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arXiv · 1406.2858

Quantum POMDPs

Jennifer Barry·Daniel T. Barry·Scott Aaronson
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Abstract

We present quantum observable Markov decision processes (QOMDPs), the quantum analogues of partially observable Markov decision processes (POMDPs). In a QOMDP, an agent's state is represented as a quantum state and the agent can choose a superoperator to apply. This is similar to the POMDP belief state, which is a probability distribution over world states and evolves via a stochastic matrix. We show that the existence of a policy of at least a certain value has the same complexity for QOMDPs and POMDPs in the polynomial and infinite horizon cases. However, we also prove that the existence of a policy that can reach a goal state is decidable for goal POMDPs and undecidable for goal QOMDPs.

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Jennifer Barry, Daniel T. Barry, Scott Aaronson. 2014-06-11. Quantum POMDPs. https://doi.org/10.1103/physreva.90.032311

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