Span Programs and Quantum Space Complexity

While quantum computers hold the promise of significant computational speedups, the limited size of early quantum machines motivates the study of space-bounded quantum computation. We relate the quantum space complexity of computing a function f with one-sided error to the logarithm of its span program size, a classical quantity that is well-studied in attempts to prove formula size lower bounds. In the more natural bounded error model, we show that the amount of space needed for a unitary quantum algorithm to compute f with bounded (two-sided) error is lower bounded by the logarithm of its approximate span program size. Approximate span programs were introduced in the field of quantum algorithms but not studied classically. However, the approximate span program size of a function is a natural generalization of its span program size. While no non-trivial lower bound is known on the span program size (or approximate span program size) of any concrete function, a number of lower bounds are known on the monotone span program size. We show that the approximate monotone span program size of f is a lower bound on the space needed by quantum algorithms of a particular form, called monotone phase estimation algorithms, to compute f. We then give the first non-trivial lower bound on the approximate span program size of an explicit function

Lower Bounds for (Non-Monotone) Comparator Circuits

Comparator circuits are a natural circuit model for studying the concept of bounded fan-out computations, which intuitively corresponds to whether or not a computational model can make "copies" of intermediate computational steps. Comparator circuits are believed to be weaker than general Boolean circuits, but they can simulate Branching Programs and Boolean formulas. In this paper we prove the first superlinear lower bounds in the general (non-monotone) version of this model for an explicitly defined function. More precisely, we prove that the n-bit Element Distinctness function requires ?((n/ log n)^(3/2)) size comparator circuits

Adventures in Monotone Complexity and TFNP

Separations: We introduce a monotone variant of Xor-Sat and show it has exponential monotone circuit complexity. Since Xor-Sat is in NC^2, this improves qualitatively on the monotone vs. non-monotone separation of Tardos (1988). We also show that monotone span programs over R can be exponentially more powerful than over finite fields. These results can be interpreted as separating subclasses of TFNP in communication complexity. Characterizations: We show that the communication (resp. query) analogue of PPA (subclass of TFNP) captures span programs over F_2 (resp. Nullstellensatz degree over F_2). Previously, it was known that communication FP captures formulas (Karchmer - Wigderson, 1988) and that communication PLS captures circuits (Razborov, 1995)

Span Programs and Quantum Space Complexity

While quantum computers hold the promise of significant computational speedups, the limited size of early quantum machines motivates the study of space-bounded quantum computation. We relate the quantum space complexity of computing a function f with one-sided error to the logarithm of its span program size, a classical quantity that is well-studied in attempts to prove formula size lower bounds. In the more natural bounded error model, we show that the amount of space needed for a unitary quantum algorithm to compute f with bounded (two-sided) error is lower bounded by the logarithm of its approximate span program size. Approximate span programs were introduced in the field of quantum algorithms but not studied classically. However, the approximate span program size of a function is a natural generalization of its span program size. While no non-trivial lower bound is known on the span program size (or approximate span program size) of any concrete function, a number of lower bounds are known on the monotone span program size. We show that the approximate monotone span program size of f is a lower bound on the space needed by quantum algorithms of a particular form, called monotone phase estimation algorithms, to compute f. We then give the first non-trivial lower bound on the app

On the optimization of bipartite secret sharing schemes

Optimizing the ratio between the maximum length of the shares and the length of the secret value in secret sharing schemes for general access structures is an extremely difficult and long-standing open problem. In this paper, we study it for bipartite access structures, in which the set of participants is divided in two parts, and all participants in each part play an equivalent role. We focus on the search of lower bounds by using a special class of polymatroids that is introduced here, the tripartite ones. We present a method based on linear programming to compute, for every given bipartite access structure, the best lower bound that can be obtained by this combinatorial method. In addition, we obtain some general lower bounds that improve the previously known ones, and we construct optimal secret sharing schemes for a family of bipartite access structures.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Span programs and quantum query complexity: The general adversary bound is nearly tight for every boolean function

The general adversary bound is a semi-definite program (SDP) that lower-bounds the quantum query complexity of a function. We turn this lower bound into an upper bound, by giving a quantum walk algorithm based on the dual SDP that has query complexity at most the general adversary bound, up to a logarithmic factor. In more detail, the proof has two steps, each based on "span programs," a certain linear-algebraic model of computation. First, we give an SDP that outputs for any boolean function a span program computing it that has optimal "witness size." The optimal witness size is shown to coincide with the general adversary lower bound. Second, we give a quantum algorithm for evaluating span programs with only a logarithmic query overhead on the witness size. The first result is motivated by a quantum algorithm for evaluating composed span programs. The algorithm is known to be optimal for evaluating a large class of formulas. The allowed gates include all constant-size functions for which there is an optimal span program. So far, good span programs have been found in an ad hoc manner, and the SDP automates this procedure. Surprisingly, the SDP's value equals the general adversary bound. A corollary is an optimal quantum algorithm for evaluating "balanced" formulas over any finite boolean gate set. The second result extends span programs' applicability beyond the formula evaluation problem. A strong universality result for span programs follows. A good quantum query algorithm for a problem implies a good span program, and vice versa. Although nearly tight, this equivalence is nontrivial. Span programs are a promising model for developing more quantum algorithms.Comment: 70 pages, 2 figure