consider configurations whose contexts are all the subspaces with a given dimension k < N.

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A new heuristic approach for contextuality degree estimates and its four- to six-qubit portrayals

Axel Müller, Метод Санига, Alain Giorgetti +2 more

Abstract We introduce and describe a new heuristic method for finding an upper bound on the degree of contextuality and the corresponding unsatisfied (i.e. non-reproducible by any NCHV model) part of a quantum contextual configuration with three-element contexts (i.e. lines) located in a multi-qubit symplectic polar space of order two. While the previously used method based on a SAT solver was limited to three qubits, this new method is much faster and more versatile, enabling us to also handle four- to six-qubit cases. The method is illustrated by the structure of unsatisfied parts of the associated contextual configurations represented by quadrics and full spaces; these entail well-known finite geometries like the split Cayley hexagon of order two, the dual polar space of rank three and order two as well as certain incidence graphs of binary projective spaces of small dimensions.

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Automated search for highly contextual Kochen-Specker proofs

Axel Muller, Metod Saniga

Observable-based Kochen-Specker proofs are configurations of multi-qubit Pauli observables grouped into contexts whose products are plus or minus the indentity. Their robustness as state-independent contextuality tests can be measured by the tolerated error per context $\varepsilon = 2d/|H|$, where $d$ is the contextuality degree and $|H|$ the number of contexts. Since the degree depends only on an underlying abstract structure called the hypergram i.e. the pair formed by the context hypergraph and the anticommutation graph, the search for highly contextual proofs can be carried out on them instead, with no reference to qubits or to any particular Pauli labeling. We further exploit this by enumerating anticommutation graphs first, and then by associating to each graph $G$ the single hypergram carrying its entire hypergraph support $HS(G)$, so that exactly one candidate is examined per graph. Applied to the House of Graphs database and to censuses of vertex-transitive graphs on at most 24 vertices, this pipeline recovers the Peres-Mermin square, the doily and the Mermin pentagram, and yields configurations reaching $\varepsilon = 0.707$, against $0.424$ for the previous published record. The best configurations are predominantly those stemming from line graphs and unions of graphs; we explain the former by showing that every perfect matching of a graph is a context of its line graph, which exhibits the Peres-Mermin square and the doily as the first members of two infinite families. We close with finite geometric descriptions of the most striking configurations inside symplectic polar spaces, in terms of ovoids, hyperbolic quadrics and Fano planes.

quant-pharXiv:2609.19862•Sep 18, 2026•0 citations

Contextuality degree of quadrics in multi-qubit symplectic polar spaces

Henri de Boutray, Frédéric Holweck, Alain Giorgetti +2 more

Abstract Quantum contextuality takes an important place amongst the concepts of quantum computing that bring an advantage over its classical counterpart. For a large class of contextuality proofs, aka. observable-based proofs of the Kochen-Specker Theorem, we formulate the contextuality property as the absence of solutions to a linear system and define for a contextual configuration its degree of contextuality. Then we explain why subgeometries of binary symplectic polar spaces are candidates for contextuality proofs. We report the results of a software that generates these subgeometries, decides their contextuality and computes their contextuality degree for some small symplectic polar spaces. We show that quadrics in the symplectic polar space W n are contextual for n = 3 , 4 , 5 . The proofs we consider involve more contexts and observables than the smallest known proofs. This intermediate size property of those proofs is interesting for experimental tests, but could also be interesting in quantum game theory.

arXiv:2105.13798•Journal of Physics A Mathematical and Theoretical•Nov 16, 2022•10 citations

The Finite Geometry of Breaking Quantum Secrets

Péter Lévay, Metod Saniga

Using a finite geometric framework for studying the pentagon and heptagon codes we show that the concepts of quantum secret sharing and contextuality can be studied in a nice and unified manner. The basic idea is a careful study of the respective $2+3$ and $3+4$ tensorial factorizations of the elements of the stabilizer groups of these codes. It is demonstrated in detail how finite geometric structures entailing a specific three-qubit (resp. four-qubit) embedding of binary symplectic polar spaces of rank two (resp. three), corresponding to these factorizations, govern issues of contextuality and entanglement needed for a geometric understanding of quantum secret sharing. Using these results for the $(3,5)$ and $(4,7)$ threshold schemes explicit secret breaking protocols are derived. Our results hint at a novel geometric way of looking at contextual configurations.

quant-pharXiv:2602.08410•Feb 10, 2026•0 citations
We present a use of a SAT solver to decide the quantum contextuality and evaluate the contextuality degree (a way to quantify contextuality) for a variety of point-line geometries located in binary symplectic polar spaces of small rank. With this code we were not only able to recover, in a more efficient way, all the results of a recent paper by de Boutray et al (J. Phys. A: Math. Theor. 55 475301, 2022), but also arrived at a bunch of new noteworthy results. This poster describes the approach, and presents the results for a number of subspaces of symplectic polar spaces whose rank ranges from two to seven, as well as the proofs that were found with the help of these results. Working group: LVP
Abstract We present algorithms and a C code to reveal quantum contextuality and evaluate the contextuality degree (a way to quantify contextuality) for a variety of point-line geometries located in binary symplectic polar spaces of small rank. With this code we were not only able to recover, in a more efficient way, all the results of a recent paper by de Boutray et al. [(2022). Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and Theoretical55 475301], but also arrived at a bunch of new noteworthy results. The paper first describes the algorithms and the C code. Then it illustrates its power on a number of subspaces of symplectic polar spaces whose rank ranges from 2 to 7. The most interesting new results include: (i) non-contextuality of configurations whose contexts are subspaces of dimension 2 and higher, (ii) non-existence of negative subspaces of dimension 3 and higher, (iii) considerably improved bounds for the contextuality degree of both elliptic and hyperbolic quadrics for rank 4, as well as for a particular subgeometry of the three-qubit space whose contexts are the lines of this space, (iv) proof for the non-contextuality of perpsets and, last but not least, (v) contextual nature of a distinguished subgeometry of a multi-qubit doily, called a two-spread, and computation of its contextuality degree. Finally, in the three-qubit polar space we correct and improve the contextuality degree of the full configuration and also describe finite geometric configurations formed by unsatisfiable/invalid constraints for both types of quadrics as well as for the geometry whose contexts are all 315 lines of the space.
In the intriguing realm of quantum physics, the concept of contextuality raises interesting questions about the nature of quantum systems. Since the commutation relation in the N-qubits Pauli group corresponds to the colinearity relation in the symplectic polar space W(2N − 1, 2), we study subgeometries of this space in order to discover new contextual quantum configurations. We have developed algorithms and a corresponding software in C language, that can effectively determine quantum contextuality and quantify it, by charting these symplectic polar spaces of various ranks. This tool allowed us to uncover new insights that go beyond the achievements of earlier work, such as that of de Boutray et al (J. Phys. A: Math. Theor. 55 475301, 2022). Our study spans across these geometric structures of ranks from two to seven, offering significant findings.In my talk I will explicitly illustrate the concept of quantum contextuality on certain wellknown finite-geometric configurations living in W(5,2), like the doily (and its two-spread), an elliptic quadric (and its spread of lines) and a hyperbolic quadric (and its associated Heawoodgraph); I will also consider configurations whose contexts are all the subspaces with a given dimension k < N.
Abstract We introduce and describe a new heuristic method for finding an upper bound on the degree of contextuality and the corresponding unsatisfied (i.e. non-reproducible by any NCHV model) part of a quantum contextual configuration with three-element contexts (i.e. lines) located in a multi-qubit symplectic polar space of order two. While the previously used method based on a SAT solver was limited to three qubits, this new method is much faster and more versatile, enabling us to also handle four- to six-qubit cases. The method is illustrated by the structure of unsatisfied parts of the associated contextual configurations represented by quadrics and full spaces; these entail well-known finite geometries like the split Cayley hexagon of order two, the dual polar space of rank three and order two as well as certain incidence graphs of binary projective spaces of small dimensions.
Observable-based Kochen-Specker proofs are configurations of multi-qubit Pauli observables grouped into contexts whose products are plus or minus the indentity. Their robustness as state-independent contextuality tests can be measured by the tolerated error per context ε=2d/∣H∣\varepsilon = 2d/|H|ε=2d/∣H∣, where ddd is the contextuality degree and ∣H∣|H|∣H∣ the number of contexts. Since the degree depends only on an underlying abstract structure called the hypergram i.e. the pair formed by the context hypergraph and the anticommutation graph, the search for highly contextual proofs can be carried out on them instead, with no reference to qubits or to any particular Pauli labeling. We further exploit this by enumerating anticommutation graphs first, and then by associating to each graph GGG the single hypergram carrying its entire hypergraph support HS(G)HS(G)HS(G), so that exactly one candidate is examined per graph. Applied to the House of Graphs database and to censuses of vertex-transitive graphs on at most 24 vertices, this pipeline recovers the Peres-Mermin square, the doily and the Mermin pentagram, and yields configurations reaching ε=0.707\varepsilon = 0.707ε=0.707, against 0.4240.4240.424 for the previous published record. The best configurations are predominantly those stemming from line graphs and unions of graphs; we explain the former by showing that every perfect matching of a graph is a context of its line graph, which exhibits the Peres-Mermin square and the doily as the first members of two infinite families. We close with finite geometric descriptions of the most striking configurations inside symplectic polar spaces, in terms of ovoids, hyperbolic quadrics and Fano planes.
Abstract Quantum contextuality takes an important place amongst the concepts of quantum computing that bring an advantage over its classical counterpart. For a large class of contextuality proofs, aka. observable-based proofs of the Kochen-Specker Theorem, we formulate the contextuality property as the absence of solutions to a linear system and define for a contextual configuration its degree of contextuality. Then we explain why subgeometries of binary symplectic polar spaces are candidates for contextuality proofs. We report the results of a software that generates these subgeometries, decides their contextuality and computes their contextuality degree for some small symplectic polar spaces. We show that quadrics in the symplectic polar space W n are contextual for n = 3 , 4 , 5 . The proofs we consider involve more contexts and observables than the smallest known proofs. This intermediate size property of those proofs is interesting for experimental tests, but could also be interesting in quantum game theory.
Using a finite geometric framework for studying the pentagon and heptagon codes we show that the concepts of quantum secret sharing and contextuality can be studied in a nice and unified manner. The basic idea is a careful study of the respective 2+32+32+3 and 3+43+43+4 tensorial factorizations of the elements of the stabilizer groups of these codes. It is demonstrated in detail how finite geometric structures entailing a specific three-qubit (resp. four-qubit) embedding of binary symplectic polar spaces of rank two (resp. three), corresponding to these factorizations, govern issues of contextuality and entanglement needed for a geometric understanding of quantum secret sharing. Using these results for the (3,5)(3,5)(3,5) and (4,7)(4,7)(4,7) threshold schemes explicit secret breaking protocols are derived. Our results hint at a novel geometric way of looking at contextual configurations.