148 Search Results for "Vidick, Thomas"

Volume

LIPIcs, Volume 151

11th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2020)

ITCS 2020, January 12-14, 2020, Seattle, Washington, USA

Editors: Thomas Vidick

Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.STACS.2026.23
Simple Circuit Extensions for XOR in PTIME

Authors: Marco Carmosino, Ngu Dang, and Tim Jackman

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

Abstract
The Minimum Circuit Size Problem for Partial Functions (MCSP^*) is hard assuming the Exponential Time Hypothesis (ETH) (Ilango, 2020). This breakthrough result leveraged a characterization of the optimal {∧, ∨, ¬} circuits for n-bit OR (OR_n) and a reduction from the partial f-Simple Extension Problem where f = OR_n. It remains open to extend that reduction to show ETH-hardness of total MCSP. However, Ilango observed that the total f-Simple Extension Problem is easy whenever f is computed by read-once formulas (like OR_n). Therefore, extending Ilango’s proof to total MCSP would require replacing OR_n with a more complex but similarly well-understood Boolean function. This work shows that the f-Simple Extension problem remains easy when f is the next natural candidate: XOR_n. We first develop a fixed-parameter tractable algorithm for the f-Simple Extension Problem that is efficient whenever the optimal circuits for f are (1) linear in size, (2) polynomially "few" and efficiently enumerable in the truth-table size (up to isomorphism and permutation of inputs), and (3) all have constant bounded fan-out. XOR_n satisfies all three of these conditions. When ¬ gates count towards circuit size, optimal XOR_n circuits are binary trees of n-1 subcircuits computing (¬)XOR₂ (Kombarov, 2011). We extend this characterization when ¬ gates do not contribute the circuit size. Thus, the XOR-Simple Extension Problem is in polynomial time under both measures of circuit complexity. We conclude by discussing conjectures about the complexity of the f-Simple Extension problem for each explicit function f with known and unrestricted circuit lower bounds over the DeMorgan basis. Examining the conditions under which our Simple Extension Solver is efficient, we argue that multiplexer functions (MUX) are the most promising candidate for ETH-hardness of a Simple Extension Problem, towards proving ETH-hardness of total MCSP.
Cite as

Marco Carmosino, Ngu Dang, and Tim Jackman. Simple Circuit Extensions for XOR in PTIME. In 43rd International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 364, pp. 23:1-23:20, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)

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@InProceedings{carmosino_et_al:LIPIcs.STACS.2026.23,
  author =	{Carmosino, Marco and Dang, Ngu and Jackman, Tim},
  title =	{{Simple Circuit Extensions for XOR in PTIME}},
  booktitle =	{43rd International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2026)},
  pages =	{23:1--23:20},
  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.2026.23},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-255127},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.STACS.2026.23},
  annote =	{Keywords: Minimum Circuit Size Problem, Circuit Lower Bounds, Exponential Time Hypothesis}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.41
The Curious Case of "XOR Repetition" of Monogamy-Of-Entanglement Games

Authors: Andrea Coladangelo, Qipeng Liu, and Ziyi Xie

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

Abstract
In this work, we consider "decision" variants of a well-known monogamy-of-entanglement game by Tomamichel, Fehr, Kaniewski, and Wehner [New Journal of Physics '13]. In its original "search" variant, Alice prepares a (possibly entangled) state on registers ABC; register 𝖠, consisting of n qubits, is sent to a Referee, while 𝖡 and 𝖢 are sent to Bob and Charlie; the Referee then measures each qubit in the standard or Hadamard basis (chosen uniformly at random). The basis choices are sent to Bob and Charlie, whose goal is to simultaneously guess the Referee’s n-bit measurement outcome string x. Tomamichel et al. show that the optimal winning probability is cos^{2n}(π/8), following a perfect parallel repetition theorem. We consider the following "decision" variants of this game: - Variant 1, "XOR repetition": Bob and Charlie’s goal is to guess the XOR of all the bits of x. Ananth et al. [Asiacrypt '24] conjectured that the optimal advantage over random guessing decays exponentially in n. Surprisingly, we show that this conjecture is false, and, in fact, there is no decay at all: there exists a strategy that wins with probability cos²(π/8) ≈ 0.85 for any n. Moreover, this strategy does not involve any entanglement between Alice, Bob, and Charlie! - Variant 2, "Goldreich-Levin": The Referee additionally samples a uniformly random n-bit string r that is sent to Bob and Charlie along with the basis choices. Their goal is to guess the parity of r⋅ x. We show that the optimal advantage over random guessing decays exponentially in n for the restricted class of adversaries that do not share entanglement. A similar result was already shown by Champion et al. and Çakan et al.; we give a more direct proof. Showing that Variant 2 is "secure" (i.e., that the optimal winning probability is exponentially close to 1/2) against general adversaries would imply the existence of an information-theoretically "unclonable bit". We put forward a reasonably concrete conjecture that is equivalent to the general security of Variant 2.
Cite as

Andrea Coladangelo, Qipeng Liu, and Ziyi Xie. The Curious Case of "XOR Repetition" of Monogamy-Of-Entanglement Games. In 17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 362, pp. 41:1-41:20, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)

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@InProceedings{coladangelo_et_al:LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.41,
  author =	{Coladangelo, Andrea and Liu, Qipeng and Xie, Ziyi},
  title =	{{The Curious Case of "XOR Repetition" of Monogamy-Of-Entanglement Games}},
  booktitle =	{17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026)},
  pages =	{41:1--41:20},
  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.2026.41},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-253281},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.41},
  annote =	{Keywords: quantum information, monogamy of entanglement, unclonable encryption}
}
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.2026.4
Pseudodeterministic Algorithms for Minimum Cut Problems

Authors: Aryan Agarwala and Nithin Varma

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

Abstract
In this paper we present efficient pseudodeterministic algorithms for both the global minimum cut and minimum s-t cut problems. The running time of our algorithm for the global minimum cut problem is asymptotically better than the fastest sequential deterministic global minimum cut algorithm (Henzinger, Li, Rao, Wang; SODA 2024). Furthermore, we implement our algorithm in streaming, PRAM, and cut-query models, where no efficient deterministic global minimum cut algorithms are known.
Cite as

Aryan Agarwala and Nithin Varma. Pseudodeterministic Algorithms for Minimum Cut Problems. In 17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 362, pp. 4:1-4:15, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)

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@InProceedings{agarwala_et_al:LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.4,
  author =	{Agarwala, Aryan and Varma, Nithin},
  title =	{{Pseudodeterministic Algorithms for Minimum Cut Problems}},
  booktitle =	{17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026)},
  pages =	{4:1--4:15},
  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.2026.4},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-252917},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.4},
  annote =	{Keywords: Minimum Cut, Pseudodeterministic Algorithms}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.3
Linear Matroid Intersection Is in Catalytic Logspace

Authors: Aryan Agarwala, Yaroslav Alekseev, and Antoine Vinciguerra

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

Abstract
Linear matroid intersection is an important problem in combinatorial optimization. Given two linear matroids over the same ground set, the linear matroid intersection problem asks you to find a common independent set of maximum size. The deep interest in linear matroid intersection is due to the fact that it generalises many classical problems in theoretical computer science, such as bipartite matching, edge disjoint spanning trees, rainbow spanning tree, and many more. We study this problem in the model of catalytic computation: space-bounded machines are granted access to catalytic space, which is additional working memory that is full with arbitrary data that must be preserved at the end of its computation. Although linear matroid intersection has had a polynomial time algorithm for over 50 years, it remains an important open problem to show that linear matroid intersection belongs to any well studied subclass of {P}. We address this problem for the class catalytic logspace (CL) with a polynomial time bound (CLP). Recently, Agarwala and Mertz (2025) showed that bipartite maximum matching can be computed in the class CLP ⊆ {P}. This was the first subclass of {P} shown to contain bipartite matching, and additionally the first problem outside TC¹ shown to be contained in CL. We significantly improve the result of Agarwala and Mertz by showing that linear matroid intersection can be computed in CLP.
Cite as

Aryan Agarwala, Yaroslav Alekseev, and Antoine Vinciguerra. Linear Matroid Intersection Is in Catalytic Logspace. In 17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 362, pp. 3:1-3:23, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)

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@InProceedings{agarwala_et_al:LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.3,
  author =	{Agarwala, Aryan and Alekseev, Yaroslav and Vinciguerra, Antoine},
  title =	{{Linear Matroid Intersection Is in Catalytic Logspace}},
  booktitle =	{17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026)},
  pages =	{3:1--3:23},
  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.2026.3},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-252908},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.3},
  annote =	{Keywords: Catalytic Computing, Computational Complexity, Matroid Theory, Algorithms}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.24
Unitary Complexity and the Uhlmann Transformation Problem

Authors: John Bostanci, Yuval Efron, Tony Metger, Alexander Poremba, Luowen Qian, and Henry Yuen

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

Abstract
State transformation problems such as compressing quantum information or breaking quantum commitments are fundamental quantum tasks. However, their computational difficulty cannot easily be characterized using traditional complexity theory, which focuses on tasks with classical inputs and outputs. To study the complexity of such state transformation tasks, we introduce a framework for unitary synthesis problems, including notions of reductions and unitary complexity classes. We use this framework to study the complexity of transforming one entangled state into another via local operations. We formalize this as the Uhlmann Transformation Problem, an algorithmic version of Uhlmann’s theorem. Then, we prove structural results relating the complexity of the Uhlmann Transformation Problem, polynomial space quantum computation, and zero knowledge protocols. The Uhlmann Transformation Problem allows us to characterize the complexity of a variety of tasks in quantum information processing, including decoding noisy quantum channels, breaking falsifiable quantum cryptographic assumptions, implementing optimal prover strategies in quantum interactive proofs, and decoding the Hawking radiation of black holes. Our framework for unitary complexity thus provides new avenues for studying the computational complexity of many natural quantum information processing tasks.
Cite as

John Bostanci, Yuval Efron, Tony Metger, Alexander Poremba, Luowen Qian, and Henry Yuen. Unitary Complexity and the Uhlmann Transformation Problem. In 17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 362, pp. 24:1-24:17, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)

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@InProceedings{bostanci_et_al:LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.24,
  author =	{Bostanci, John and Efron, Yuval and Metger, Tony and Poremba, Alexander and Qian, Luowen and Yuen, Henry},
  title =	{{Unitary Complexity and the Uhlmann Transformation Problem}},
  booktitle =	{17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026)},
  pages =	{24:1--24:17},
  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.2026.24},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-253111},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.24},
  annote =	{Keywords: Uhlmann’s theorem, unitary complexity theory}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.25
Commuting Local Hamiltonians Beyond 2D

Authors: John Bostanci and Yeongwoo Hwang

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

Abstract
Commuting local Hamiltonians provide a testing ground for studying many of the most interesting open questions in quantum information theory, including the quantum PCP conjecture and the nature of entanglement. However, unlike the general local Hamiltonian problem, the exact complexity of the commuting local Hamiltonian problem (CLH) remains unknown. A number of works have shown that increasingly expressive families of commuting local Hamiltonians admit classical verifiers. Despite intense work, proofs placing CLH in NP rely heavily on an underlying 2D lattice structure, or a very constrained local dimension and locality. In this work, we present a new technique to analyze the complexity of various families of commuting local Hamiltonians: guided reductions. Intuitively, these are a generalization of typical reduction where the prover provides a guide so that the verifier can construct a simpler Hamiltonian. The core of our reduction is a new rounding technique based on a combination of Jordan’s Lemma for pairs of projectors and the Structure Lemma for C^* algebras. Our rounding technique is much more flexible than previous work and allows us to remove constraints on local dimension in exchange for a rank-1 assumption. Using our rounding technique, we prove the following two results: 1) 2D-CLH for rank-1 instances are contained in NP, independent of the qudit dimension. It is notable that this family of commuting local Hamiltonians has no restriction on the local dimension or the locality of the Hamiltonian terms. 2) 3D-CLH for rank-1 instances are in NP. To our knowledge this is the first time a family of {3D} commuting local Hamiltonians has been contained in NP. Our results apply to Hamiltonians with large qudit degree and remain non-trivial despite the quantum Lovász Local Lemma. [Andris Ambainis et al., 2012]
Cite as

John Bostanci and Yeongwoo Hwang. Commuting Local Hamiltonians Beyond 2D. In 17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 362, pp. 25:1-25:20, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)

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@InProceedings{bostanci_et_al:LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.25,
  author =	{Bostanci, John and Hwang, Yeongwoo},
  title =	{{Commuting Local Hamiltonians Beyond 2D}},
  booktitle =	{17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026)},
  pages =	{25:1--25:20},
  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.2026.25},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-253129},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.25},
  annote =	{Keywords: Quantum complexity, commuting Hamiltonians, complexity theory, C* algebras}
}
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.2026.67
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.2026.108
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}
}
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