arXiv subjects

Lvzhou Li

Publications and source records attributed to Lvzhou Li.

89 records · Page 5Linked to original sources

arXiv2015

Promise problems solved by quantum and classical finite automata

The concept of promise problems was introduced and started to be systematically explored by Even, Selman, Yacobi, Goldreich, and other scholars. It has been argued that promise problems should be seen as partial decision problems and as such that they are more fundamental than decision problems and formal languages that used to be considered as the basic ones for complexity theory. The main purpose of this paper is to explore the promise problems accepted by classical, quantum and also semi-quantum finite automata. More specifically, we first introduce two acceptance modes of promise problems, recognizability and solvability, and explore their basic properties. Afterwards, we show several results concerning descriptional complexity on promise problems. In particular, we prove: (1) there is a promise problem that can be recognized exactly by measure-once one-way quantum finite automata (MO-1QFA), but no deterministic finite automata (DFA) can recognize it; (2) there is a promise problem that can be solved with error probability $ε\leq 1/3$ by one-way finite automaton with quantum and classical states (1QCFA), but no one-way probability finite automaton (PFA) can solve it with error probability $ε\leq 1/3$; and especially, (3) there are promise problems $A(p)$ with prime $p$ that can be solved {\em with any error probability} by MO-1QFA with only two quantum basis states, but they can not be solved exactly by any MO-1QFA with two quantum basis states; in contrast, the minimal PFA solving $A(p)$ with any error probability (usually smaller than $1/2$) has $p$ states. Finally, we mention a number of problems related to promise for further study.

cs.FL↗

arXiv2015

Lower bounds on the size of semi-quantum finite automata

In the literature, there exist several interesting hybrid models of finite automata which have both quantum and classical states. We call them semi-quantum automata. In this paper, we compare the descriptional power of these models with that of DFA. Specifically, we present a uniform method that gives a lower bound on the size of the three existing main models of semi-quantum automata, and this bound shows that semi-quantum automata can be at most exponentially more concise than DFA. Compared with a recent work (Bianchi, Mereghetti, Palano, Theoret. Comput. Sci., 551(2014), 102-115), our method shows the following two advantages: (i) our method is much more concise; and (ii) our method is universal, since it is applicable to the three existing main models of semi-quantum automata, instead of only a specific model.

cs.FL↗

arXiv2015

Quantum Markov chains: description of hybrid systems, decidability of equivalence, and model checking linear-time properties

In this paper, we study a model of quantum Markov chains that is a quantum analogue of Markov chains and is obtained by replacing probabilities in transition matrices with quantum operations. We show that this model is very suited to describe hybrid systems that consist of a quantum component and a classical one, although it has the same expressive power as another quantum Markov model proposed in the literature. Indeed, hybrid systems are often encountered in quantum information processing; for example, both quantum programs and quantum protocols can be regarded as hybrid systems. Thus, we further propose a model called hybrid quantum automata (HQA) that can be used to describe these hybrid systems that receive inputs (actions) from the outer world. We show the language equivalence problem of HQA is decidable in polynomial time. Furthermore, we apply this result to the trace equivalence problem of quantum Markov chains, and thus it is also decidable in polynomial time. Finally, we discuss model checking linear-time properties of quantum Markov chains, and show the quantitative analysis of regular safety properties can be addressed successfully.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2014

On hybrid models of quantum finite automata

In the literature, there exist several quantum finite automata (QFA) models with both quantum and classical states. These models are of particular interest,as they show praiseworthy advantages over the fully quantum models in some nontrivial aspects. This paper characterizes these models in a uniform framework by proposing a general hybrid model consisting of a quantum component and a classical one which can interact with each other. The existing hybrid QFA can be naturally regarded as the general model with specific communication patterns (classical-quantum, quantum-classical, and two-way, respectively). We further clarify the relationship between these hybrid QFA and some other quantum models. In particular, it is shown that hybrid QFA can be simulated exactly by QFA with quantum operations, which in turn has a close relationship with two early proposed models: {\it ancialla QFA} and {\it quantum sequential machines}.

cs.FL↗

arXiv2013

Exponentially more concise quantum recognition of non-RMM regular languages

We show that there are quantum devices that accept all regular languages and that are exponentially more concise than deterministic finite automata (DFA). For this purpose, we introduce a new computing model of {\it one-way quantum finite automata} (1QFA), namely, {\it one-way quantum finite automata together with classical states} (1QFAC), which extends naturally both measure-only 1QFA and DFA and whose state complexity is upper-bounded by both. The original contributions of the paper are the following. First, we show that the set of languages accepted by 1QFAC with bounded error consists precisely of all regular languages. Second, we prove that 1QFAC are at most exponentially more concise than DFA. Third, we show that the previous bound is tight for families of regular languages that are not recognized by measure-once (RMO), measure-many (RMM) and multi-letter 1QFA. % More concretely we exhibit regular languages $L^0(m)$ for $m$ prime such that: (i) $L^0(m)$ cannot be recognized by measure-once, measure-many and multi-letter 1QFA; (ii) the minimal DFA that accepts $L^0(m)$ has $O(m)$ states; (iii) there is a 1QFAC with constant classical states and $O(\log(m))$ quantum basis that accepts $L^0(m)$. Fourth, we give a polynomial-time algorithm for determining whether any two 1QFAC are equivalent. Finally, we show that state minimization of 1QFAC is decidable within EXPSPACE. We conclude the paper by posing some open problems.

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arXiv2013

Decidability of minimization of fuzzy automata

State minimization is a fundamental problem in automata theory. The problem is also of great importance in the study of fuzzy automata. However, most work in the literature considered only state reduction of fuzzy automata, whereas the state minimization problem is almost untouched for fuzzy automata. Thus in this paper we focus on the latter problem. Formally, the decision version of the minimization problem of fuzzy automata is as follows: \begin{itemize} \item Given a fuzzy automaton $\mathcal{A}$ and a natural number $k$, that is, a pair $\langle \mathcal{A}, k\rangle$, is there a $k$-state fuzzy automaton equivalent to $\mathcal{A}$? \end{itemize} We prove for the first time that the above problem is decidable for fuzzy automata over totally ordered lattices. To this end, we first give the concept of systems of fuzzy polynomial equations and then present a procedure to solve these systems. Afterwards, we apply the solvability of a system of fuzzy polynomial equations to the minimization problem mentioned above, obtaining the decidability. Finally, we point out that the above problem is at least as hard as PSAPCE-complete.

cs.FL↗

arXiv2012

State succinctness of two-way finite automata with quantum and classical states

{\it Two-way quantum automata with quantum and classical states} (2QCFA) were introduced by Ambainis and Watrous in 2002. In this paper we study state succinctness of 2QCFA. For any $m\in {\mathbb{Z}}^+$ and any $ε<1/2$, we show that: {enumerate} there is a promise problem $A^{eq}(m)$ which can be solved by a 2QCFA with one-sided error $ε$ in a polynomial expected running time with a constant number (that depends neither on $m$ nor on $\varepsilon$) of quantum states and $\mathbf{O}(\log{\frac{1}ε)}$ classical states, whereas the sizes of the corresponding {\it deterministic finite automata} (DFA), {\it two-way nondeterministic finite automata} (2NFA) and polynomial expected running time {\it two-way probabilistic finite automata} (2PFA) are at least $2m+2$, $\sqrt{\log{m}}$, and $\sqrt[3]{(\log m)/b}$, respectively; there exists a language $L^{twin}(m)=\{wcw| w\in\{a,b\}^*\}$ over the alphabet $Σ=\{a,b,c\}$ which can be recognized by a 2QCFA with one-sided error $ε$ in an exponential expected running time with a constant number of quantum states and $\mathbf{O}(\log{\frac{1}ε)}$ classical states, whereas the sizes of the corresponding DFA, 2NFA and polynomial expected running time 2PFA are at least $2^m$, $\sqrt{m}$, and $\sqrt[3]{m/b}$, respectively; {enumerate} where $b$ is a constant.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2011

Some Languages Recognized by Two-Way Finite Automata with Quantum and Classical States

{\it Two-way finite automata with quantum and classical states} (2QCFA) were introduced by Ambainis and Watrous, and it was shown that 2QCFA have superiority over {\it two-way probabilistic finite automata} (2PFA) for recognizing some non-regular languages such as the language $L_{eq}=\{a^{n}b^{n}\mid n\in \mathbf{N}\}$ and the palindrome language $L_{pal}=\{ω\in \{a,b\}^*\midω=ω^R\}$, where $x^R$ is $x$ in the reverse order. It is interesting to find more languages like these that witness the superiority of 2QCFA over 2PFA. In this paper, we consider the language $L_{m}=\{xcy\mid Σ=\{a, b, c\}, x,y\in\{a,b\}^{*},c\inΣ, |x|=|y|\}$ that is similar to the middle language $L_{middle}=\{xay\mid x,y\inΣ^{*},a\inΣ, |x|=|y|\}$. We prove that the language $L_{m}$ can be recognized by 2QCFA with one-sided error in polynomial expected time. Also, we show that $L_{m}$ can be recognized by 2PFA with bounded error, but only in exponential expected time. Thus $L_{m}$ is another witness of the fact that 2QCFA are more powerful than their classical counterparts.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2011

One-way finite automata with quantum and classical states

In this paper, we introduce and explore a new model of {\it quantum finite automata} (QFA). Namely, {\it one-way finite automata with quantum and classical states} (1QCFA), a one way version of {\it two-way finite automata with quantum and classical states} (2QCFA) introduced by Ambainis and Watrous in 2002 \cite{AJ}. First, we prove that {\it one-way probabilistic finite automata} (1PFA) \cite{AP} and {\it one-way quantum finite automata with control language} (1QFACL) \cite{ACB} as well as several other models of QFA, can be simulated by 1QCFA. Afterwards, we explore several closure properties for the family of languages accepted by 1QCFA. Finally, the state complexity of 1QCFA is explored and the main succinctness result is derived. Namely, for any prime $m$ and any $ε_1>0$, there exists a language $L_{m}$ that cannot be recognized by any {\it measure-many one-way quantum finite automata} (MM-1QFA) \cite{Kon97} with bounded error $7/9+ε_1$, and any 1PFA recognizing it has at last $m$ states, but $L_{m}$ can be recognized by a 1QCFA for any error bound $ε>0$ with $\bf{O}(\log{m})$ quantum states and 12 classical states.

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arXiv2011

Two-tape finite automata with quantum and classical states

{\it Two-way finite automata with quantum and classical states} (2QCFA) were introduced by Ambainis and Watrous, and {\it two-way two-tape deterministic finite automata} (2TFA) were introduced by Rabin and Scott. In this paper we study 2TFA and propose a new computing model called {\it two-way two-tape finite automata with quantum and classical states} (2TQCFA). First, we give efficient 2TFA algorithms for recognizing languages which can be recognized by 2QCFA. Second, we give efficient 2TQCFA algorithms to recognize several languages whose status vis-a-vis 2QCFA have been posed as open questions, such as $L_{square}=\{a^{n}b^{n^{2}}\mid n\in \mathbf{N}\}$. Third, we show that $\{a^{n}b^{n^{k}}\mid n\in \mathbf{N}\}$ can be recognized by {\it $(k+1)$-tape deterministic finite automata} ($(k+1)$TFA). Finally, we introduce {\it $k$-tape automata with quantum and classical states} ($k$TQCFA) and prove that $\{a^{n}b^{n^{k}}\mid n\in \mathbf{N}\}$ can be recognized by $k$TQCFA.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2010

Decidability of the Equivalence of Multi-Letter Quantum Finite Automata

Multi-letter {\it quantum finite automata} (QFAs) were a quantum variant of classical {\it one-way multi-head finite automata} (J. Hromkovič, Acta Informatica 19 (1983) 377-384), and it has been shown that this new one-way QFAs (multi-letter QFAs) can accept with no error some regular languages $(a+b)^{*}b$ that are unacceptable by the previous one-way QFAs. In this paper, we study the decidability of the equivalence of multi-letter QFAs, and the main technical contributions are as follows: (1) We show that any two automata, a $k_{1}$-letter QFA ${\cal A}_1$ and a $k_{2}$-letter QFA ${\cal A}_2$, over the same input alphabet $Σ$ are equivalent if and only if they are $(n^2m^{k-1}-m^{k-1}+k)$-equivalent, where $m=|Σ|$ is the cardinality of $Σ$, $k=\max(k_{1},k_{2})$, and $n=n_{1}+n_{2}$, with $n_{1}$ and $n_{2}$ being the numbers of states of ${\cal A}_{1}$ and ${\cal A}_{2}$, respectively. When $k=1$, we obtain the decidability of equivalence of measure-once QFAs in the literature. It is worth mentioning that our technical method is essentially different from that for the decidability of the case of single input alphabet (i.e., $m=1$). (2) However, if we determine the equivalence of multi-letter QFAs by checking all strings of length not more than $ n^2m^{k-1}-m^{k-1}+k$, then the worst time complexity is exponential, i.e., $O(n^6m^{n^2m^{k-1}-m^{k-1}+2k-1})$. Therefore, we design a polynomial-time $O(m^{2k-1}n^{8}+km^kn^{6})$ algorithm for determining the equivalence of any two multi-letter QFAs. Here, the time complexity is concerning the number of states in the multi-letter QFAs, and $k$ is thought of as a constant.

cs.FL↗

arXiv2010

Characterizations of one-way general quantum finite automata

In this paper we study a generalized model named one-way general quantum finite automata} (1gQFA), in which each symbol in the input alphabet induces a trace-preserving quantum operation, instead of a unitary transformation. Two different kinds of 1gQFA will be studied: measure-once one-way general quantum finite automata} (MO-1gQFA), and measure-many one-way general quantum finite automata (MM-1gQFA). We prove that MO-1gQFA recognize, with bounded error, precisely the set of all regular languages. We prove that MM-1gQFA also recognize only regular languages with bounded error. Thus, MM-1gQFA and MO-1gQFA have the same language recognition power, which is greatly different from the conventional case in which the number of times the measurement is performed in the computation generally affects the language recognition power of one-way QFA. Finally, we present a sufficient and necessary condition for two MM-1gQFA to be equivalent.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2007

Local Entanglement Is Not Necessary for Perfect Discrimination between Unitary Operations Acting on Two-Qudits by LOCC

Recently, the problem of discriminating multipartite unitary operations by local operations and classical communication (LOCC) has attracted significant attention. The latest work in the literature on this problem showed that two multipartite unitary operations can always be perfectly distinguished by LOCC when a finite number of runs are allowable. However, in these schemes, local entanglement (an entangled state holden by one party) was required, which seems to imply that local entanglement is necessary for perfect discrimination between unitary operations by LOCC. In this article, we show that a perfect discrimination between two unitary operations acting on a two-qudits can always be achieved without exploiting any entanglement. As a result, we conclude that local entanglement is not necessary for perfect discrimination between unitary operations acting on two-qudits by LOCC.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2007

Optimal discrimination between quantum operations

In this paper, we address the problem of discriminating two given quantum operations. Firstly, based on the Bloch representation of single qubit systems, we give the exact minimum error probability of discriminating two single qubit quantum operations by unentangled input states. In particular, for the Pauli channels discussed in [Phys. Rev. A {\bf 71}, 062340 (2005)], we use a more intuitional and visual method to deal with their discrimination problem. Secondly, we consider the condition for perfect discrimination of two quantum operations. Specially, we get that two generalized Pauli channels are perfectly distinguishable if and only if their characteristic vectors are orthogonal.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2007

Determining the equivalence for 1-way quantum finite automata

In this paper, we focus on determining the equivalence for {\it 1-way quantum finite automata with control language} (CL-1QFAs) defined by Bertoni et al and {\it measure-many 1-way quantum finite automata} (MM-1QFAs) introduced by Kondacs and Watrous. More specifically, we obtain that: \begin{enumerate} \item[(i)] Two CL-1QFAs ${\cal A}_1$ and ${\cal A}_2$ with control languages (regular languages) ${\cal L}_1$ and ${\cal L}_2$, respectively, are equivalent if and only if they are $(c_1n_1^2+c_2n_2^2-1)$-equivalent. Furthermore, if ${\cal L}_1$ and ${\cal L}_2$ are given in the form of DFAs, with $m_1$ and $m_2$ states, respectively, then there exists a polynomial-time algorithm running in time $O ((m_1n_1^2+m_2n_2^2)^4)$ that takes as input ${\cal A}_1$ and ${\cal A}_2$ and determines whether they are equivalent. \item[(ii)] Two MM-1QFAs ${\cal A}_1$ and ${\cal A}_2$ with $n_1$ and $n_2$ states, respectively, are equivalent if and only if they are $(3n_1^2+3n_2^2-1)$-equivalent. Furthermore, there is a polynomial-time algorithm running in time $O ((3n_1^2+3n_2^2)^4)$ that takes as input ${\cal A}_1$ and ${\cal A}_2$ and determines whether ${\cal A}_1$ and ${\cal A}_2$ are equivalent.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2007

The states of W-class as shared resources for perfect teleportation and superdense coding

As we know, the states of triqubit systems have two important classes: GHZ-class and W-class. In this paper, the states of W-class are considered for teleportation and superdense coding, and are generalized to multi-particle systems. First we describe two transformations of the shared resources for teleportation and superdense coding, which allow many new protocols from some known ones for that. As an application of these transformations, we obtain a sufficient and necessary condition for a state of W-class being suitable for perfect teleportation and superdense coding. As another application, we find that state $|W>_{123}={1/2}(|100>_{123}+|010>_{123}+\sqrt{2}|001>_{123})$ can be used to transmit three classical bits by sending two qubits, which was considered to be impossible by P. Agrawal and A. Pati [Phys. Rev. A to be published]. We generalize the states of W-class to multi-qubit systems and multi-particle systems with higher dimension. We propose two protocols for teleportation and superdense coding by using W-states of multi-qubit systems that generalize the protocols by using $|W>_{123}$ proposed by P. Agrawal and A. Pati. We obtain an optimal way to partition some W-states of multi-qubit systems into two subsystems, such that the entanglement between them achieves maximum value.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2006

A Polynomial-Time Algorithm for the Equivalence between Quantum Sequential Machines

Quantum sequential machines (QSMs) are a quantum version of stochastic sequential machines (SSMs). Recently, we showed that two QSMs M_1 and M_2 with n_1 and n_2 states, respectively, are equivalent iff they are (n_1+n_2)^2--equivalent (Theoretical Computer Science 358 (2006) 65-74). However, using this result to check the equivalence likely needs exponential expected time. In this paper, we consider the time complexity of deciding the equivalence between QSMs and related problems. The main results are as follows: (1) We present a polynomial-time algorithm for deciding the equivalence between QSMs, and, if two QSMs are not equivalent, this algorithm will produce an input-output pair with length not more than (n_1+n_2)^2. (2) We improve the bound for the equivalence between QSMs from (n_1+n_2)^2 to n_1^2+n_2^2-1, by employing Moore and Crutchfield's method (Theoretical Computer Science 237 (2000) 275-306). (3) We give that two MO-1QFAs with n_1 and n_2 states, respectively, are equivalent iff they are (n_1+n_2)^2--equivalent, and further obtain a polynomial-time algorithm for deciding the equivalence between two MO-1QFAs. (4) We provide a counterexample showing that Koshiba's method to solve the problem of deciding the equivalence between MM-1QFAs may be not valid, and thus the problem is left open again.

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