arXiv subjects

Arthur Mehta

Publications and source records attributed to Arthur Mehta.

15 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

On the undecidability of quantum channel capacities

An important distinction in our understanding of capacities of classical versus quantum channels is marked by the following question: is there an algorithm which can compute (or even efficiently compute) the capacity? While there is overwhelming evidence suggesting that quantum channel capacities may be uncomputable, a formal proof of any such statement is elusive. We initiate the study of the hardness of computing quantum channel capacities. We show that, for a general quantum channel, it is QMA-hard to compute its quantum capacity, and that the entanglement-assisted zero-error capacity under some restrictions is uncomputable; indicative of the fact that quantum channel capacities may generally be undecidable.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2026

On the Impossibility of Simulation Security for Quantum Functional Encryption

Functional encryption is a powerful cryptographic primitive that enables fine-grained access to encrypted data and underlies numerous applications. Although the ideal security notion for FE (simulation security) has been shown to be impossible in the classical setting, those impossibility results rely on inherently classical arguments. This leaves open the question of whether simulation-secure functional encryption can be achieved in the quantum regime. In this work, we rule out this possibility by showing that the classical impossibility results largely extend to the quantum world. In particular, when the adversary can issue an unbounded number of challenge messages, we prove an unconditional impossibility, matching the classical barrier. In the case where the adversary may obtain many functional keys, classical arguments only yield impossibility under the assumption of pseudorandom functions; we strengthen this by proving impossibility under the potentially weaker assumption of pseudorandom quantum states. In the same setting, we also establish an alternative impossibility based on public-key encryption. Since public-key encryption is not known to imply pseudorandom quantum states, this provides independent evidence of the barrier. As part of our proofs, we show a novel incompressibility property for pseudorandom states, which may be of independent interest.

cs.CR↗

arXiv2025

The NPA hierarchy does not always attain the commuting operator value

We show that it is undecidable to determine whether the commuting operator value of a nonlocal game is strictly greater than 1/2. Specifically, there is a computable mapping from Turing machines to /boolean constraint system (BCS) nonlocal games in which the halting property of the machine is encoded as a decision problem for the commuting operator value of the game. As a corollary, there is a BCS game for which the value of the Navascu\'es-Pironio-Ac\'in (NPA) hierarchy does not attain the commuting operator value at any finite level.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2025

Deciding Whether a C-Q Channel Preserves a Bit is QCMA-Complete

We prove that deciding whether a classical-quantum (C-Q) channel can exactly preserve a single classical bit is QCMA-complete. This "bit-preservation" problem is a special case of orthogonality-constrained optimization tasks over C-Q channels, in which one seeks orthogonal input states whose outputs have small or large Hilbert-Schmidt overlap after passing through the channel. Both problems can be cast as biquadratic optimization with orthogonality constraints. Our main technical contribution uses tools from matrix analysis to give a complete characterization of the optimal witnesses: computational basis states for the minimum, and |+>, |-> over a single basis pair for the maximum. Using this characterization, we give concise proofs of QCMA-completeness for both problems.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2025

A classical proof of quantum knowledge for multi-prover interactive proof systems

In a proof of knowledge (PoK), a verifier becomes convinced that a prover possesses privileged information. In combination with zero-knowledge proof systems, PoKs play an important role in security protocols such as in digital signatures and authentication schemes, as they enable a prover to demonstrate possession of certain information (such as a private key or a credential), without revealing it. A PoK is formally defined via the existence of an extractor, which is capable of reconstructing the key information that makes a verifier accept, given oracle access to any accepting prover. We extend this concept to the setting of a single classical verifier and multiple quantum provers and present the first statistical zero-knowledge (ZK) PoK proof system for problems in QMA. To achieve this, we establish the PoK property for the ZK protocol of Broadbent, Mehta, and Zhao (TQC 2024), which applies to the local Hamiltonian problem. More specifically, we construct an extractor which, given oracle access to a provers' strategy that leads to high acceptance probability, is able to reconstruct the ground state of a local Hamiltonian. Our result can be seen as a new form of self-testing, where, in addition to certifying a pre-shared entangled state, the verifier also certifies that a prover has access to a quantum system, in particular, a ground state; this indicates a new level of verification for a proof of quantumness.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2024

Unclonable Functional Encryption

In a functional encryption (FE) scheme, a user that holds a ciphertext and a function key can learn the result of applying the function to the plaintext message. Security requires that the user does not learn anything beyond the function evaluation. We extend this notion to the quantum setting by providing definitions and a construction for a quantum functional encryption (QFE) scheme which allows for the evaluation of polynomialy-sized circuits on arbitrary quantum messages. Our construction is built upon quantum garbled circuits [BY22]. We also investigate the relationship of QFE to the seemingly unrelated notion of unclonable encryption (UE) and find that any QFE scheme universally achieves the property of unclonable functional encryption (UFE). In particular we assume the existence of an unclonable encryption scheme with quantum decryption keys which was recently constructed by [AKY24]. Our UFE guarantees that two parties cannot simultaneously recover the correct function outputs using two independently sampled function secret keys. As an application we give the first construction for public-key UE with variable decryption keys. Lastly, we establish a connection between quantum indistinguishability obfuscation (qiO) and quantum functional encryption (QFE); Showing that any multi-input indistinguishability-secure quantum functional encryption scheme unconditionally implies the existence of qiO.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2024

Self-testing in the compiled setting via tilted-CHSH inequalities

This work investigates the family of extended tilted-CHSH inequalities in the single-prover cryptographic compiled setting. In particular, we show that a quantum polynomial-time prover can violate these Bell inequalities by at most negligibly more than the violation achieved by two non-communicating quantum provers. To obtain this result, we extend a sum-of-squares technique to monomials with arbitrarily high degree in the Bob operators and degree at most one in the Alice operators. We also introduce a notion of partial self-testing for the compiled setting, which resembles a weaker form of self-testing in the bipartite setting. As opposed to certifying the full model, partial self-testing attempts to certify the reduced states and measurements on separate subsystems. In the compiled setting, this is akin to the states after the first round of interaction and measurements made on that state. Lastly, we show that the extended tilted-CHSH inequalities satisfy this notion of a compiled self-test.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2024

Monogamy of Nonlocal Games

Bell monogamy relations characterize the trade-offs in Bell inequality violations among pairs of players in multiplayer settings. In this work, we introduce a method for extending monogamy relations from a distinguished set of configurations to monogamy relations on all possible multiplayer settings. Applying this approach, we show that nonlocality in the CHSH game arises in only two cases: the original two-player scenario and the four-player scenario on a line. While the bound for this four-player scenario follows from known quadratic monogamy constraints, we also establish two new six-party numerical monogamy relations that cannot be derived from existing results. In particular, we show there are points in the intersection of consecutive quadratic Bell monogamy relations which are not quantum realizable. Finally, we present a nonlocal game in which a single player can simultaneously saturate the quantum value with two other parties. This is the first known example of a nonlocal game unaffected by the monogamous nature of quantum entanglement.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2024

A Computational Tsirelson's Theorem for the Value of Compiled XOR Games

Nonlocal games are a foundational tool for understanding entanglement and constructing quantum protocols in settings with multiple spatially separated quantum devices. In this work, we continue the study initiated by Kalai et al. (STOC '23) of compiled nonlocal games, played between a classical verifier and a single cryptographically limited quantum device. Our main result is that the compiler proposed by Kalai et al. is sound for any two-player XOR game. A celebrated theorem of Tsirelson shows that for XOR games, the quantum value is exactly given by a semidefinite program, and we obtain our result by showing that the SDP upper bound holds for the compiled game up to a negligible error arising from the compilation. This answers a question raised by Natarajan and Zhang (FOCS '23), who showed soundness for the specific case of the CHSH game. Using our techniques, we obtain several additional results, including (1) tight bounds on the compiled value of parallel-repeated XOR games, (2) operator self-testing statements for any compiled XOR game, and (3) a ``nice'' sum-of-squares certificate for any XOR game, from which operator rigidity is manifest.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2023

Positivity is undecidable in tensor products of free algebras

It is well known that an element of the algebra of noncommutative *-polynomials is positive in all *-representations if and only if it is a sum of squares. This provides an effective way to determine if a given *-polynomial is positive, by searching through sums of squares decompositions. We show that no such procedure exists for the tensor product of two noncommutative *-polynomial algebras: determining whether a *-polynomial of such an algebra is positive is coRE-hard. We also show that it is coRE-hard to determine whether a noncommutative *-polynomial is trace-positive. Our results hold if noncommutative *-polynomial algebras are replaced by other sufficiently free algebras such as group algebras of free groups or free products of cyclic groups.

math.OA↗

arXiv2023

New Approaches to Complexity via Quantum Graphs

Problems based on the structure of graphs -- for example finding cliques, independent sets, or colourings -- are of fundamental importance in classical complexity. Defining well-formulated decision problems for quantum graphs, which are an operator system generalisation of graphs, presents several technical challenges. Consequently, the connections between quantum graphs and complexity have been underexplored. In this work, we introduce and study the clique problem for quantum graphs. Our approach utilizes a well-known connection between quantum graphs and quantum channels. The inputs for our problems are presented as circuits inducing quantum channel, which implicitly determine a corresponding quantum graph. We show that, quantified over all channels, this problem is complete for QMA(2); in fact, it remains QMA(2)-complete when restricted to channels that are probabilistic mixtures of entanglement-breaking and partial trace channels. Quantified over a subset of entanglement-breaking channels, this problem becomes QMA-complete, and restricting further to deterministic or classical noisy channels gives rise to complete problems for NP and MA, respectively. In this way, we exhibit a classical complexity problem whose natural quantisation is QMA(2), rather than QMA, and provide the first problem that allows for a direct comparison of the classes QMA(2), QMA, MA, and NP by quantifying over increasingly larger families of instances. We use methods that are inspired by self-testing to provide a direct proof of QMA(2)-completeness, rather than reducing to a previously-studied complete problem. We also give a new proof of the celebrated reduction of QMA(k) to QMA(2). In parallel, we study a version of the closely-related independent set problem for quantum graphs, and provide preliminary evidence that it may be in general weaker in complexity, contrasting to the classical case.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2023

Quantum delegation with an off-the-shelf device

Given that reliable cloud quantum computers are becoming closer to reality, the concept of delegation of quantum computations and its verifiability is of central interest. Many models have been proposed, each with specific strengths and weaknesses. Here, we put forth a new model where the client trusts only its classical processing, makes no computational assumptions, and interacts with a quantum server in a single round. In addition, during a set-up phase, the client specifies the size $n$ of the computation and receives an untrusted, off-the-shelf (OTS) quantum device that is used to report the outcome of a single measurement. We show how to delegate polynomial-time quantum computations in the OTS model. This also yields an interactive proof system for all of QMA, which, furthermore, we show can be accomplished in statistical zero-knowledge. This provides the first relativistic (one-round), two-prover zero-knowledge proof system for QMA. As a proof approach, we provide a new self-test for n EPR pairs using only constant-sized Pauli measurements, and show how it provides a new avenue for the use of simulatable codes for local Hamiltonian verification. Along the way, we also provide an enhanced version of a well-known stability result due to Gowers and Hatami and show how it completes a common argument used in self-testing.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2021

Quantum Computational Advantage via High-Dimensional Gaussian Boson Sampling

Photonics is a promising platform for demonstrating a quantum computational advantage (QCA) by outperforming the most powerful classical supercomputers on a well-defined computational task. Despite this promise, existing proposals and demonstrations face challenges. Experimentally, current implementations of Gaussian boson sampling (GBS) lack programmability or have prohibitive loss rates. Theoretically, there is a comparative lack of rigorous evidence for the classical hardness of GBS. In this work, we make progress in improving both the theoretical evidence and experimental prospects. We provide evidence for the hardness of GBS, comparable to the strongest theoretical proposals for QCA. We also propose a new QCA architecture we call high-dimensional GBS, which is programmable and can be implemented with low loss using few optical components. We show that particular algorithms for simulating GBS are outperformed by high-dimensional GBS experiments at modest system sizes. This work thus opens the path to demonstrating QCA with programmable photonic processors.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2019

A generalization of CHSH and the algebraic structure of optimal strategies

Self-testing has been a rich area of study in quantum information theory. It allows an experimenter to interact classically with a black box quantum system and to test that a specific entangled state was present and a specific set of measurements were performed. Recently, self-testing has been central to high-profile results in complexity theory as seen in the work on entangled games PCP of Natarajan and Vidick (FOCS 2018), iterated compression by Fitzsimons et al. (STOC 2019), and NEEXP in MIP* due to Natarajan and Wright (FOCS 2019). In this work, we introduce an algebraic generalization of CHSH by viewing it as a linear constraint system (LCS) game, exhibiting self-testing properties that are qualitatively different. These provide the first example of non-local games that self-test non-Pauli operators resolving an open questions posed by Coladangelo and Stark (QIP 2017). Our games also provide a self-test for states other than the maximally entangled state, and hence resolves the open question posed by Cleve and Mittal (ICALP 2012). Additionally, our games have 1 bit question and $\log n$ bit answer lengths making them suitable candidates for complexity theoretic application. This work is the first step towards a general theory of self-testing arbitrary groups. In order to obtain our results, we exploit connections between sum of squares proofs, non-commutative ring theory, and the Gowers-Hatami theorem from approximate representation theory. A crucial part of our analysis is to introduce a sum of squares framework that generalizes the \emph{solution group} of Cleve, Liu, and Slofstra (Journal of Mathematical Physics 2017) to the non-pseudo-telepathic regime. Finally, we give the first example of a game that is not a self-test. Our results suggest a richer landscape of self-testing phenomena than previously considered.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2017

Chromatic numbers and a Lov\'asz type inequality for non-commutative graphs

Non-commutative graph theory is an operator space generalization of graph theory. Well known graph parameters such as the independence number and Lov\'asz theta function were first generalized to this setting by Duan, Severini, and Winter. We introduce two new generalizations of the chromatic number to non-commutative graphs and provide a generalization of the Lov\'asz sandwich inequality. In particular, we show the chromatic number of the orthogonal complement of a non-commutative graph is bounded below by its theta number. We also provide a generalization of both Sabadussi's Theorem and Hedetniemi's conjecture to non-commutative graphs.

math.OA↗