DROPS

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DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.FUN.2026.15

Spells for Quantum Programmers: Expressive High-Level Commands in Qutes

Authors: Simone Faro, Francesco Pio Marino, and Gabriele Messina

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 366, 13th International Conference on Fun with Algorithms (FUN 2026)

Abstract

Classical computers are powerful but fundamentally mundane: they operate through explicit, step-by-step instructions that force programmers to think locally and procedurally. Quantum technologies, by contrast, resemble magical instruments, capable of acting on superpositions, correlations, and entire collections of states at once. Yet, despite their magical nature, quantum computers are still programmed as if they were ordinary machines, relying on long sequences of low-level operations that obscure the underlying algorithmic ideas. Magic, however, is not performed by improvisation alone: it requires a spellbook. In this paper we position Qutes as a book of spells for quantum programmers, providing high-level commands that capture complex quantum behaviour behind concise and expressive syntax. We focus on the manipulation of quantum arrays, which naturally arise in many algorithms but are notoriously cumbersome to manage at the circuit level. We introduce three new array-oriented spells in Qutes: global initialization, parallel pairwise comparison, and parallel (optionally controlled) swap. Individually, these spells encapsulate non-trivial quantum procedures; when combined, they enable programmers to express algorithms in a way that is immediate, readable, and surprisingly elegant. As a final demonstration, we show how these spells can be assembled to produce a remarkably compact implementation of Bubble Sort. While algorithmically simple, this example illustrates a broader message: when the right abstractions are available, quantum programming can feel less like engineering machinery and more like magic.

Cite as

Simone Faro, Francesco Pio Marino, and Gabriele Messina. Spells for Quantum Programmers: Expressive High-Level Commands in Qutes. In 13th International Conference on Fun with Algorithms (FUN 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 366, pp. 15:1-15:20, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)

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@InProceedings{faro_et_al:LIPIcs.FUN.2026.15,
  author =	{Faro, Simone and Marino, Francesco Pio and Messina, Gabriele},
  title =	{{Spells for Quantum Programmers: Expressive High-Level Commands in Qutes}},
  booktitle =	{13th International Conference on Fun with Algorithms (FUN 2026)},
  pages =	{15:1--15:20},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-417-8},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2026},
  volume =	{366},
  editor =	{Iacono, John},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.FUN.2026.15},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-257349},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.FUN.2026.15},
  annote =	{Keywords: Quantum programming languages, High-level abstractions, Quantum arrays}
}

Document

DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.STACS.2026.66

Computational Hardness of Estimating Quantum Entropies via Binary Entropy Bounds

Authors: Yupan Liu

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 364, 43rd International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2026)

Abstract

We investigate the computational hardness of estimating the quantum α-Rényi entropy S^𝚁_α(ρ) = (ln Tr(ρ^α))/(1-α) and the quantum q-Tsallis entropy S^𝚃_q(ρ) = (1-Tr(ρ^q))/(q-1), both converging to the von Neumann entropy as the order approaches 1. The promise problems Quantum α-Rényi Entropy Approximation (RényiQEA_α) and Quantum q-Tsallis Entropy Approximation (TsallisQEA_q) ask whether S^𝚁_α(ρ) or S^𝚃_q(ρ), respectively, is at least τ_Y or at most τ_N, where τ_Y - τ_N is typically a positive constant. Previous hardness results cover only the von Neumann entropy (order 1) and some cases of the quantum q-Tsallis entropy, while existing approaches do not readily extend to other orders. We establish that for all positive real orders, the rank-2 variants Rank2RényiQEA_α and Rank2TsallisQEA_q are BQP-hard. Combined with prior (rank-dependent) quantum query algorithms in Wang, Guan, Liu, Zhang, and Ying (TIT 2024), Wang, Zhang, and Li (TIT 2024), and Liu and Wang (SODA 2025), our results imply: - For all real order α > 0 and 0 < q ≤ 1, LowRankRényiQEA_α and LowRankTsallisQEA_q are BQP-complete, where both are restricted versions of RényiQEA_α and TsallisQEA_q with ρ of polynomial rank. - For all real order q > 1, TsallisQEA_q is BQP-complete. Our hardness results stem from reductions based on new inequalities relating the α-Rényi or q-Tsallis binary entropies of different orders, where the reductions differ substantially from previous approaches, and the inequalities are also of independent interest.

Cite as

Yupan Liu. Computational Hardness of Estimating Quantum Entropies via Binary Entropy Bounds. In 43rd International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 364, pp. 66:1-66:23, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)

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@InProceedings{liu:LIPIcs.STACS.2026.66,
  author =	{Liu, Yupan},
  title =	{{Computational Hardness of Estimating Quantum Entropies via Binary Entropy Bounds}},
  booktitle =	{43rd International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2026)},
  pages =	{66:1--66:23},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-412-3},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2026},
  volume =	{364},
  editor =	{Mahajan, Meena and Manea, Florin and McIver, Annabelle and Thắng, Nguy\~{ê}n Kim},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.STACS.2026.66},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-255550},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.STACS.2026.66},
  annote =	{Keywords: computational hardness, quantum state testing, quantum R\'{e}nyi entropy, quantum Tsallis entropy, von Neumann entropy}
}

Document

DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.10

On the Complexity of Unique Quantum Witnesses and Quantum Approximate Counting

Authors: Anurag Anshu, Jonas Haferkamp, Yeongwoo Hwang, and Quynh T. Nguyen

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

Abstract

We study the long-standing open question on the power of unique witnesses in quantum protocols, which asks if UniqueQMA, a variant of QMA whose accepting witness space is 1-dimensional, contains QMA under quantum reductions. This work rules out any black-box reduction from QMA to UniqueQMA by showing a quantum oracle separation between BQP^UniqueQMA and QMA. This provides a contrast to the classical case, where the Valiant-Vazirani theorem shows a black-box randomized reduction from UniqueNP to NP, and suggests the need for studying the structure of the ground space of local Hamiltonians in distilling a potential unique witness. Via similar techniques, we show, relative to a quantum oracle, that QMA^QMA cannot decide quantum approximate counting, ruling out a quantum analogue of Stockmeyer’s algorithm in the black-box setting. Our results employ a subspace reflection oracle, previously considered in [Scott Aaronson and Greg Kuperberg, 2007; Scott Aaronson et al., 2020; She and Yuen, 2023], but we introduce new tools which allow us to exploit the unique witness constraint. We also show a strong "polarization" behavior of QMA circuits, which could be of independent interest in studying quantum polynomial hierarchies. We then ask a natural question; what structural properties of the local Hamiltonian problem can we exploit? We introduce a physically motivated candidate by showing that the ground energy of local Hamiltonians that satisfy a computational variant of the eigenstate thermalization hypothesis (ETH) can be estimated through a UniqueQMA protocol. Our protocol can be viewed as a quantum expander test in a low energy subspace of the Hamiltonian and verifies a unique entangled state across two copies of the subspace. This allows us to conclude that if UniqueQMA is not equivalent to QMA, then QMA-hard Hamiltonians must violate ETH under adversarial perturbations (more accurately, further assuming the quantum PCP conjecture if ETH only applies to extensive energy subspaces). Under the same assumption, this also serves as evidence that chaotic local Hamiltonians, such as the SYK model may be computationally simpler than general local Hamiltonians.

Cite as

Anurag Anshu, Jonas Haferkamp, Yeongwoo Hwang, and Quynh T. Nguyen. On the Complexity of Unique Quantum Witnesses and Quantum Approximate Counting. In 17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 362, pp. 10:1-10:20, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)

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@InProceedings{anshu_et_al:LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.10,
  author =	{Anshu, Anurag and Haferkamp, Jonas and Hwang, Yeongwoo and Nguyen, Quynh T.},
  title =	{{On the Complexity of Unique Quantum Witnesses and Quantum Approximate Counting}},
  booktitle =	{17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026)},
  pages =	{10:1--10:20},
  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.2026.10},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-252978},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.10},
  annote =	{Keywords: Quantum complexity, approximate counting, Valiant-Vazirani, eigenstate thermalization hypothesis}
}

Document

DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.67

Query Lower Bounds for Correlation Clustering Under Memory Constraints

Authors: Sumegha Garg, Songhua He, and Periklis A. Papakonstantinou

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

Abstract

This work initiates the study of memory–query tradeoffs for graph problems, with a focus on correlation clustering. Correlation clustering asks for a partition of the vertices that minimizes disagreements: non‑edges inside clusters plus edges across clusters. Our first result is a tight query lower bound: to output a partition whose cost approximates the optimum up to an additive error of ε n², any algorithm requires Ω(n/ε²) adjacency-matrix queries. Under memory constraints, we show that even for the seemingly easier task of approximating the optimal clustering cost (without producing a partition), any algorithm in the random query model must make ≫ n/ε² adjacency-matrix queries. Finally, we prove the first general graph model query lower bound for correlation clustering, where algorithms are allowed adjacency-matrix, neighbor, and degree queries. The latter two bounds are not yet tight, leaving room for sharper results.

Cite as

Sumegha Garg, Songhua He, and Periklis A. Papakonstantinou. Query Lower Bounds for Correlation Clustering Under Memory Constraints. In 17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 362, pp. 67:1-67:24, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)

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@InProceedings{garg_et_al:LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.67,
  author =	{Garg, Sumegha and He, Songhua and Papakonstantinou, Periklis A.},
  title =	{{Query Lower Bounds for Correlation Clustering Under Memory Constraints}},
  booktitle =	{17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026)},
  pages =	{67:1--67:24},
  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.2026.67},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-253542},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.67},
  annote =	{Keywords: correlation clustering, query-space complexity, information theory}
}

Document

DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.70

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

DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.FSTTCS.2025.7

Quantum Protocols for Rabin Oblivious Transfer

Authors: Erika Andersson, Akshay Bansal, James T. Peat, Jamie Sikora, and Jiawei Wu

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 360, 45th IARCS Annual Conference on Foundations of Software Technology and Theoretical Computer Science (FSTTCS 2025)

Abstract

Rabin oblivious transfer is the cryptographic task where Alice wishes to receive a bit from Bob but it may get lost with probability 1/2. In this work, we provide protocol designs which yield quantum protocols with improved security. Moreover, we provide a constant lower bound on any quantum protocol for Rabin oblivious transfer. To quantify the security of this task with asymmetric cheating definitions, we introduce the notion of cheating advantage which may be of independent interest in the study of other asymmetric cryptographic primitives.

Cite as

Erika Andersson, Akshay Bansal, James T. Peat, Jamie Sikora, and Jiawei Wu. Quantum Protocols for Rabin Oblivious Transfer. In 45th IARCS Annual Conference on Foundations of Software Technology and Theoretical Computer Science (FSTTCS 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 360, pp. 7:1-7:18, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

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@InProceedings{andersson_et_al:LIPIcs.FSTTCS.2025.7,
  author =	{Andersson, Erika and Bansal, Akshay and Peat, James T. and Sikora, Jamie and Wu, Jiawei},
  title =	{{Quantum Protocols for Rabin Oblivious Transfer}},
  booktitle =	{45th IARCS Annual Conference on Foundations of Software Technology and Theoretical Computer Science (FSTTCS 2025)},
  pages =	{7:1--7:18},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-406-2},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{360},
  editor =	{Aiswarya, C. and Mehta, Ruta and Roy, Subhajit},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.FSTTCS.2025.7},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-250866},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.FSTTCS.2025.7},
  annote =	{Keywords: quantum cryptography, oblivious transfer, information-theoretic security}
}

Document

DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ESA.2025.106

On Estimating the Quantum 𝓁_α Distance

Authors: Yupan Liu and Qisheng Wang

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

Abstract

We study the computational complexity of estimating the quantum 𝓁_α distance T_α(ρ₀,ρ₁), defined via the Schatten α-norm ‖A‖_α := tr(|A|^α)^{1/α}, given poly(n)-size state-preparation circuits of n-qubit quantum states ρ₀ and ρ₁. This quantity serves as a lower bound on the trace distance for α > 1. For any constant α > 1, we develop an efficient rank-independent quantum estimator for T_α(ρ₀,ρ₁) with time complexity poly(n), achieving an exponential speedup over the prior best results of exp(n) due to Wang, Guan, Liu, Zhang, and Ying (IEEE Trans. Inf. Theory 2024). Our improvement leverages efficiently computable uniform polynomial approximations of signed positive power functions within quantum singular value transformation, thereby eliminating the dependence on the rank of the states. Our quantum algorithm reveals a dichotomy in the computational complexity of the Quantum State Distinguishability Problem with Schatten α-norm (QSD_α), which involves deciding whether T_α(ρ₀,ρ₁) is at least 2/5 or at most 1/5. This dichotomy arises between the cases of constant α > 1 and α = 1: - For any 1+Ω(1) ≤ α ≤ O(1), QSD_α is BQP-complete. - For any 1 ≤ α ≤ 1+1/n, QSD_α is QSZK-complete, implying that no efficient quantum estimator for T_α(ρ₀,ρ₁) exists unless BQP = QSZK. The hardness results follow from reductions based on new rank-dependent inequalities for the quantum 𝓁_α distance with 1 ≤ α ≤ ∞, which are of independent interest.

Cite as

Yupan Liu and Qisheng Wang. On Estimating the Quantum 𝓁_α Distance. In 33rd Annual European Symposium on Algorithms (ESA 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 351, pp. 106:1-106:19, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

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@InProceedings{liu_et_al:LIPIcs.ESA.2025.106,
  author =	{Liu, Yupan and Wang, Qisheng},
  title =	{{On Estimating the Quantum 𝓁\underline\alpha Distance}},
  booktitle =	{33rd Annual European Symposium on Algorithms (ESA 2025)},
  pages =	{106:1--106:19},
  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.2025.106},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-245758},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ESA.2025.106},
  annote =	{Keywords: quantum algorithms, quantum state testing, trace distance, Schatten norm}
}

Document

RANDOM

DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.APPROX/RANDOM.2025.39

Consumable Data via Quantum Communication

Authors: Dar Gilboa, Siddhartha Jain, and Jarrod R. McClean

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

Abstract

Classical data can be copied and re-used for computation, with adverse consequences economically and in terms of data privacy. Motivated by this, we formulate problems in one-way communication complexity where Alice holds some data x and Bob holds m inputs y_1, …, y_m. They want to compute m instances of a bipartite relation R(⋅,⋅) on every pair (x, y_1), …, (x, y_m). We call this the asymmetric direct sum question for one-way communication. We give examples where the quantum communication complexity of such problems scales polynomially with m, while the classical communication complexity depends at most logarithmically on m. Thus, for such problems, data behaves like a consumable resource that is effectively destroyed upon use when the owner stores and transmits it as quantum states, but not when transmitted classically. We show an application to a strategic data-selling game, and discuss other potential economic implications.

Cite as

Dar Gilboa, Siddhartha Jain, and Jarrod R. McClean. Consumable Data via Quantum Communication. In Approximation, Randomization, and Combinatorial Optimization. Algorithms and Techniques (APPROX/RANDOM 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 353, pp. 39:1-39:23, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

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@InProceedings{gilboa_et_al:LIPIcs.APPROX/RANDOM.2025.39,
  author =	{Gilboa, Dar and Jain, Siddhartha and McClean, Jarrod R.},
  title =	{{Consumable Data via Quantum Communication}},
  booktitle =	{Approximation, Randomization, and Combinatorial Optimization. Algorithms and Techniques (APPROX/RANDOM 2025)},
  pages =	{39:1--39:23},
  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.2025.39},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-244059},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.APPROX/RANDOM.2025.39},
  annote =	{Keywords: quantum communication, one-time programs, data markets}
}

Document

DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ITC.2025.8

On the Definition of Malicious Private Information Retrieval

Authors: Bar Alon and Amos Beimel

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 343, 6th Conference on Information-Theoretic Cryptography (ITC 2025)

Abstract

A multi-server private information retrieval (PIR) protocol allows a client to obtain an entry of its choice from a database, held by one or more servers, while hiding the identity of the entry from small enough coalitions of servers. In this paper, we study PIR protocols in which some of the servers are malicious and may not send messages according to the pre-described protocol. In previous papers, such protocols were defined by requiring that they are correct, private, and robust to malicious servers, i.e., by listing 3 properties that they should satisfy. However, 40 years of experience in studying secure multiparty protocols taught us that defining the security of protocols by a list of required properties is problematic. In this paper, we rectify this situation and define the security of PIR protocols with malicious servers using the real vs. ideal paradigm. We study the relationship between the property-based definition of PIR protocols and the real vs. ideal definition, showing the following results: - We prove that if we require full security from PIR protocols, e.g., the client outputs the correct value of the database entry with high probability even if a minority of the servers are malicious, then the two definitions are equivalent. This implies that constructions of such protocols that were proven secure using the property-based definition are actually secure under the "correct" definition of security. - We show that if we require security-with-abort from PIR protocols (called PIR protocols with error-detection in previous papers), i.e., protocols in which the user either outputs the correct value or an abort symbol, then there are protocols that are secure under the property-based definition; however, they do not satisfy the real vs. ideal definition, that is, they can be attacked allowing selective abort. This shows that the property-based definition of PIR protocols with security-with-abort is problematic. - We consider the compiler of Eriguchi et al. (TCC 22) that starts with a PIR protocol that is secure against semi-honest servers and constructs a PIR protocol with security-with-abort; this compiler implies the best-known PIR protocols with security-with-abort. We show that applying this compiler does not result in PIR protocols that are secure according to the real vs. ideal definition. However, we prove that a simple modification of this compiler results in PIR protocols that are secure according to the real vs. ideal definition.

Cite as

Bar Alon and Amos Beimel. On the Definition of Malicious Private Information Retrieval. In 6th Conference on Information-Theoretic Cryptography (ITC 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 343, pp. 8:1-8:23, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

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@InProceedings{alon_et_al:LIPIcs.ITC.2025.8,
  author =	{Alon, Bar and Beimel, Amos},
  title =	{{On the Definition of Malicious Private Information Retrieval}},
  booktitle =	{6th Conference on Information-Theoretic Cryptography (ITC 2025)},
  pages =	{8:1--8:23},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-385-0},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{343},
  editor =	{Gilboa, Niv},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ITC.2025.8},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-243581},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ITC.2025.8},
  annote =	{Keywords: Private information retrieval, secure multiparty computation}
}

Document

Track A: Algorithms, Complexity and Games

DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2025.113

Nearly Optimal Circuit Size for Sparse Quantum State Preparation

Authors: Lvzhou Li and Jingquan Luo

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 334, 52nd International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2025)

Abstract

Quantum state preparation is a fundamental and significant subroutine in quantum computing. In this paper, we conduct a systematic investigation of the circuit size (the total count of elementary gates in the circuit) for sparse quantum state preparation. A quantum state is said to be d-sparse if it has only d non-zero amplitudes. For the task of preparing an n-qubit d-sparse quantum state, we obtain the following results: - Without ancillary qubits: Any n-qubit d-sparse quantum state can be prepared by a quantum circuit of size O(nd/(log n) + n) without using ancillary qubits, which improves the previous best results. It is asymptotically optimal when d = poly(n), and this optimality holds for a broader scope under some reasonable assumptions. - With limited ancillary qubits: (i) Based on the first result, we prove for the first time a trade-off between the number of ancillary qubits and the circuit size: any n-qubit d-sparse quantum state can be prepared by a quantum circuit of size O((nd)/(log(n + m)) + n) using m ancillary qubits for any m ∈ O((nd)/(log nd) + n). (ii) We establish a matching lower bound Ω((nd)/(log(n+m))+n) under some reasonable assumptions, and obtain a slightly weaker lower bound Ω((nd)/(log(n+m)+log d) + n) without any assumptions. - With unlimited ancillary qubits: Given an arbitrary amount of ancillary qubits available, the circuit size for preparing n-qubit d-sparse quantum states is Θ((nd)/(log nd) + n).

Cite as

Lvzhou Li and Jingquan Luo. Nearly Optimal Circuit Size for Sparse Quantum State Preparation. In 52nd International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 334, pp. 113:1-113:19, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

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@InProceedings{li_et_al:LIPIcs.ICALP.2025.113,
  author =	{Li, Lvzhou and Luo, Jingquan},
  title =	{{Nearly Optimal Circuit Size for Sparse Quantum State Preparation}},
  booktitle =	{52nd International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2025)},
  pages =	{113:1--113:19},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-372-0},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{334},
  editor =	{Censor-Hillel, Keren and Grandoni, Fabrizio and Ouaknine, Jo\"{e}l 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.2025.113},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-234900},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2025.113},
  annote =	{Keywords: Quantum computing, quantum state preparation, circuit complexity}
}

Document

DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.STACS.2025.72

Card-Based Protocols Imply PSM Protocols

Authors: Kazumasa Shinagawa and Koji Nuida

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 327, 42nd International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2025)

Abstract

Card-based cryptography is the art of cryptography using a deck of physical cards. While this area is known as a research area of recreational cryptography and is recently paid attention in educational purposes, there is no systematic study of the relationship between card-based cryptography and the other "conventional" cryptography. This paper establishes the first generic conversion from card-based protocols to private simultaneous messages (PSM) protocols, a special kind of secure multiparty computation. Our compiler supports "simple" card-based protocols, which is a natural subclass of finite-runtime protocols. The communication complexity of the resulting PSM protocol depends on how many cards are opened in total in all possible branches of the original card-based protocol. This result shows theoretical importance of such "opening complexity" of card-based protocols, which had not been focused in this area. As a consequence, lower bounds for PSM protocols imply those for simple card-based protocols. In particular, if there exists no PSM protocol with subexponential communication complexity for a function f, then there exists no simple card-based protocol with subexponential opening complexity for the same f.

Cite as

Kazumasa Shinagawa and Koji Nuida. Card-Based Protocols Imply PSM Protocols. In 42nd International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 327, pp. 72:1-72:18, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

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@InProceedings{shinagawa_et_al:LIPIcs.STACS.2025.72,
  author =	{Shinagawa, Kazumasa and Nuida, Koji},
  title =	{{Card-Based Protocols Imply PSM Protocols}},
  booktitle =	{42nd International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2025)},
  pages =	{72:1--72:18},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-365-2},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{327},
  editor =	{Beyersdorff, Olaf and Pilipczuk, Micha{\l} and Pimentel, Elaine and Thắng, Nguy\~{ê}n Kim},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.STACS.2025.72},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-228975},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.STACS.2025.72},
  annote =	{Keywords: Card-based cryptography, private simultaneous messages}
}

Document

DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2025.84

Quantum Communication Complexity of Classical Auctions

Authors: Aviad Rubinstein and Zixin Zhou

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

Abstract

We study the fundamental, classical mechanism design problem of single-buyer multi-item Bayesian revenue-maximizing auctions under the lens of communication complexity between the buyer and the seller. Specifically, we ask whether using quantum communication can be more efficient than classical communication. We have two sets of results, revealing a surprisingly rich landscape - which looks quite different from both quantum communication in non-strategic parties, and classical communication in mechanism design. We first study the expected communication complexity of approximately optimal auctions. We give quantum auction protocols for buyers with unit-demand or combinatorial valuations that obtain an arbitrarily good approximation of the optimal revenue while running in exponentially more efficient communication compared to classical approximately optimal auctions. However, these auctions come with the caveat that they may require the seller to charge exponentially large payments from a deviating buyer. We show that this caveat is necessary - we give an exponential lower bound on the product of the expected quantum communication and the maximum payment. We then study the worst-case communication complexity of exactly optimal auctions in an extremely simple setting: additive buyer’s valuations over two items. We show the following separations: - There exists a prior where the optimal classical auction protocol requires infinitely many bits, but a one-way message of 1 qubit and 2 classical bits suffices. - There exists a prior where no finite one-way quantum auction protocol can obtain the optimal revenue. However, there is a barely-interactive revenue-optimal quantum auction protocol with the following simple structure: the seller prepares a pair of qubits in the EPR state, sends one of them to the buyer, and then the buyer sends 1 qubit and 2 classical bits. - There exists a prior where no multi-round quantum auction protocol with a finite bound on communication complexity can obtain the optimal revenue.

Cite as

Aviad Rubinstein and Zixin Zhou. Quantum Communication Complexity of Classical Auctions. In 16th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 325, pp. 84:1-84:27, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

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@InProceedings{rubinstein_et_al:LIPIcs.ITCS.2025.84,
  author =	{Rubinstein, Aviad and Zhou, Zixin},
  title =	{{Quantum Communication Complexity of Classical Auctions}},
  booktitle =	{16th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2025)},
  pages =	{84:1--84:27},
  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.2025.84},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-227124},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2025.84},
  annote =	{Keywords: Mechanism design, Communication complexity, Quantum computing}
}

Document

DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2025.2

Improved Lower Bounds for 3-Query Matching Vector Codes

Authors: Divesh Aggarwal, Pranjal Dutta, Zeyong Li, Maciej Obremski, and Sidhant Saraogi

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

Abstract

A Matching Vector (MV) family modulo a positive integer m ≥ 2 is a pair of ordered lists U = (u_1, ⋯, u_K) and V = (v_1, ⋯, v_K) where u_i, v_j ∈ ℤ_m^n with the following property: for any i ∈ [K], the inner product ⟨u_i, v_i⟩ = 0 mod m, and for any i ≠ j, ⟨u_i, v_j⟩ ≠ 0 mod m. An MV family is called r-restricted if inner products ⟨u_i, v_j⟩, for all i,j, take at most r different values. The r-restricted MV families are extremely important since the only known construction of constant-query subexponential locally decodable codes (LDCs) are based on them. Such LDCs constructed via matching vector families are called matching vector codes. Let MV(m,n) (respectively MV(m, n, r)) denote the largest K such that there exists an MV family (respectively r-restricted MV family) of size K in ℤ_m^n. Such a MV family can be transformed in a black-box manner to a good r-query locally decodable code taking messages of length K to codewords of length N = m^n. For small prime m, an almost tight bound MV(m,n) ≤ O(m^{n/2}) was first shown by Dvir, Gopalan, Yekhanin (FOCS'10, SICOMP'11), while for general m, the same paper established an upper bound of O(m^{n-1+o_m(1)}), with o_m(1) denoting a function that goes to zero when m grows. For any arbitrary constant r ≥ 3 and composite m, the best upper bound till date on MV(m,n,r) is O(m^{n/2}), is due to Bhowmick, Dvir and Lovett (STOC'13, SICOMP'14).In a breakthrough work, Alrabiah, Guruswami, Kothari and Manohar (STOC'23) implicitly improve this bound for 3-restricted families to MV(m, n, 3) ≤ O(m^{n/3}). In this work, we present an upper bound for r = 3 where MV(m,n,3) ≤ m^{n/6 +O(log n)}, and as a result, any 3-query matching vector code must have codeword length of N ≥ K^{6-o(1)}.

Cite as

Divesh Aggarwal, Pranjal Dutta, Zeyong Li, Maciej Obremski, and Sidhant Saraogi. Improved Lower Bounds for 3-Query Matching Vector Codes. In 16th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 325, pp. 2:1-2:19, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

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@InProceedings{aggarwal_et_al:LIPIcs.ITCS.2025.2,
  author =	{Aggarwal, Divesh and Dutta, Pranjal and Li, Zeyong and Obremski, Maciej and Saraogi, Sidhant},
  title =	{{Improved Lower Bounds for 3-Query Matching Vector Codes}},
  booktitle =	{16th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2025)},
  pages =	{2:1--2:19},
  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.2025.2},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-226308},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2025.2},
  annote =	{Keywords: Locally Decodable Codes, Matching Vector Families}
}

Document

DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2024.1

A Qubit, a Coin, and an Advice String Walk into a Relational Problem

Authors: Scott Aaronson, Harry Buhrman, and William Kretschmer

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 287, 15th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2024)

Abstract

Relational problems (those with many possible valid outputs) are different from decision problems, but it is easy to forget just how different. This paper initiates the study of FBQP/qpoly, the class of relational problems solvable in quantum polynomial-time with the help of polynomial-sized quantum advice, along with its analogues for deterministic and randomized computation (FP, FBPP) and advice (/poly, /rpoly). Our first result is that FBQP/qpoly ≠ FBQP/poly, unconditionally, with no oracle - a striking contrast with what we know about the analogous decision classes. The proof repurposes the separation between quantum and classical one-way communication complexities due to Bar-Yossef, Jayram, and Kerenidis. We discuss how this separation raises the prospect of near-term experiments to demonstrate "quantum information supremacy," a form of quantum supremacy that would not depend on unproved complexity assumptions. Our second result is that FBPP ̸ ⊂ FP/poly - that is, Adleman’s Theorem fails for relational problems - unless PSPACE ⊂ NP/poly. Our proof uses IP = PSPACE and time-bounded Kolmogorov complexity. On the other hand, we show that proving FBPP ̸ ⊂ FP/poly will be hard, as it implies a superpolynomial circuit lower bound for PromiseBPEXP. We prove the following further results: - Unconditionally, FP ≠ FBPP and FP/poly ≠ FBPP/poly (even when these classes are carefully defined). - FBPP/poly = FBPP/rpoly (and likewise for FBQP). For sampling problems, by contrast, SampBPP/poly ≠ SampBPP/rpoly (and likewise for SampBQP).

Cite as

Scott Aaronson, Harry Buhrman, and William Kretschmer. A Qubit, a Coin, and an Advice String Walk into a Relational Problem. In 15th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2024). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 287, pp. 1:1-1:24, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2024)

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@InProceedings{aaronson_et_al:LIPIcs.ITCS.2024.1,
  author =	{Aaronson, Scott and Buhrman, Harry and Kretschmer, William},
  title =	{{A Qubit, a Coin, and an Advice String Walk into a Relational Problem}},
  booktitle =	{15th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2024)},
  pages =	{1:1--1:24},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-309-6},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2024},
  volume =	{287},
  editor =	{Guruswami, Venkatesan},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2024.1},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-195290},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2024.1},
  annote =	{Keywords: Relational problems, quantum advice, randomized advice, FBQP, FBPP}
}

Document

Track A: Algorithms, Complexity and Games

DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2019.28

A Simple Protocol for Verifiable Delegation of Quantum Computation in One Round

Authors: Alex B. Grilo

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 132, 46th International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2019)

Abstract

The importance of being able to verify quantum computation delegated to remote servers increases with recent development of quantum technologies. In some of the proposed protocols for this task, a client delegates her quantum computation to non-communicating servers in multiple rounds of communication. In this work, we propose the first protocol where the client delegates her quantum computation to two servers in one-round of communication. Another advantage of our protocol is that it is conceptually simpler than previous protocols. The parameters of our protocol also make it possible to prove security even if the servers are allowed to communicate, but respecting the plausible assumption that information cannot be propagated faster than speed of light, making it the first relativistic protocol for quantum computation.

Cite as

Alex B. Grilo. A Simple Protocol for Verifiable Delegation of Quantum Computation in One Round. In 46th International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2019). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 132, pp. 28:1-28:13, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2019)

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@InProceedings{grilo:LIPIcs.ICALP.2019.28,
  author =	{Grilo, Alex B.},
  title =	{{A Simple Protocol for Verifiable Delegation of Quantum Computation in One Round}},
  booktitle =	{46th International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2019)},
  pages =	{28:1--28:13},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-109-2},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2019},
  volume =	{132},
  editor =	{Baier, Christel and Chatzigiannakis, Ioannis and Flocchini, Paola and Leonardi, Stefano},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2019.28},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-106044},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2019.28},
  annote =	{Keywords: quantum computation, quantum cryptography, delegation of quantum computation}
}

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