DROPS

Document

DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.103

A General Framework for Low Soundness Homomorphism Testing

Authors: Tushant Mittal and Sourya Roy

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

Abstract

We introduce a general framework to design and analyze algorithms for the problem of testing homomorphisms between finite groups in the low-soundness regime. In this regime, we give the first constant-query tests for various families of groups. These include tests for: (i) homomorphisms between arbitrary cyclic groups, (ii) homomorphisms between any finite group and ℤ_p, (iii) automorphisms of dihedral and symmetric groups, (iv) inner automorphisms of non-abelian finite simple groups and extraspecial groups, and (v) testing linear characters of GL_n(F_q), and finite-dimensional Lie algebras over F_q. We also recover the result of Kiwi [TCS'03] for testing homomorphisms between F_qⁿ and F_q. Prior to this work, such tests were only known for abelian groups with a constant maximal order (such as F_qⁿ). No tests were known for non-abelian groups. As an additional corollary, our framework gives combinatorial list decoding bounds for cyclic groups with list size dependence of O(ε^{-2}) (for agreement parameter ε). This improves upon the currently best-known bound of O(ε^{-105}) due to Dinur, Grigorescu, Kopparty, and Sudan [STOC'08], and Guo and Sudan [RANDOM'14].

Cite as

Tushant Mittal and Sourya Roy. A General Framework for Low Soundness Homomorphism Testing. In 17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 362, pp. 103:1-103:18, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)

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@InProceedings{mittal_et_al:LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.103,
  author =	{Mittal, Tushant and Roy, Sourya},
  title =	{{A General Framework for Low Soundness Homomorphism Testing}},
  booktitle =	{17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026)},
  pages =	{103:1--103:18},
  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.2026.103},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-253901},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.103},
  annote =	{Keywords: Property Testing, Coding Theory}
}

Document

DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.101

Two Bases Suffice for QMA ₁-Completeness

Authors: Henry Ma and Anand Natarajan

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

Abstract

We introduce a basis-restricted variant of the Quantum-k-Sat problem, in which each term in the input Hamiltonian is required to be diagonal in either the standard or Hadamard basis. Our main result is that the Quantum-6-Sat problem with this basis restriction is already QMA₁-complete, defined with respect to a natural gateset. Our construction is based on the Feynman-Kitaev circuit-to-Hamiltonian construction, with a modified clock encoding that interleaves two clocks in the standard and Hadamard bases. In light of the central role played by CSS codes and the uncertainty principle in the proof of the NLTS theorem of Anshu, Breuckmann, and Nirkhe (STOC '23), we hope that the CSS-like structure of our Hamiltonians will make them useful for progress towards a quantum PCP theorem.

Cite as

Henry Ma and Anand Natarajan. Two Bases Suffice for QMA ₁-Completeness. In 17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 362, pp. 101:1-101:22, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)

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@InProceedings{ma_et_al:LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.101,
  author =	{Ma, Henry and Natarajan, Anand},
  title =	{{Two Bases Suffice for QMA ₁-Completeness}},
  booktitle =	{17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026)},
  pages =	{101:1--101:22},
  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.2026.101},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-253880},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.101},
  annote =	{Keywords: quantum complexity theory, Hamiltonian complexity, Quantum Merlin Arthur (QMA), QMA₁, quantum satisfiability problem}
}

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.2026.7

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

DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.26

Local Transformations of Bipartite Entanglement Are Rigid

Authors: John Bostanci, Tony Metger, and Henry Yuen

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

Abstract

Uhlmann’s theorem is a fundamental result in quantum information theory that quantifies the optimal overlap between two bipartite pure states after applying local unitary operations (called Uhlmann transformations). We show that optimal Uhlmann transformations are rigid - in other words, they must be unique up to some well-characterized degrees of freedom. This rigidity is also robust: Uhlmann transformations achieving near-optimal overlaps must be close to the unique optimal transformation (again, up to well-characterized degrees of freedom). We describe two applications of our robust rigidity theorem: (a) we obtain better interactive proofs for synthesizing Uhlmann transformations and (b) we obtain a simple, alternative proof of the Gowers-Hatami theorem on the stability of approximate representations of finite groups.

Cite as

John Bostanci, Tony Metger, and Henry Yuen. Local Transformations of Bipartite Entanglement Are Rigid. In 17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 362, pp. 26:1-26:8, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)

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@InProceedings{bostanci_et_al:LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.26,
  author =	{Bostanci, John and Metger, Tony and Yuen, Henry},
  title =	{{Local Transformations of Bipartite Entanglement Are Rigid}},
  booktitle =	{17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026)},
  pages =	{26:1--26:8},
  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.2026.26},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-253138},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.26},
  annote =	{Keywords: Uhlmann’s theorem, quantum entanglement, stability theorems}
}

Document

DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.108

The Learning Stabilizers with Noise Problem

Authors: Alexander Poremba, Yihui Quek, and Peter Shor

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

Abstract

Random classical codes have good error correcting properties, and yet they are notoriously hard to decode in practice. Despite many decades of extensive study, the fastest known algorithms still run in exponential time. The Learning Parity with Noise (LPN) problem, which can be seen as the task of decoding a random linear code in the presence of noise, has thus emerged as a prominent hardness assumption with numerous applications in both cryptography and learning theory. Is there a natural quantum analog of the LPN problem? In this work, we introduce the Learning Stabilizers with Noise (LSN) problem, the task of decoding a random stabilizer code in the presence of local depolarizing noise. We give both polynomial-time and exponential-time quantum algorithms for solving LSN in various depolarizing noise regimes, ranging from extremely low noise, to low constant noise rates, and even higher noise rates up to a threshold. Next, we provide concrete evidence that LSN is hard. First, we show that LSN includes LPN as a special case, which suggests that it is at least as hard as its classical counterpart. Second, we prove worst-case to average-case reductions for variants of LSN. We then ask: what is the computational complexity of solving LSN? Because the task features quantum inputs, its complexity cannot be characterized by traditional complexity classes. Instead, we show that the LSN problem lies in a recently introduced (distributional and oracle) unitary synthesis class. Finally, we identify several applications of our LSN assumption, ranging from the construction of quantum bit commitment schemes to the computational limitations of learning from quantum data.

Cite as

Alexander Poremba, Yihui Quek, and Peter Shor. The Learning Stabilizers with Noise Problem. In 17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 362, pp. 108:1-108:19, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)

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@InProceedings{poremba_et_al:LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.108,
  author =	{Poremba, Alexander and Quek, Yihui and Shor, Peter},
  title =	{{The Learning Stabilizers with Noise Problem}},
  booktitle =	{17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026)},
  pages =	{108:1--108:19},
  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.2026.108},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-253950},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.108},
  annote =	{Keywords: Random quantum stabilizer codes, average-case hardness}
}

Document

DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.109

Cloning Games, Black Holes and Cryptography

Authors: Alexander Poremba, Seyoon Ragavan, and Vinod Vaikuntanathan

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

Abstract

In this work, we introduce a new toolkit for analyzing cloning games, a notion that captures stronger and more quantitative versions of the celebrated quantum no-cloning theorem. This framework allows us to analyze a new cloning game based on binary phase states. Our results provide evidence that these games may be able to overcome important limitations of previous candidates based on BB84 states and subspace coset states: in a model where the adversaries are restricted to making a single oracle query, we show that the binary phase variant is t-copy secure when t = o(n/log n). Moreover, for constant t, we obtain the first optimal bounds of O(2^{-n}), asymptotically matching the value attained by a trivial adversarial strategy. We also show a worst-case to average-case reduction which allows us to show the same quantitative results for the new and natural notion of Haar cloning games. Our analytic toolkit, which we believe will find further applications, is based on binary subtypes and uses novel bounds on the operator norms of block-wise tensor products of matrices. To illustrate the effectiveness of these new techniques, we present two applications: first, in black-hole physics, where our asymptotically optimal bound offers quantitative insights into information scrambling in idealized models of black holes; and second, in unclonable cryptography, where we (a) construct succinct unclonable encryption schemes from the existence of pseudorandom unitaries, and (b) propose and provide evidence for the security of multi-copy unclonable encryption schemes.

Cite as

Alexander Poremba, Seyoon Ragavan, and Vinod Vaikuntanathan. Cloning Games, Black Holes and Cryptography. In 17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 362, pp. 109:1-109:21, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)

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@InProceedings{poremba_et_al:LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.109,
  author =	{Poremba, Alexander and Ragavan, Seyoon and Vaikuntanathan, Vinod},
  title =	{{Cloning Games, Black Holes and Cryptography}},
  booktitle =	{17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026)},
  pages =	{109:1--109:21},
  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.2026.109},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-253961},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.109},
  annote =	{Keywords: Unclonable cryptography, quantum pseudorandomness, black hole physics}
}

Document

Invited Talk

DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.FSTTCS.2025.2

Unboundedness Problems for Formal Languages (Invited Talk)

Authors: Georg Zetzsche

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

Abstract

Informally, unboundedness problems are decision problems that ask about the existence of infinitely many words (satisfying certain properties) in a formal language. For example: Is a given language infinite? Or: Does a given language have super-polynomial growth? These came into focus in recent years because of their connections to downward closure computation and separability problems. Although unboundedness problems may seem difficult at first, it turns out that there are techniques that are at the same time conceptually very simple, but also apply to a surprisingly wide variety of language classes. The talk will survey recent results (and techniques) concerning unboundedness problems.

Cite as

Georg Zetzsche. Unboundedness Problems for Formal Languages (Invited Talk). 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. 2:1-2:10, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

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@InProceedings{zetzsche:LIPIcs.FSTTCS.2025.2,
  author =	{Zetzsche, Georg},
  title =	{{Unboundedness Problems for Formal Languages}},
  booktitle =	{45th IARCS Annual Conference on Foundations of Software Technology and Theoretical Computer Science (FSTTCS 2025)},
  pages =	{2:1--2:10},
  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.2025.2},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-250810},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.FSTTCS.2025.2},
  annote =	{Keywords: Decidability, formal languages, unifying frameworks, downward closure, separability}
}

Document

DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.FSTTCS.2025.34

On the Hardness of Approximating Distances of Quantum Codes

Authors: Elena Grigorescu, Vatsal Jha, and Eric Samperton

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

Abstract

The problem of computing distances of error-correcting codes is fundamental in both the classical and quantum settings. While hardness for the classical version of these problems has been known for some time (in both the exact and approximate settings), it was only recently that Kapshikar and Kundu showed these problems are also hard in the quantum setting. As our first main result, we reprove this using arguably simpler arguments based on hypergraph product codes. In particular, we get a direct reduction to CSS codes, the most commonly used type of quantum code, from the minimum distance problem for classical linear codes. Our second set of results considers the distance of a graph state, which is a key parameter for quantum codes obtained via the codeword stabilized formalism. We show that it is NP-hard to compute/approximate the distance of a graph state when the adjacency matrix of the graph is the input. In fact, we show this is true even if we only consider X-type errors of a graph state. Our techniques moreover imply an interesting classical consequence: the hardness of computing or approximating the distance of classical codes with rate equal to 1/2. One of the main motivations of the present work is a question raised by Kapshikar and Kundu concerning the NP-hardness of approximation when there is an additive error proportional to a quantum code’s length. We show that no such hardness can hold for hypergraph product codes. These observations suggest the possibility of a new kind of square root barrier.

Cite as

Elena Grigorescu, Vatsal Jha, and Eric Samperton. On the Hardness of Approximating Distances of Quantum Codes. 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. 34:1-34:18, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

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@InProceedings{grigorescu_et_al:LIPIcs.FSTTCS.2025.34,
  author =	{Grigorescu, Elena and Jha, Vatsal and Samperton, Eric},
  title =	{{On the Hardness of Approximating Distances of Quantum Codes}},
  booktitle =	{45th IARCS Annual Conference on Foundations of Software Technology and Theoretical Computer Science (FSTTCS 2025)},
  pages =	{34:1--34:18},
  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.2025.34},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-251152},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.FSTTCS.2025.34},
  annote =	{Keywords: quantum codes, minimum distance problem, NP-hardness, graph state distance}
}

Document

DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ESA.2025.100

Cut-Query Algorithms with Few Rounds

Authors: Yotam Kenneth-Mordoch and Robert Krauthgamer

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

Abstract

In the cut-query model, the algorithm can access the input graph G = (V,E) only via cut queries that report, given a set S ⊆ V, the total weight of edges crossing the cut between S and V⧵ S. This model was introduced by Rubinstein, Schramm and Weinberg [ITCS'18] and its investigation has so far focused on the number of queries needed to solve optimization problems, such as global minimum cut. We turn attention to the round complexity of cut-query algorithms, and show that several classical problems can be solved in this model with only a constant number of rounds. Our main results are algorithms for finding a minimum cut in a graph, that offer different tradeoffs between round complexity and query complexity, where n = |V| and δ(G) denotes the minimum degree of G: (i) Õ(n^{4/3}) cut queries in two rounds in unweighted graphs; (ii) Õ(rn^{1+1/r}/δ(G)^{1/r}) queries in 2r+1 rounds for any integer r ≥ 1 again in unweighted graphs; and (iii) Õ(rn^{1+(1+log_n W)/r}) queries in 4r+3 rounds for any r ≥ 1 in weighted graphs. We also provide algorithms that find a minimum (s,t)-cut and approximate the maximum cut in a few rounds.

Cite as

Yotam Kenneth-Mordoch and Robert Krauthgamer. Cut-Query Algorithms with Few Rounds. In 33rd Annual European Symposium on Algorithms (ESA 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 351, pp. 100:1-100:14, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

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@InProceedings{kennethmordoch_et_al:LIPIcs.ESA.2025.100,
  author =	{Kenneth-Mordoch, Yotam and Krauthgamer, Robert},
  title =	{{Cut-Query Algorithms with Few Rounds}},
  booktitle =	{33rd Annual European Symposium on Algorithms (ESA 2025)},
  pages =	{100:1--100:14},
  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.2025.100},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-245692},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ESA.2025.100},
  annote =	{Keywords: Cut Queries, Round Complexity, Submodular Optimization}
}

Document

RANDOM

DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.APPROX/RANDOM.2025.59

Testing Tensor Products of Algebraic Codes

Authors: Sumegha Garg, Madhu Sudan, and Gabriel Wu

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

Abstract

Motivated by recent advances in locally testable codes and quantum LDPCs based on robust testability of tensor product codes, we explore the local testability of tensor products of (an abstraction of) algebraic geometry codes. Such codes are parameterized by, in addition to standard parameters such as block length n and dimension k, their genus g. We show that the tensor product of two algebraic geometry codes is robustly locally testable provided n = Ω((k+g)²). Apart from Reed-Solomon codes, this seems to be the first explicit family of two-wise tensor codes of high dual distance that is robustly locally testable by the natural test that measures the expected distance of a random row/column from the underlying code.

Cite as

Sumegha Garg, Madhu Sudan, and Gabriel Wu. Testing Tensor Products of Algebraic Codes. In Approximation, Randomization, and Combinatorial Optimization. Algorithms and Techniques (APPROX/RANDOM 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 353, pp. 59:1-59:12, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

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@InProceedings{garg_et_al:LIPIcs.APPROX/RANDOM.2025.59,
  author =	{Garg, Sumegha and Sudan, Madhu and Wu, Gabriel},
  title =	{{Testing Tensor Products of Algebraic Codes}},
  booktitle =	{Approximation, Randomization, and Combinatorial Optimization. Algorithms and Techniques (APPROX/RANDOM 2025)},
  pages =	{59:1--59:12},
  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.2025.59},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-244254},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.APPROX/RANDOM.2025.59},
  annote =	{Keywords: Algebraic geometry codes, Robust testability, Tensor products of codes}
}

Document

DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.TQC.2025.1

Quantum Search with In-Place Queries

Authors: Blake Holman, Ronak Ramachandran, and Justin Yirka

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

Abstract

Quantum query complexity is typically characterized in terms of xor queries |x,y⟩ ↦ |x,y⊕ f(x)⟩ or phase queries, which ensure that even queries to non-invertible functions are unitary. When querying a permutation, another natural model is unitary: in-place queries |x⟩↦ |f(x)⟩. Some problems are known to require exponentially fewer in-place queries than xor queries, but no separation has been shown in the opposite direction. A candidate for such a separation was the problem of inverting a permutation over N elements. This task, equivalent to unstructured search in the context of permutations, is solvable with O(√N) xor queries but was conjectured to require Ω(N) in-place queries. We refute this conjecture by designing a quantum algorithm for Permutation Inversion using O(√N) in-place queries. Our algorithm achieves the same speedup as Grover’s algorithm despite the inability to efficiently uncompute queries or perform straightforward oracle-controlled reflections. Nonetheless, we show that there are indeed problems which require fewer xor queries than in-place queries. We introduce a subspace-conversion problem called Function Erasure that requires 1 xor query and Θ(√N) in-place queries. Then, we build on a recent extension of the quantum adversary method to characterize exact conditions for a decision problem to exhibit such a separation, and we propose a candidate problem.

Cite as

Blake Holman, Ronak Ramachandran, and Justin Yirka. Quantum Search with In-Place Queries. In 20th Conference on the Theory of Quantum Computation, Communication and Cryptography (TQC 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 350, pp. 1:1-1:18, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

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@InProceedings{holman_et_al:LIPIcs.TQC.2025.1,
  author =	{Holman, Blake and Ramachandran, Ronak and Yirka, Justin},
  title =	{{Quantum Search with In-Place Queries}},
  booktitle =	{20th Conference on the Theory of Quantum Computation, Communication and Cryptography (TQC 2025)},
  pages =	{1:1--1:18},
  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.2025.1},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-240502},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.TQC.2025.1},
  annote =	{Keywords: Quantum algorithms, query complexity, quantum complexity theory, quantum search, Grover’s algorithm, permutation inversion}
}

Document

DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.TQC.2025.8

Self-Testing in the Compiled Setting via Tilted-CHSH Inequalities

Authors: Arthur Mehta, Connor Paddock, and Lewis Wooltorton

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

Abstract

This work investigates the family of extended tilted-CHSH inequalities in the single-prover cryptographic compiled setting. In particular, we show that a quantum polynomial-time prover can violate these Bell inequalities by at most negligibly more than the violation achieved by two non-communicating quantum provers. To obtain this result, we extend a sum-of-squares technique to monomials with arbitrarily high degree in the Bob operators and degree at most one in the Alice operators. We also introduce a notion of partial self-testing for the compiled setting, which resembles a weaker form of self-testing in the bipartite setting. As opposed to certifying the full model, partial self-testing attempts to certify the reduced states and measurements on separate subsystems. In the compiled setting, this is akin to the states after the first round of interaction and measurements made on that state. Lastly, we show that the extended tilted-CHSH inequalities satisfy this notion of a compiled self-test.

Cite as

Arthur Mehta, Connor Paddock, and Lewis Wooltorton. Self-Testing in the Compiled Setting via Tilted-CHSH Inequalities. In 20th Conference on the Theory of Quantum Computation, Communication and Cryptography (TQC 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 350, pp. 8:1-8:19, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

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@InProceedings{mehta_et_al:LIPIcs.TQC.2025.8,
  author =	{Mehta, Arthur and Paddock, Connor and Wooltorton, Lewis},
  title =	{{Self-Testing in the Compiled Setting via Tilted-CHSH Inequalities}},
  booktitle =	{20th Conference on the Theory of Quantum Computation, Communication and Cryptography (TQC 2025)},
  pages =	{8:1--8:19},
  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.2025.8},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-240577},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.TQC.2025.8},
  annote =	{Keywords: Compiled Bell scenarios, self-testing}
}

Document

DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.MFCS.2025.61

Quantum Relaxations of CSP and Structure Isomorphism

Authors: Amin Karamlou

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 345, 50th International Symposium on Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science (MFCS 2025)

Abstract

We investigate quantum relaxations of two key decision problems in computer science: the constraint satisfaction problem (CSP) and the structure isomorphism problem. CSP asks whether a homomorphism exists between two relational structures, while structure isomorphism seeks an isomorphism between them. In recent years, it has become increasingly apparent that many special cases of CSP can be reformulated in terms of the existence of perfect classical strategies in non-local games, a key topic of study in quantum information theory. These games have allowed us to study quantum advantage in relation to many important decision problems, such as the k-colouring problem, and the problem of solving binary constraint systems. Abramsky et al. (2017) have shown that all of these games can be seen as special instances of a non-local CSP game. Moreover, they show that perfect quantum strategies in this CSP game can be viewed as Kleisli morphisms of a graded monad on the category of relational structures, which they dub the quantum monad. In this way, the quantum monad provides a categorical characterisation of quantum advantage for the non-local CSP game. In this work we solidify and expand the results of Abramsky et al., answering several of their open questions. Firstly, we compare the definition of quantum graph homomorphisms arising from this work with an earlier definition of the concept due to Mančinska and Roberson and show that there are graphs which exhibit quantum advantage under one definition but not the other. Our second contribution is to extend the results of Abramsky et al. which only hold in the tensor product framework of quantum mechanics to the commuting operator framework. Next, we study a non-local structure isomorphism game, which generalises the well-studied graph isomorphism game. We show how the construction of the quantum monad can be refined to provide categorical semantics for quantum strategies in this game. This results in a category where morphisms coincide with quantum homomorphisms and isomorphisms coincide with quantum isomorphisms.

Cite as

Amin Karamlou. Quantum Relaxations of CSP and Structure Isomorphism. In 50th International Symposium on Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science (MFCS 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 345, pp. 61:1-61:18, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

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@InProceedings{karamlou:LIPIcs.MFCS.2025.61,
  author =	{Karamlou, Amin},
  title =	{{Quantum Relaxations of CSP and Structure Isomorphism}},
  booktitle =	{50th International Symposium on Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science (MFCS 2025)},
  pages =	{61:1--61:18},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-388-1},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{345},
  editor =	{Gawrychowski, Pawe{\l} and Mazowiecki, Filip and Skrzypczak, Micha{\l}},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.MFCS.2025.61},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-241686},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.MFCS.2025.61},
  annote =	{Keywords: CSP, graph isomorphism, quantum information, non-local game, quantum graph homomorphism, monad}
}

Document

DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.MFCS.2025.21

On the Performance of Mildly Greedy Players in k-Coloring Games

Authors: Vittorio Bilò, Andrea D'Ascenzo, Mattia D'Emidio, and Giuseppe F. Italiano

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 345, 50th International Symposium on Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science (MFCS 2025)

Abstract

We study the performance of mildly greedy players in k-coloring games, a relevant subclass of anti-coordination games. A mildly greedy player is a selfish agent who is willing to deviate from a certain strategy profile only if her payoff improves by a factor of more than ε, for some given ε ≥ 0. In presence of mildly greedy players, stability is captured by the concept of (1+ε)-approximate Nash equilibrium. In this paper, we first show that, for any k-coloring game, the (1+ε)-approximate price of anarchy, i.e., the price of anarchy of (1+ε)-approximate pure Nash equilibria, is at least (k-1)/((k-1)ε +k), and that this bound is tight for any ε ≥ 0. Then, we evaluate the approximation ratio of the solutions achieved after a (1 + ϵ)-approximate one-round walk starting from any initial strategy profile, where a (1 + ϵ)-approximate one-round walk is a sequence of (1 + ε)-approximate best-responses, one for each player. We provide a lower bound of min{(k-2)/k, (k-1)/((k-1)ε+k)} on this ratio, for any ε ≥ 0 and k ≥ 5; for the cases of k = 3 and k = 4, we give finer bounds depending on ε. Our work generalizes the results known for cut games, the special case of k-coloring games restricted to k = 2.

Cite as

Vittorio Bilò, Andrea D'Ascenzo, Mattia D'Emidio, and Giuseppe F. Italiano. On the Performance of Mildly Greedy Players in k-Coloring Games. In 50th International Symposium on Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science (MFCS 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 345, pp. 21:1-21:19, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

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@InProceedings{bilo_et_al:LIPIcs.MFCS.2025.21,
  author =	{Bil\`{o}, Vittorio and D'Ascenzo, Andrea and D'Emidio, Mattia and Italiano, Giuseppe F.},
  title =	{{On the Performance of Mildly Greedy Players in k-Coloring Games}},
  booktitle =	{50th International Symposium on Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science (MFCS 2025)},
  pages =	{21:1--21:19},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-388-1},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{345},
  editor =	{Gawrychowski, Pawe{\l} and Mazowiecki, Filip and Skrzypczak, Micha{\l}},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.MFCS.2025.21},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-241287},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.MFCS.2025.21},
  annote =	{Keywords: Coloring games, (Approximate) Nash Equilibria, Price of Anarchy}
}

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