arXiv subjects

Eric Culf

Publications and source records attributed to Eric Culf.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Replication Descent and $J$-Finality of Replicable Functions

We show that replication carries congruence symmetry down an explicit level tower. If a normalized replicable function $f$, holomorphic on the upper half-plane, is invariant under $\Gamma_0(N)$, then its $n$th replicate is invariant under $\Gamma_0(N/(N,n))$. Thus every replicate whose index is divisible by $N$ is the normalized modular invariant $J=j-744$. This gives a direct and classification-free proof of $J$-finality for congruence-invariant replicable functions. The argument uses only the replication identities and an elementary generation theorem for congruence subgroups; it requires neither complete replicability nor arithmetic hypotheses on the Fourier coefficients. We then apply the descent law to completely replicable functions of finite replication order. Their replication towers have a canonical terminal replicate, and the only possible terminal functions are $J$, $q^{-1}$, and $q^{-1}+q$. Moreover, a finite-order completely replicable function is $J$-final precisely when its terminal replicate is $J$, and any symmetry beyond translations forces this alternative.

math.NT↗

arXiv2026

Statistically secure uncloneable encryption of arbitrary messages

Unconditional uncloneable encryption of a single bit with efficient encryption and decryption is now possible. However, whether the extension to messages of arbitrary length achieves statistical security remains to be known. Using the fact that the encoding bases for the single-bit scheme known to be secure consist of a subset of the Clifford unitaries, we show that this scheme can be upgraded to achieve unconditional uncloneable encryption for messages of arbitrary length, with encoding time polynomial in the message length and security parameter. This establishes that one-time uncloneable encryption of arbitrary messages enjoys statistical security.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2026

XOR Games at Full Tilt: The Hardness of Binary Nonlocal Games

It is well known that the quantum value of an XOR nonlocal game, where the winning condition depends only on the XOR of the two players' output bits, may be approximated in polynomial time. We study a variant of the XOR game model, which we call tilted XOR games, where the winning condition can additionally depend on only one of the output bits. We show that this dramatically increases the expressive power: the computational complexity of the problem of approximating the quantum value of tilted XOR games to constant precision is RE-complete. Also, our result extends to succinct versions of tilted XOR games, where the questions can be polynomial-length binary strings, generated by a polynomial-time verifier. For classical strategies, the distinction between XOR games and tilted XOR games is inconsequential. H{\aa}stad (J. ACM, 2001) shows that they are both NP-complete to approximate, by using a reduction from linear systems to XOR games. Our approach is to show that this is also quantum-sound, but as a reduction from linear system games to tilted XOR games. Since titled XOR games are a special case of binary games (where each party outputs a single bit), our result implies that binary games are RE-hard to approximate.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2026

Quantum polymorphism characterisation of commutativity gadgets in all quantum models

Commutativity gadgets provide a technique for lifting classical reductions between constraint satisfaction problems to quantum-sound reductions between the corresponding nonlocal games. We develop a general framework for commutativity gadgets in the setting of quantum homomorphisms between finite relational structures. Building on the notion of quantum homomorphism spaces, we introduce a uniform notion of commutativity gadget capturing the finite-dimensional quantum, quantum approximate, and commuting-operator models. In the robust setting, we use the weighted-algebra formalism for approximate quantum homomorphisms to capture corresponding notions of robust commutativity gadgets. Our main results characterize both non-robust and robust commutativity gadgets purely in terms of quantum polymorphism spaces: in any model, existence of a commutativity gadget is equivalent to the collapse of the corresponding quantum polymorphisms to classical ones at arity $|A|^2$, and robust gadgets are characterized by stable commutativity of the appropriate weighted polymorphism algebra. We use this characterisation to show relations between the classes of commutativity gadget, notably that existence of a robust commutativity gadget is equivalent to the existence of a corresponding non-robust one. Finally, we prove that quantum polymorphisms of complete graphs $K_n$ have a very special structure, wherein the noncommutative behaviour only comes from the quantum permutation group $S_n^+$. Combining this with techniques from combinatorial group theory, we construct separations between commutativity-gadget classes: we exhibit a relational structure admitting a finite-dimensional commutativity gadget but no quantum approximate gadget, and, conditional on the existence of a non-hyperlinear group, a structure admitting a quantum approximate commutativity gadget but no commuting-operator gadget.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2026

Almost perfect strategies for projection games are approximately tracial

Projection games constitute an important class of nonlocal games where, for any answer from the first player, there is a unique correct answer for the second player. This class of games captures nonlocal games arising from constraint satisfaction problems, oracularisations, and unique games. However, due to the asymmetry between the players, projection games are in general not synchronous, and therefore the powerful results constraining the structure of almost perfect strategies for synchronous games do not apply. In this work, we adapt results of Marrakchi and de la Salle for synchronous games to show that, in both the quantum and commuting-operator models, any strategy that wins with probability $1-\varepsilon$ in a projection game gives rise to a tracial strategy that wins with probability $1-O((L\varepsilon)^{1/4})$, where $L$ is the inverse of the minimal conditional probability of a question for the second player being sampled given a question to the first. For constraint system games, this strengthens the rounding result of Paddock by eliminating the dependence on number of constraints and improving the dependence on constraint size, while also generalising to the commuting-operator setting.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2026

The uncloneable bit exists

We establish quantum uncloneable encryption with unconditional security, preventing two non-communicating adversaries from simultaneously decrypting a single ciphertext $-$ even when both are given the key. Our construction achieves security that approaches the ideal limit at a rate that is exponentially small in the security parameter, without employing any assumptions. Our proof invokes unitary invariance of the shared entangled state and simplifies the adversarial strategies by enforcing this symmetry. Crucially, it then rules out the sender being highly correlated with two non-communicating adversaries at once by an approximation property that we develop, for such unitarily invariant states, which yields a near-optimal bound on the probability of cloning. Consequently, no coordinated strategy beats random guessing of the encrypted bit, establishing unconditional uncloneability. This reveals the existence of an uncloneable bit in Nature and delineates a fundamental, physically enforced cryptographic primitive unavailable in classical settings.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2025

The quantum smooth label cover problem is undecidable

We show that the quantum smooth label cover problem is undecidable and RE-hard. This sharply contrasts the quantum unique label cover problem, which can be decided efficiently by a result of Kempe, Regev, and Toner (FOCS'08). On the other hand, our result aligns with the RE-hardness of the quantum label cover problem, which follows from the celebrated MIP* = RE result of Ji, Natarajan, Vidick, Wright, and Yuen (ACM'21). Additionally, we show that the quantum oracularized smooth label cover problem is RE-hard. Our second result fits with the alternative quantum unique games conjecture recently proposed by Mousavi and Spirig (ITCS'25) on the RE-hardness of the quantum oracularized unique label cover problem. Our proof techniques include a quantum version of Feige's reduction from 3SAT to 3SAT5 (STOC'96) for BCSMIP*-protocols, which may be of independent interest.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2025

Optimal Untelegraphable Encryption and Implications for Uncloneable Encryption

We investigate the notion of untelegraphable encryption (UTE), a quantum encryption primitive that is a special case of uncloneable encryption (UE), where the adversary's capabilities are restricted to producing purely classical information rather than arbitrary quantum states. We present an unconditionally secure construction of UTE that achieves untelegraphable-indistinguishability security, together with natural multi-ciphertext and bounded collusion-resistant extensions, without requiring any additional assumptions. We also extend this to the unbounded case, assuming pseudo-random unitaries, yielding everlasting security. Furthermore, we derive results on UE using approaches from UTE in the following ways: first, we provide new lower bounds on UTE, which give new lower bounds on UE; second, we prove an asymptotic equivalence between UTE and UE in the regime where the number of adversaries in UE grows. These results suggest that UTE may provide a new path toward achieving a central open problem in the area: indistinguishability security for UE in the plain model.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2025

Existence and nonexistence of commutativity gadgets for entangled CSPs

Commutativity gadgets allow NP-hardness proofs for classical constraint satisfaction problems (CSPs) to be carried over to undecidability proofs for the corresponding entangled CSPs. This has been done, for instance, for NP-complete boolean CSPs and 3-colouring in the work of Culf and Mastel. For many CSPs over larger alphabets, including $k$-colouring when $k \geq 4$, it is not known whether or not commutativity gadgets exist, or if the entangled CSP is decidable. In this paper, we study commutativity gadgets and prove the first known obstruction to their existence. We do this by extending the definition of the quantum automorphism group of a graph to the quantum endomorphism monoid of a CSP, and showing that a CSP with non-classical quantum endomorphism monoid does not admit a commutativity gadget. In particular, this shows that no commutativity gadget exists for $k$-colouring when $k \geq 4$. However, we construct a commutativity gadget for an alternate way of presenting $k$-colouring as a nonlocal game, the oracular setting. Furthermore, we prove an easy to check sufficient condition for the quantum endomorphism monoid to be non-classical, extending a result of Schmidt for the quantum automorphism group of a graph, and use this to give examples of CSPs that do not admit a commutativity gadget. We also show that existence of oracular commutativity gadgets is preserved under categorical powers of graphs; existence of commutativity gadgets and oracular commutativity gadgets is equivalent for graphs with no four-cycle; and that the odd cycles and the odd graphs have a commutative quantum endomorphism monoid, leaving open the possibility that they might admit a commutativity gadget.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2025

Uncloneable Encryption from Decoupling

We show that uncloneable encryption exists with no computational assumptions, with security $\widetilde{O}\left(\tfrac{1}{\lambda}\right)$ in the security parameter $\lambda$.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2025

Quantum expanders and property (T) discrete quantum groups

Families of expander graphs were first constructed by Margulis from discrete groups with property (T). Within the framework of quantum information theory, several authors have generalised the notion of an expander graph to the setting of quantum channels. In this work, we use discrete quantum groups with property (T) to construct quantum expanders in two ways. The first approach obtains a quantum expander family by constructing the requisite quantum channels directly from finite-dimensional irreducible unitary representations, extending earlier work of Harrow using groups. The second approach directly generalises Margulis' original construction and is based on a quantum analogue of a Schreier graph using the theory of coideals. To obtain examples of quantum expanders, we apply our machinery to discrete quantum groups with property (T) coming from compact bicrossed products.

math.OA↗

arXiv2024

Towards Unconditional Uncloneable Encryption

Uncloneable encryption is a cryptographic primitive which encrypts a classical message into a quantum ciphertext, such that two quantum adversaries are limited in their capacity of being able to simultaneously decrypt, given the key and quantum side-information produced from the ciphertext. Since its initial proposal and scheme in the random oracle model by Broadbent and Lord [TQC 2020], uncloneable encryption has developed into an important primitive at the foundation of quantum uncloneability for cryptographic primitives. Despite sustained efforts, however, the question of unconditional uncloneable encryption (and in particular of the simplest case, called an uncloneable bit) has remained elusive. Here, we propose a candidate for the unconditional uncloneable bit problem, and provide strong evidence that the adversary's success probability in the related security game converges quadratically as ${1}/{2}+{1}/{(2\sqrt{K})}$, where $K$ represents the number of keys and ${1}/{2}$ is trivially achievable. We prove this bound's validity for $K$ ranging from $2$ to $7$ and demonstrate the validity up to $K = 17$ using computations based on the NPA hierarchy. We furthemore provide compelling heuristic evidence towards the general case. In addition, we prove an asymptotic upper bound of ${5}/{8}$ and give a numerical upper bound of $\sim 0.5980$, which to our knowledge is the best-known value in the unconditional model.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2024

RE-completeness of entangled constraint satisfaction problems

Constraint satisfaction problems (CSPs) are a natural class of decision problems where one must decide whether there is an assignment to variables that satisfies a given formula. Schaefer's dichotomy theorem, and its extension to all alphabets due to Bulatov and Zhuk, shows that CSP languages are either efficiently decidable, or NP-complete. It is possible to extend CSP languages to quantum assignments using the formalism of nonlocal games. Due to the equality of complexity classes MIP$^\ast=$ RE, general succinctly-presented entangled CSPs are RE-complete. In this work, we show that a wide range of NP-complete CSPs become RE-complete in this setting, including all boolean CSPs, such as 3SAT, as well as $3$-colouring. This also implies that these CSP languages remain undecidable even when not succinctly presented. To show this, we work in the weighted algebra framework introduced by Mastel and Slofstra, where synchronous strategies for a nonlocal game are represented by tracial states on an algebra. Along the way, we improve the subdivision technique in order to be able to separate constraints in the CSP while preserving constant soundness, construct commutativity gadgets for all boolean CSPs, and show a variety of relations between the different ways of presenting CSPs as games.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2024

Rank lower bounds on non-local quantum computation

A non-local quantum computation (NLQC) replaces an interaction between two quantum systems with a single simultaneous round of communication and shared entanglement. We study two classes of NLQC, $f$-routing and $f$-BB84, which are of relevance to classical information theoretic cryptography and quantum position-verification. We give the first non-trivial lower bounds on entanglement in both settings, but are restricted to lower bounding protocols with perfect correctness. Within this setting, we give a lower bound on the Schmidt rank of any entangled state that completes these tasks for a given function $f(x,y)$ in terms of the rank of a matrix $g(x,y)$ whose entries are zero when $f(x,y)=0$, and strictly positive otherwise. This also leads to a lower bound on the Schmidt rank in terms of the non-deterministic quantum communication complexity of $f(x,y)$. Because of a relationship between $f$-routing and the conditional disclosure of secrets (CDS) primitive studied in information theoretic cryptography, we obtain a new technique for lower bounding the randomness complexity of CDS.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2024

Linear gate bounds against natural functions for position-verification

A quantum position-verification scheme attempts to verify the spatial location of a prover. The prover is issued a challenge with quantum and classical inputs and must respond with appropriate timings. We consider two well-studied position-verification schemes known as $f$-routing and $f$-BB84. Both schemes require an honest prover to locally compute a classical function $f$ of inputs of length $n$, and manipulate $O(1)$ size quantum systems. We prove the number of quantum gates plus single qubit measurements needed to implement a function $f$ is lower bounded linearly by the communication complexity of $f$ in the simultaneous message passing model with shared entanglement. Taking $f(x,y)=\sum_i x_i y_i$ to be the inner product function, we obtain a $\Omega(n)$ lower bound on quantum gates plus single qubit measurements. The scheme is feasible for a prover with linear classical resources and $O(1)$ quantum resources, and secure against sub-linear quantum resources.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2023

Approximation algorithms for noncommutative CSPs

Noncommutative constraint satisfaction problems (NC-CSPs) are higher-dimensional operator extensions of classical CSPs. Despite their significance in quantum information, their approximability remains largely unexplored. A notable example of a noncommutative CSP that is not solvable in polynomial time is NC-Max-$3$-Cut. We present a $0.864$-approximation algorithm for this problem. Our approach extends to a broader class of both classical and noncommutative CSPs. We introduce three key concepts: approximate isometry, relative distribution, and $\ast$-anticommutation, which may be of independent interest.

quant-ph↗

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

Uncloneable Cryptographic Primitives with Interaction

Much of the strength of quantum cryptography may be attributed to the no-cloning property of quantum information. We construct three new cryptographic primitives whose security is based on uncloneability, and that have in common that their security can be established via a novel monogamy-of-entanglement (MoE) property: - We define interactive uncloneable encryption, a version of the uncloneable encryption defined by Broadbent and Lord [TQC 2020] where the receiver must partake in an interaction with the sender in order to decrypt the ciphertext. We provide a one-round construction that is secure in the information-theoretic setting, in the sense that no other receiver may learn the message even if she eavesdrops on all the interactions. - We provide a way to make a bit string commitment scheme uncloneable. The scheme is augmented with a check step chronologically in between the commit and open steps, where an honest sender verifies that the commitment may not be opened by an eavesdropper, even if the receiver is malicious. - We construct a receiver-independent quantum key distribution (QKD) scheme, which strengthens the notion of one-sided device independent QKD of Tomamichel, Fehr, Kaniewski, and Wehner (TFKW) [NJP 2013] by also permitting the receiver's classical device to be untrusted. Explicitly, the sender remains fully trusted while only the receiver's communication is trusted. To show security, we prove an extension of the MoE property of coset states introduced by Coladangelo, Liu, Liu, and Zhandry [Crypto 2021]. In our stronger version, the player Charlie also receives Bob's answer prior to making his guess, simulating a party who eavesdrops on an interaction. To use this property, we express it as a new type of entropic uncertainty relation which arises naturally from the structure of the underlying MoE game.

quant-ph↗