The Quantum Walk Characteristic Polynomial Distinguishes All Strongly Regular Graphs of Prime Orde

Abstract

Let $G$ be a strongly regular graph of prime order $p$ with connection degree $k \geq 6$. We prove that the \emph{quantum walk characteristic polynomial} $\chi_q(G,\lambda) \coloneqq \det(\lambda I - U_G)$, where $U_G$ is the coined quantum walk operator on $G$, completely determines $G$ up to isomorphism within the class of strongly regular graphs of the same order. The proof proceeds in three steps. First, we show that $U_G$ block-diagonalizes under the discrete Fourier transform over $\Z_p$, yielding $p$ blocks $U_G^{(j)}$ of size $k \times k$. Second, we prove an explicit formula \[ \chi_q\!\bigl(U_G^{(j)}, \lambda\bigr) = (\lambda-1)^{(k-2)/2}(\lambda+1)^{(k-2)/2} \!\left(\lambda^2 - \tfrac{2\widehat{A}_G(j)}{k}\,\lambda + 1\right), \] from which the Fourier coefficient $\widehat{A}_G(j)$ is recovered as the unique real part of an eigenvalue of $U_G^{(j)}$ distinct from $\pm 1$. Third, the inverse discrete Fourier transform recovers the connection set $S$ of $G$, and Turner's theorem (1967) identifies $G$ up to isomorphism. As a consequence, graph isomorphism is decidable in polynomial time within this class using the quantum walk spectrum, without resorting to the general quasi-polynomial algorithm of Babai (2016).