Upper bounds on quantum query complexity inspired by the Elitzur-Vaidman bomb tester

Inspired by the Elitzur-Vaidman bomb testing problem [arXiv:hep-th/9305002], we introduce a new query complexity model, which we call bomb query complexity $B(f)$. We investigate its relationship with the usual quantum query complexity $Q(f)$, and show that $B(f)=\Theta(Q(f)^2)$. This result gives a new method to upper bound the quantum query complexity: we give a method of finding bomb query algorithms from classical algorithms, which then provide nonconstructive upper bounds on $Q(f)=\Theta(\sqrt{B(f)})$. We subsequently were able to give explicit quantum algorithms matching our upper bound method. We apply this method on the single-source shortest paths problem on unweighted graphs, obtaining an algorithm with $O(n^{1.5})$ quantum query complexity, improving the best known algorithm of $O(n^{1.5}\sqrt{\log n})$ [arXiv:quant-ph/0606127]. Applying this method to the maximum bipartite matching problem gives an $O(n^{1.75})$ algorithm, improving the best known trivial $O(n^2)$ upper bound.Comment: 32 pages. Minor revisions and corrections. Regev and Schiff's proof that P(OR) = \Omega(N) remove

Quantum Algorithms for the Most Frequently String Search, Intersection of Two String Sequences and Sorting of Strings Problems

We study algorithms for solving three problems on strings. The first one is the Most Frequently String Search Problem. The problem is the following. Assume that we have a sequence of $n$ strings of length $k$. The problem is finding the string that occurs in the sequence most often. We propose a quantum algorithm that has a query complexity $\tilde{O}(n \sqrt{k})$. This algorithm shows speed-up comparing with the deterministic algorithm that requires $\Omega(nk)$ queries. The second one is searching intersection of two sequences of strings. All strings have the same length $k$. The size of the first set is $n$ and the size of the second set is $m$. We propose a quantum algorithm that has a query complexity $\tilde{O}((n+m) \sqrt{k})$. This algorithm shows speed-up comparing with the deterministic algorithm that requires $\Omega((n+m)k)$ queries. The third problem is sorting of $n$ strings of length $k$. On the one hand, it is known that quantum algorithms cannot sort objects asymptotically faster than classical ones. On the other hand, we focus on sorting strings that are not arbitrary objects. We propose a quantum algorithm that has a query complexity $O(n (\log n)^2 \sqrt{k})$. This algorithm shows speed-up comparing with the deterministic algorithm (radix sort) that requires $\Omega((n+d)k)$ queries, where $d$ is a size of the alphabet.Comment: THe paper was presented on TPNC 201

The Dual Polynomial of Bipartite Perfect Matching

We obtain a description of the Boolean dual function of the Bipartite Perfect Matching decision problem, as a multilinear polynomial over the Reals. We show that in this polynomial, both the number of monomials and the magnitude of their coefficients are at most exponential in $\mathcal{O}(n \log n)$. As an application, we obtain a new upper bound of $\mathcal{O}(n^{1.5} \sqrt{\log n})$ on the approximate degree of the bipartite perfect matching function, improving the previous best known bound of $\mathcal{O}(n^{1.75})$. We deduce that, beyond a $\mathcal{O}(\sqrt{\log n})$ factor, the polynomial method cannot be used to improve the lower bound on the bounded-error quantum query complexity of bipartite perfect matching

A Survey of Quantum Learning Theory

This paper surveys quantum learning theory: the theoretical aspects of machine learning using quantum computers. We describe the main results known for three models of learning: exact learning from membership queries, and Probably Approximately Correct (PAC) and agnostic learning from classical or quantum examples.Comment: 26 pages LaTeX. v2: many small changes to improve the presentation. This version will appear as Complexity Theory Column in SIGACT News in June 2017. v3: fixed a small ambiguity in the definition of gamma(C) and updated a referenc

Quantum algorithms:an overview

Quantum computers are designed to outperform standard computers by running quantum algorithms. Areas in which quantum algorithms can be applied include cryptography, search and optimisation, simulation of quantum systems, and solving large systems of linear equations. Here we briefly survey some known quantum algorithms, with an emphasis on a broad overview of their applications rather than their technical details. We include a discussion of recent developments and near-term applications of quantum algorithms.Comment: 17 pages; short survey to appear in npj Quantum Information. v2: minor corrections and clarification