34 Search Results for "Gharibian, Sevag"


Document
Derandomised Tensor Product Gap Amplification for Quantum Hamiltonians

Authors: Thiago Bergamaschi, Tony Metger, Thomas Vidick, and Tina Zhang

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 383, 41st Computational Complexity Conference (CCC 2026)


Abstract
The quantum PCP conjecture asks whether it is QMA-hard to distinguish between high- and low-energy Hamiltonians even when the gap between "high" and "low" energy is large (constant). A natural proof strategy is gap amplification: start from the fact that high- and low-energy Hamiltonians are hard to distinguish if the gap is small (inverse polynomial) [Alexei Y. Kitaev et al., 2002] and amplify the Hamiltonians to increase the energy gap while preserving hardness. Such a gap amplification procedure is at the heart of Dinur’s proof of the classical PCP theorem [Dinur, 2007]. In this work, following Dinur’s model, we introduce a new quantum gap amplification procedure for Hamiltonians which uses random walks on expander graphs to derandomise (subsample the terms of) the tensor product amplification of a Hamiltonian. Curiously, our analysis relies on a new technique inspired by quantum de Finetti theorems, which have previously been used to rule out certain approaches to the quantum PCP conjecture [Fernando G. S. L. Brandão and Aram Wettroth Harrow, 2013].

Cite as

Thiago Bergamaschi, Tony Metger, Thomas Vidick, and Tina Zhang. Derandomised Tensor Product Gap Amplification for Quantum Hamiltonians. In 41st Computational Complexity Conference (CCC 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 383, pp. 15:1-15:22, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)


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@InProceedings{bergamaschi_et_al:LIPIcs.CCC.2026.15,
  author =	{Bergamaschi, Thiago and Metger, Tony and Vidick, Thomas and Zhang, Tina},
  title =	{{Derandomised Tensor Product Gap Amplification for Quantum Hamiltonians}},
  booktitle =	{41st Computational Complexity Conference (CCC 2026)},
  pages =	{15:1--15:22},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-437-6},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2026},
  volume =	{383},
  editor =	{Moshkovitz, Dana},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.CCC.2026.15},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-270572},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.CCC.2026.15},
  annote =	{Keywords: quantum PCP conjecture, gap amplification, local Hamiltonians, tensor product amplification, expander random walks, quantum de Finetti theorems}
}
Document
Track A: Algorithms, Complexity and Games
On the Pure Quantum Polynomial Hierarchy and Quantified Hamiltonian Complexity

Authors: Sabee Grewal and Dorian Rudolph

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 374, 53rd International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2026)


Abstract
We prove several new results concerning the pure quantum polynomial hierarchy pureQPH. First, we show that QMA(2) ⊆ pureQΣ_2, i.e., two unentangled existential provers can be simulated by competing existential and universal provers. We further prove that pureQΣ_2 ⊆ QΣ_3 ⊆ NEXP. Second, we give an error reduction result for pureQPH, and, as a consequence, prove that pureQPH = QPH. A key ingredient in this result is an improved dimension-independent disentangler. Finally, we initiate the study of quantified Hamiltonian complexity, the quantum analogue of quantified Boolean formulae. We prove that the quantified pure sparse Hamiltonian problem is pureQΣ_i-complete. By contrast, other natural variants (pure/local, mixed/local, and mixed/sparse) admit nontrivial containments but fail to be complete under known techniques. For example, we show that the ∃∀-mixed local Hamiltonian problem lies in NP^QMA ∩ coNP^QMA.

Cite as

Sabee Grewal and Dorian Rudolph. On the Pure Quantum Polynomial Hierarchy and Quantified Hamiltonian Complexity. In 53rd International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 374, pp. 103:1-103:23, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)


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@InProceedings{grewal_et_al:LIPIcs.ICALP.2026.103,
  author =	{Grewal, Sabee and Rudolph, Dorian},
  title =	{{On the Pure Quantum Polynomial Hierarchy and Quantified Hamiltonian Complexity}},
  booktitle =	{53rd International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2026)},
  pages =	{103:1--103:23},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-428-4},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2026},
  volume =	{374},
  editor =	{Bhattacharya, Sayan and Nanongkai, Danupon and Benedikt, Michael and Puppis, Gabriele},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2026.103},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-264922},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2026.103},
  annote =	{Keywords: quantum complexity theory, quantum polynomial hierarchy, pure quantum polynomial hierarchy, QPH, QMA(2), quantum proof systems, interactive proofs, quantified Hamiltonian complexity, local Hamiltonian problem, sparse Hamiltonians, disentanglers}
}
Document
Track A: Algorithms, Complexity and Games
How Hard Is It to Verify a Classical Shadow?

Authors: Georgios Karaiskos, Dorian Rudolph, Johannes Jakob Meyer, Jens Eisert, and Sevag Gharibian

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 374, 53rd International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2026)


Abstract
Classical shadows are succinct classical representations of quantum states which allow one to encode a set of properties P of a quantum state ρ, while only requiring measurements on logarithmically many copies of ρ in the size of P. In this work, we initiate the study of verification of classical shadows, denoted classical shadow validity (CSV), from the perspective of computational complexity, which asks: Given a classical shadow S, how hard is it to verify that S predicts the measurement statistics of a quantum state? We first show that even for the elegantly simple classical shadow protocol of [Huang, Kueng, Preskill, Nature Physics 2020] utilizing local Clifford measurements, CSV is QMA-complete. This hardness continues to hold for the high-dimensional extension of said protocol due to [Mao, Yi, and Zhu, PRL 2025]. In contrast, we show that for the HKP and MYZ protocols utilizing global Clifford measurements, CSV can be "dequantized" for low-Frobenius norm observables, i.e., solved in randomized poly-time with standard sampling assumptions. Finally, we show that CSV for exponentially many observables is complete for a quantum generalization of the second level of the polynomial hierarchy, yielding the first natural complete problem for such a class.

Cite as

Georgios Karaiskos, Dorian Rudolph, Johannes Jakob Meyer, Jens Eisert, and Sevag Gharibian. How Hard Is It to Verify a Classical Shadow?. In 53rd International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 374, pp. 123:1-123:23, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)


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@InProceedings{karaiskos_et_al:LIPIcs.ICALP.2026.123,
  author =	{Karaiskos, Georgios and Rudolph, Dorian and Meyer, Johannes Jakob and Eisert, Jens and Gharibian, Sevag},
  title =	{{How Hard Is It to Verify a Classical Shadow?}},
  booktitle =	{53rd International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2026)},
  pages =	{123:1--123:23},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-428-4},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2026},
  volume =	{374},
  editor =	{Bhattacharya, Sayan and Nanongkai, Danupon and Benedikt, Michael and Puppis, Gabriele},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2026.123},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-265121},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2026.123},
  annote =	{Keywords: classical shadows, quantum complexity theory, QMA, quantum polynomial hierarchy}
}
Document
Oracle Separations for the Quantum-Classical Polynomial Hierarchy

Authors: Avantika Agarwal and Shalev Ben{-}David

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 362, 17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026)


Abstract
We study the quantum-classical polynomial hierarchy, QCPH, which is the class of languages solvable by a constant number of alternating classical quantifiers followed by a quantum verifier. Our main result is that QCPH is infinite relative to a random oracle (previously, this was not even known relative to any oracle). We further prove that higher levels of PH are not contained in lower levels of QCPH relative to a random oracle; this is a strengthening of the somewhat recent result that PH is infinite relative to a random oracle (Rossman, Servedio, and Tan 2016). The oracle separation requires lower bounding a certain type of low-depth alternating circuit with some quantum gates. To establish this, we give a new switching lemma for quantum algorithms which may be of independent interest. Our lemma says that for any d, if we apply a random restriction to a function f with quantum query complexity Q(f) ≤ n^{1/3}, the restricted function becomes exponentially close (in terms of d) to a depth-d decision tree. Our switching lemma works even in a "worst-case" sense, in that only the indices to be restricted are random; the values they are restricted to are chosen adversarially. Moreover, the switching lemma also works for polynomial degree in place of quantum query complexity.

Cite as

Avantika Agarwal and Shalev Ben-David. Oracle Separations for the Quantum-Classical Polynomial Hierarchy. In 17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 362, pp. 2:1-2:22, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)


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@InProceedings{agarwal_et_al:LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.2,
  author =	{Agarwal, Avantika and Ben\{-\}David, Shalev},
  title =	{{Oracle Separations for the Quantum-Classical Polynomial Hierarchy}},
  booktitle =	{17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026)},
  pages =	{2:1--2:22},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-410-9},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2026},
  volume =	{362},
  editor =	{Saraf, Shubhangi},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.2},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-252893},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.2},
  annote =	{Keywords: Switching Lemma, Polynomial Hierarchy, Approximate Degree, Random Oracles, Query Complexity, Quantum Computing}
}
Document
Unconditional Pseudorandomness Against Shallow Quantum Circuits

Authors: Soumik Ghosh, Sathyawageeswar Subramanian, and Wei Zhan

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 362, 17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026)


Abstract
Quantum computational pseudorandomness has emerged as a fundamental notion that spans connections to complexity theory, cryptography and fundamental physics. However, all known constructions of efficient quantum-secure pseudorandom objects rely on complexity theoretic assumptions. In this work, we establish the first unconditionally secure efficient pseudorandom constructions against shallow-depth quantum circuit classes. We prove that: - Any quantum state 2-design yields unconditional pseudorandomness against both QNC⁰ circuits with arbitrarily many ancillae and AC⁰∘QNC⁰ circuits with nearly linear ancillae. - Random phased subspace states, where the phases are picked using a 4-wise independent function, are unconditionally pseudoentangled against the above circuit classes. - Any unitary 2-design yields unconditionally secure parallel-query pseudorandom unitaries against geometrically local QNC⁰ adversaries, even with limited AC⁰ postprocessing. Our results stand in stark contrast to the standard guarantee of the 2-design property, which only ensures that they cannot be distinguished from Haar random ensembles using two copies or queries. Our work demonstrates that quantum computational pseudorandomness can be achieved unconditionally for natural classes of restricted adversaries, opening new directions in quantum complexity theory.

Cite as

Soumik Ghosh, Sathyawageeswar Subramanian, and Wei Zhan. Unconditional Pseudorandomness Against Shallow Quantum Circuits. In 17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 362, pp. 70:1-70:25, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)


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@InProceedings{ghosh_et_al:LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.70,
  author =	{Ghosh, Soumik and Subramanian, Sathyawageeswar and Zhan, Wei},
  title =	{{Unconditional Pseudorandomness Against Shallow Quantum Circuits}},
  booktitle =	{17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026)},
  pages =	{70:1--70:25},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-410-9},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2026},
  volume =	{362},
  editor =	{Saraf, Shubhangi},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.70},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-253578},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.70},
  annote =	{Keywords: quantum pseudorandomness, shallow quantum circuits, pseudorandomness, t-designs}
}
Document
An Unholy Trinity: TFNP, Polynomial Systems, and the Quantum Satisfiability Problem

Authors: Marco Aldi, Sevag Gharibian, and Dorian Rudolph

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 362, 17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026)


Abstract
The theory of Total Function NP (TFNP) and its subclasses says that, even if one is promised an efficiently verifiable proof exists for a problem, finding this proof can be intractable. Despite the success of the theory at showing intractability of problems such as computing Brouwer fixed points and Nash equilibria, subclasses of TFNP remain arguably few and far between. In this work, we define two new subclasses of TFNP borne of the study of complex polynomial systems: Multi-homogeneous Systems (MHS) and Sparse Fundamental Theorem of Algebra (SFTA). The first of these is based on Bézout’s theorem from algebraic geometry, marking the first TFNP subclass based on an algebraic geometric principle. At the heart of our study is the computational problem known as Quantum SAT (QSAT) with a System of Distinct Representatives (SDR), first studied by [Laumann, Läuchli, Moessner, Scardicchio, and Sondhi 2010]. Among other results, we show that QSAT with SDR is MHS-complete, thus giving not only the first link between quantum complexity theory and TFNP, but also the first TFNP problem whose classical variant (SAT with SDR) is easy but whose quantum variant is hard. We also show how to embed the roots of a sparse, high-degree, univariate polynomial into QSAT with SDR, obtaining that SFTA is contained in a zero-error version of MHS. We conjecture this construction also works in the low-error setting, which would imply SFTA ⊆ MHS.

Cite as

Marco Aldi, Sevag Gharibian, and Dorian Rudolph. An Unholy Trinity: TFNP, Polynomial Systems, and the Quantum Satisfiability Problem. In 17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 362, pp. 7:1-7:24, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)


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@InProceedings{aldi_et_al:LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.7,
  author =	{Aldi, Marco and Gharibian, Sevag and Rudolph, Dorian},
  title =	{{An Unholy Trinity: TFNP, Polynomial Systems, and the Quantum Satisfiability Problem}},
  booktitle =	{17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026)},
  pages =	{7:1--7:24},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-410-9},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2026},
  volume =	{362},
  editor =	{Saraf, Shubhangi},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.7},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-252946},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.7},
  annote =	{Keywords: quantum complexity theory, Quantum Merlin Arthur (QMA), Quantum Satisfiability Problem (QSAT), total function NP (TFNP)}
}
Document
The Pure-State Consistency of Local Density Matrices Problem: In PSPACE and Complete for a Class Between QMA and QMA(2)

Authors: Jonas Kamminga and Dorian Rudolph

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 362, 17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026)


Abstract
In this work we investigate the computational complexity of the pure consistency of local density matrices (PureCLDM) and pure N-representability (Pure-N-Representability; analog of PureCLDM for bosonic or fermionic systems) problems. In these problems the input is a set of reduced density matrices and the task is to determine whether there exists a global pure state consistent with these reduced density matrices. While mixed CLDM, i.e. where the global state can be mixed, was proven to be QMA-complete by Broadbent and Grilo [JoC 2022], almost nothing was known about the complexity of the pure version. Before our work the best upper and lower bounds were QMA(2) and QMA. Our contribution to the understanding of these problems is twofold. Firstly, we define a pure state analogue of the complexity class QMA^+ of Aharanov and Regev [FOCS 2003], which we call PureSuperQMA. We prove that both pure-N-Representability and PureCLDM are complete for this new class. Along the way we supplement Broadbent and Grilo by proving hardness for 2-qubit reduced density matrices and showing that mixed N-Representability is QMA-complete. Secondly, we improve the upper bound on PureCLDM. Using methods from algebraic geometry, we prove that PureSuperQMA ⊆ PSPACE. Our methods, and the PSPACE upper bound, are also valid for PureCLDM with exponential or even perfect precision, hence precisePureCLDM is not preciseQMA(2) = NEXP-complete, unless PSPACE = NEXP. We view this as evidence for a negative answer to the longstanding open question whether PureCLDM is QMA(2)-complete. The techniques we develop for our PSPACE upper bound are quite general. We are able to use them for various applications: from proving PSPACE upper bounds on other quantum problems to giving an efficient parallel (NC) algorithm for (non-convex) quadratically constrained quadratic programs with few constraints.

Cite as

Jonas Kamminga and Dorian Rudolph. The Pure-State Consistency of Local Density Matrices Problem: In PSPACE and Complete for a Class Between QMA and QMA(2). In 17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 362, pp. 83:1-83:23, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)


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@InProceedings{kamminga_et_al:LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.83,
  author =	{Kamminga, Jonas and Rudolph, Dorian},
  title =	{{The Pure-State Consistency of Local Density Matrices Problem: In PSPACE and Complete for a Class Between QMA and QMA(2)}},
  booktitle =	{17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026)},
  pages =	{83:1--83:23},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-410-9},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2026},
  volume =	{362},
  editor =	{Saraf, Shubhangi},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.83},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-253701},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.83},
  annote =	{Keywords: Quantum Complexity Theory, PSPACE, QMA(2), Consistency of Local Density Matrices, Polynomial Optimization}
}
Document
Improved Algorithms for Quantum MaxCut via Partially Entangled Matchings

Authors: Anuj Apte, Eunou Lee, Kunal Marwaha, Ojas Parekh, and James Sud

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 351, 33rd Annual European Symposium on Algorithms (ESA 2025)


Abstract
We introduce a 0.611-approximation algorithm for Quantum MaxCut and a (1+√5)/4 ≈ 0.809-approximation algorithm for the EPR Hamiltonian of [King, 2023]. A novel ingredient in both of these algorithms is to partially entangle pairs of qubits associated to edges in a matching, while preserving the direction of their single-qubit Bloch vectors. This allows us to interpolate between product states and matching-based states with a tunable parameter.

Cite as

Anuj Apte, Eunou Lee, Kunal Marwaha, Ojas Parekh, and James Sud. Improved Algorithms for Quantum MaxCut via Partially Entangled Matchings. In 33rd Annual European Symposium on Algorithms (ESA 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 351, pp. 101:1-101:14, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)


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@InProceedings{apte_et_al:LIPIcs.ESA.2025.101,
  author =	{Apte, Anuj and Lee, Eunou and Marwaha, Kunal and Parekh, Ojas and Sud, James},
  title =	{{Improved Algorithms for Quantum MaxCut via Partially Entangled Matchings}},
  booktitle =	{33rd Annual European Symposium on Algorithms (ESA 2025)},
  pages =	{101:1--101:14},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-395-9},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{351},
  editor =	{Benoit, Anne and Kaplan, Haim and Wild, Sebastian and Herman, Grzegorz},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ESA.2025.101},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-245705},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ESA.2025.101},
  annote =	{Keywords: Quantum computing, Quantum MaxCut, Maximum matching}
}
Document
Classical Algorithms for Constant Approximation of the Ground State Energy of Local Hamiltonians

Authors: François Le Gall

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 351, 33rd Annual European Symposium on Algorithms (ESA 2025)


Abstract
We construct classical algorithms computing an approximation of the ground state energy of an arbitrary k-local Hamiltonian acting on n qubits. We first consider the setting where a good "guiding state" is available, which is the main setting where quantum algorithms are expected to achieve an exponential speedup over classical methods. We show that a constant approximation (i.e., an approximation with constant relative accuracy) of the ground state energy can be computed classically in poly (1/χ,n) time and poly(n) space, where χ denotes the overlap between the guiding state and the ground state (as in prior works in dequantization, we assume sample-and-query access to the guiding state). This gives a significant improvement over the recent classical algorithm by Gharibian and Le Gall (SICOMP 2023), and matches (up to a polynomial overhead) both the time and space complexities of quantum algorithms for constant approximation of the ground state energy. We also obtain classical algorithms for higher-precision approximation. For the setting where no guided state is given (i.e., the standard version of the local Hamiltonian problem), we obtain a classical algorithm computing a constant approximation of the ground state energy in 2^O(n) time and poly(n) space. To our knowledge, before this work it was unknown how to classically achieve these bounds simultaneously, even for constant approximation. We also discuss complexity-theoretic aspects of our results.

Cite as

François Le Gall. Classical Algorithms for Constant Approximation of the Ground State Energy of Local Hamiltonians. In 33rd Annual European Symposium on Algorithms (ESA 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 351, pp. 73:1-73:19, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)


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@InProceedings{legall:LIPIcs.ESA.2025.73,
  author =	{Le Gall, Fran\c{c}ois},
  title =	{{Classical Algorithms for Constant Approximation of the Ground State Energy of Local Hamiltonians}},
  booktitle =	{33rd Annual European Symposium on Algorithms (ESA 2025)},
  pages =	{73:1--73:19},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-395-9},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{351},
  editor =	{Benoit, Anne and Kaplan, Haim and Wild, Sebastian and Herman, Grzegorz},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ESA.2025.73},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-245419},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ESA.2025.73},
  annote =	{Keywords: approximation algorithms, quantum computing, dequantization}
}
Document
APPROX
Improved Approximation Algorithms for the EPR Hamiltonian

Authors: Nathan Ju and Ansh Nagda

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 353, Approximation, Randomization, and Combinatorial Optimization. Algorithms and Techniques (APPROX/RANDOM 2025)


Abstract
The EPR Hamiltonian is a family of 2-local quantum Hamiltonians introduced by King [King, 2023]. We introduce a polynomial time (1+√5)/4≈0.809-approximation algorithm for the problem of computing the ground energy of the EPR Hamiltonian, improving upon the previous state of the art of 0.72 [Jorquera et al., 2024].

Cite as

Nathan Ju and Ansh Nagda. Improved Approximation Algorithms for the EPR Hamiltonian. In Approximation, Randomization, and Combinatorial Optimization. Algorithms and Techniques (APPROX/RANDOM 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 353, pp. 24:1-24:9, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)


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@InProceedings{ju_et_al:LIPIcs.APPROX/RANDOM.2025.24,
  author =	{Ju, Nathan and Nagda, Ansh},
  title =	{{Improved Approximation Algorithms for the EPR Hamiltonian}},
  booktitle =	{Approximation, Randomization, and Combinatorial Optimization. Algorithms and Techniques (APPROX/RANDOM 2025)},
  pages =	{24:1--24:9},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-397-3},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{353},
  editor =	{Ene, Alina and Chattopadhyay, Eshan},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.APPROX/RANDOM.2025.24},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-243909},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.APPROX/RANDOM.2025.24},
  annote =	{Keywords: Approximation Algorithms, Quantum Local Hamiltonian}
}
Document
Quantum SAT Problems with Finite Sets of Projectors Are Complete for a Plethora of Classes

Authors: Ricardo Rivera Cardoso, Alex Meiburg, and Daniel Nagaj

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 350, 20th Conference on the Theory of Quantum Computation, Communication and Cryptography (TQC 2025)


Abstract
Previously, all known variants of the Quantum Satisfiability (QSAT) problem - consisting of determining whether a k-local (k-body) Hamiltonian is frustration-free - could be classified as being either in 𝖯; or complete for NP, MA, or QMA₁. Here, we present new qubit variants of this problem that are complete for BQP₁, coRP, QCMA, PI(coRP,NP), PI(BQP₁,NP), PI(BQP₁,MA), SoPU(coRP,NP), SoPU(BQP₁,NP), and SoPU(BQP₁,MA). Our result implies that a complete classification of quantum constraint satisfaction problems (QCSPs), analogous to Schaefer’s dichotomy theorem for classical CSPs, must either include these 13 classes, or otherwise show that some are equal. Additionally, our result showcases two new types of QSAT problems that can be decided efficiently, as well as the first nontrivial BQP₁-complete problem. We first construct QSAT problems on qudits that are complete for BQP₁, coRP, and QCMA. These are made by restricting the finite set of Hamiltonians to consist of elements similar to H_{init}, H_{prop}, and H_{out}, seen in the circuit-to-Hamiltonian transformation. Usually, these are used to demonstrate hardness of QSAT and Local Hamiltonian problems, and so our proofs of hardness are simple. The difficulty lies in ensuring that all Hamiltonians generated with these three elements can be decided in their respective classes. For this, we build our Hamiltonian terms with high-dimensional data and clock qudits, ternary logic, and either monogamy of entanglement or specific clock encodings. We then show how to express these problems in terms of qubits, by proving that any QCSP can be reduced to a qubit problem while maintaining the same complexity - something not believed possible classically. The remaining six problems are obtained by considering "sums" and "products" of some of the QSAT problems mentioned here. Before this work, the QSAT problems generated in this way resulted in complete problems for PI and SoPU classes that were trivially equal to NP, MA, or QMA₁. We thus commence the study of these new and seemingly nontrivial classes. While [Meiburg, 2021] first sought to prove completeness for coRP, BQP₁, and QCMA, we note that those constructions are flawed. Here, we rework them, provide correct proofs, and obtain improvements on the required qudit dimensionality.

Cite as

Ricardo Rivera Cardoso, Alex Meiburg, and Daniel Nagaj. Quantum SAT Problems with Finite Sets of Projectors Are Complete for a Plethora of Classes. In 20th Conference on the Theory of Quantum Computation, Communication and Cryptography (TQC 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 350, pp. 6:1-6:24, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)


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@InProceedings{riveracardoso_et_al:LIPIcs.TQC.2025.6,
  author =	{Rivera Cardoso, Ricardo and Meiburg, Alex and Nagaj, Daniel},
  title =	{{Quantum SAT Problems with Finite Sets of Projectors Are Complete for a Plethora of Classes}},
  booktitle =	{20th Conference on the Theory of Quantum Computation, Communication and Cryptography (TQC 2025)},
  pages =	{6:1--6:24},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-392-8},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{350},
  editor =	{Fefferman, Bill},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.TQC.2025.6},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-240557},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.TQC.2025.6},
  annote =	{Keywords: Quantum complexity theory, quantum satisfiability, circuit-to-Hamiltonian, pairwise union of classes, pairwise intersection of classes}
}
Document
Space-Bounded Quantum Interactive Proof Systems

Authors: François Le Gall, Yupan Liu, Harumichi Nishimura, and Qisheng Wang

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 339, 40th Computational Complexity Conference (CCC 2025)


Abstract
We introduce two models of space-bounded quantum interactive proof systems, QIPL and QIP_{U}L. The QIP_{U}L model, a space-bounded variant of quantum interactive proofs (QIP) introduced by Watrous (CC 2003) and Kitaev and Watrous (STOC 2000), restricts verifier actions to unitary circuits. In contrast, QIPL allows logarithmically many pinching intermediate measurements per verifier action, making it the weakest model that encompasses the classical model of Condon and Ladner (JCSS 1995). We characterize the computational power of QIPL and QIP_{U}L. When the message number m is polynomially bounded, QIP_{U}L ⊊ QIPL unless P = NP: - QIPL^HC, a subclass of QIPL defined by a high-concentration condition on yes instances, exactly characterizes NP. - QIP_{U}L is contained in P and contains SAC¹ ∪ BQL, where SAC¹ denotes problems solvable by classical logarithmic-depth, semi-unbounded fan-in circuits. However, this distinction vanishes when m is constant. Our results further indicate that (pinching) intermediate measurements uniquely impact space-bounded quantum interactive proofs, unlike in space-bounded quantum computation, where BQL = BQ_{U}L. We also introduce space-bounded unitary quantum statistical zero-knowledge (QSZK_{U}L), a specific form of QIP_{U}L proof systems with statistical zero-knowledge against any verifier. This class is a space-bounded variant of quantum statistical zero-knowledge (QSZK) defined by Watrous (SICOMP 2009). We prove that QSZK_{U}L = BQL, implying that the statistical zero-knowledge property negates the computational advantage typically gained from the interaction.

Cite as

François Le Gall, Yupan Liu, Harumichi Nishimura, and Qisheng Wang. Space-Bounded Quantum Interactive Proof Systems. In 40th Computational Complexity Conference (CCC 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 339, pp. 17:1-17:18, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)


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@InProceedings{legall_et_al:LIPIcs.CCC.2025.17,
  author =	{Le Gall, Fran\c{c}ois and Liu, Yupan and Nishimura, Harumichi and Wang, Qisheng},
  title =	{{Space-Bounded Quantum Interactive Proof Systems}},
  booktitle =	{40th Computational Complexity Conference (CCC 2025)},
  pages =	{17:1--17:18},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-379-9},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{339},
  editor =	{Srinivasan, Srikanth},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.CCC.2025.17},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-237115},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.CCC.2025.17},
  annote =	{Keywords: Intermediate measurements, Quantum interactive proofs, Space-bounded quantum computation}
}
Document
Quantum 2-SAT on Low Dimensional Systems Is QMAsubscript{1}-Complete: Direct Embeddings and Black-Box Simulation

Authors: Dorian Rudolph, Sevag Gharibian, and Daniel Nagaj

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 325, 16th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2025)


Abstract
Despite the fundamental role the Quantum Satisfiability (QSAT) problem has played in quantum complexity theory, a central question remains open: At which local dimension does the complexity of QSAT transition from "easy" to "hard"? Here, we study QSAT with each constraint acting on a d_A-dimensional and d_B-dimensional qudit pair, denoted (d_A×d_B)-QSAT. Our first main result shows that, surprisingly, QSAT on qubits can remain QMA_1-hard, in that (2×5)-QSAT is QMA_1-complete. (QMA_1 is a quantum analogue of MA with perfect completeness.) In contrast, (2×2)-QSAT (i.e. Quantum 2-SAT on qubits) is well-known to be poly-time solvable [Bravyi, 2006]. Our second main result proves that (3×d)-QSAT on the 1D line with d ∈ O(1) is also QMA_1-hard. Finally, we initiate the study of (2×d)-QSAT on the 1D line by giving a frustration-free 1D Hamiltonian with a unique, entangled ground state. As implied by our title, our first result uses a direct embedding: We combine a novel clock construction with the 2D circuit-to-Hamiltonian construction of [Gosset and Nagaj, 2013]. Of note is a new simplified and analytic proof for the latter (as opposed to a partially numeric proof in [GN13]). This exploits Unitary Labelled Graphs [Bausch, Cubitt, Ozols, 2017] together with a new "Nullspace Connection Lemma", allowing us to break low energy analyses into small patches of projectors, and to improve the soundness analysis of [GN13] from Ω(1/T⁶) to Ω(1/T²), for T the number of gates. Our second result goes via black-box reduction: Given an arbitrary 1D Hamiltonian H on d'-dimensional qudits, we show how to embed it into an effective 1D (3×d)-QSAT instance, for d ∈ O(1). Our approach may be viewed as a weaker notion of "analog simulation" (à la [Bravyi, Hastings 2017], [Cubitt, Montanaro, Piddock 2018]). As far as we are aware, this gives the first "black-box simulation"-based QMA_1-hardness result.

Cite as

Dorian Rudolph, Sevag Gharibian, and Daniel Nagaj. Quantum 2-SAT on Low Dimensional Systems Is QMAsubscript{1}-Complete: Direct Embeddings and Black-Box Simulation. In 16th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 325, pp. 85:1-85:24, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)


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@InProceedings{rudolph_et_al:LIPIcs.ITCS.2025.85,
  author =	{Rudolph, Dorian and Gharibian, Sevag and Nagaj, Daniel},
  title =	{{Quantum 2-SAT on Low Dimensional Systems Is QMAsubscript\{1\}-Complete: Direct Embeddings and Black-Box Simulation}},
  booktitle =	{16th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2025)},
  pages =	{85:1--85:24},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-361-4},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{325},
  editor =	{Meka, Raghu},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2025.85},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-227139},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2025.85},
  annote =	{Keywords: quantum complexity theory, Quantum Merlin Arthur (QMA), Quantum Satisfiability Problem (QSAT), Hamiltonian simulation}
}
Document
Complexity Classification of Product State Problems for Local Hamiltonians

Authors: John Kallaugher, Ojas Parekh, Kevin Thompson, Yipu Wang, and Justin Yirka

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 325, 16th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2025)


Abstract
Product states, unentangled tensor products of single qubits, are a ubiquitous ansatz in quantum computation, including for state-of-the-art Hamiltonian approximation algorithms. A natural question is whether we should expect to efficiently solve product state problems on any interesting families of Hamiltonians. We completely classify the complexity of finding minimum-energy product states for Hamiltonians defined by any fixed set of allowed 2-qubit interactions. Our results follow a line of work classifying the complexity of solving Hamiltonian problems and classical constraint satisfaction problems based on the allowed constraints. We prove that estimating the minimum energy of a product state is in 𝖯 if and only if all allowed interactions are 1-local, and NP-complete otherwise. Equivalently, any family of non-trivial two-body interactions generates Hamiltonians with NP-complete product-state problems. Our hardness constructions only require coupling strengths of constant magnitude. A crucial component of our proofs is a collection of hardness results for a new variant of the Vector Max-Cut problem, which should be of independent interest. Our definition involves sums of distances rather than squared distances and allows linear stretches. We similarly give a proof that the original Vector Max-Cut problem is NP-complete in 3 dimensions. This implies hardness of optimizing product states for Quantum Max-Cut (the quantum Heisenberg model) is NP-complete, even when every term is guaranteed to have positive unit weight.

Cite as

John Kallaugher, Ojas Parekh, Kevin Thompson, Yipu Wang, and Justin Yirka. Complexity Classification of Product State Problems for Local Hamiltonians. In 16th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 325, pp. 63:1-63:32, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)


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@InProceedings{kallaugher_et_al:LIPIcs.ITCS.2025.63,
  author =	{Kallaugher, John and Parekh, Ojas and Thompson, Kevin and Wang, Yipu and Yirka, Justin},
  title =	{{Complexity Classification of Product State Problems for Local Hamiltonians}},
  booktitle =	{16th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2025)},
  pages =	{63:1--63:32},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-361-4},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{325},
  editor =	{Meka, Raghu},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2025.63},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-226910},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2025.63},
  annote =	{Keywords: quantum complexity, quantum algorithms, local hamiltonians}
}
Document
Guidable Local Hamiltonian Problems with Implications to Heuristic Ansatz State Preparation and the Quantum PCP Conjecture

Authors: Jordi Weggemans, Marten Folkertsma, and Chris Cade

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 310, 19th Conference on the Theory of Quantum Computation, Communication and Cryptography (TQC 2024)


Abstract
We study "Merlinized" versions of the recently defined Guided Local Hamiltonian problem, which we call "Guidable Local Hamiltonian" problems. Unlike their guided counterparts, these problems do not have a guiding state provided as a part of the input, but merely come with the promise that one exists. We consider in particular two classes of guiding states: those that can be prepared efficiently by a quantum circuit; and those belonging to a class of quantum states we call classically evaluatable, for which it is possible to efficiently compute expectation values of local observables classically. We show that guidable local Hamiltonian problems for both classes of guiding states are QCMA-complete in the inverse-polynomial precision setting, but lie within NP (or NqP) in the constant precision regime when the guiding state is classically evaluatable. Our completeness results show that, from a complexity-theoretic perspective, classical Ansätze selected by classical heuristics are just as powerful as quantum Ansätze prepared by quantum heuristics, as long as one has access to quantum phase estimation. In relation to the quantum PCP conjecture, we (i) define a complexity class capturing quantum-classical probabilistically checkable proof systems and show that it is contained in BQP^NP[1] for constant proof queries; (ii) give a no-go result on "dequantizing" the known quantum reduction which maps a QPCP-verification circuit to a local Hamiltonian with constant promise gap; (iii) give several no-go results for the existence of quantum gap amplification procedures that preserve certain ground state properties; and (iv) propose two conjectures that can be viewed as stronger versions of the NLTS theorem. Finally, we show that many of our results can be directly modified to obtain similar results for the class MA.

Cite as

Jordi Weggemans, Marten Folkertsma, and Chris Cade. Guidable Local Hamiltonian Problems with Implications to Heuristic Ansatz State Preparation and the Quantum PCP Conjecture. In 19th Conference on the Theory of Quantum Computation, Communication and Cryptography (TQC 2024). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 310, pp. 10:1-10:24, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2024)


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@InProceedings{weggemans_et_al:LIPIcs.TQC.2024.10,
  author =	{Weggemans, Jordi and Folkertsma, Marten and Cade, Chris},
  title =	{{Guidable Local Hamiltonian Problems with Implications to Heuristic Ansatz State Preparation and the Quantum PCP Conjecture}},
  booktitle =	{19th Conference on the Theory of Quantum Computation, Communication and Cryptography (TQC 2024)},
  pages =	{10:1--10:24},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-328-7},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2024},
  volume =	{310},
  editor =	{Magniez, Fr\'{e}d\'{e}ric and Grilo, Alex Bredariol},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.TQC.2024.10},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-206804},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.TQC.2024.10},
  annote =	{Keywords: Quantum complexity theory, local Hamiltonian problem, quantum state ansatzes, QCMA, quantum PCP conjecture}
}
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