arXiv subjects

Pratik Ghosal

Publications and source records attributed to Pratik Ghosal.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Eternal Vertex Cover Problem on Halin Graphs

Eternal vertex cover problem is a graph protection problem which is a dynamic two player game variant of the classical vertex cover problem. In this game, the minimum number of guards required to protect a graph $G$ is called the eternal vertex cover number of $G$, denoted by $evc(G)$. It is known that for any graph $G$, $\ mvc(G) \le evc(G) \le 2mvc(G)$, where $mvc(G)$ is the vertex cover number of $G$, and that these bounds are generally tight. However, no biconnected graph $G$ achieves $evc(G) = 2mvc(G)$ and no better lower bounds are known for them. In this work, we focus on biconnected graphs in graph families. For infinite graph families $\mathcal{F}$, consider the parameter $\rho(\mathcal{F})=\sup\{r \in \mathbb{R}:\text{ for infinitely many graphs }G \in \mathcal{F},\frac{evc(G)}{mvc(G)}\ge r\}$. No class of biconnected graphs $\mathcal{F}$ is known yet, for which $1 < \rho(\mathcal{F})<2$. In this paper, we show that when $\mathcal{F}$ is the family of Halin graphs, $\frac{7}{6} \le \rho(\mathcal{F}) \le \frac{3}{2}$. Halin graphs are $3$-connected and they have treewidth three. To show the lower bound, we construct a family of Halin graphs for which the ratio tends to $\frac{7}{6}$ with increasing graph size. For the upper bound, we give two algorithms. Our first algorithm gives a defense strategy with $\frac{3}{2} mvc(G)$ guards and serves as a $\frac{3}{2}$ factor approximation algorithm to compute the eternal vertex cover number of Halin graphs. This algorithm also gives an upper bound of $\frac{4}{3}$ for $\rho$ for several subclasses of Halin graphs. Our second algorithm attains the upper bound of $\frac{4}{3}$ for caterpillar Halin graphs. Whether computing eternal vertex cover number is NP-hard for Halin graphs remains an open problem, as is the case with treewidth two graphs.

cs.DM↗

arXiv2026

Local state antimarking : Nonlocality without entanglement

A set of quantum states is said to be antidistinguishable if, upon being given a randomly chosen state, it is possible to identify a state that the system was definitively not prepared in. In this work, we begin with a study of quantum nonlocality within the framework of local state antidistinguishability (LSAD), and find that any ensemble of mutually orthogonal multipartite pure states is locally antidistinguishable. We then extend this paradigm by introducing the task of local state antimarking (LSAM), where a non-repetitive sequence from a known set of multipartite states is randomly selected and distributed to spatially separated parties who must identify at least one sequence that was not supplied using LOCC only. We present an ensemble of product states that is not globally antidistinguishable, but choosing states from it, without replacement, produces such sequences of states which are globally antidistinguishable but not locally-revealing a form of nonlocality without entanglement. Finally, we compare LSAD and LSAM with conclusive local state discrimination and conclusive local state marking. We demonstrate that no strict hierarchy exists between these paradigms: there exist product-state ensembles that permit one task while strictly forbidding the other, and vice versa.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2026

Quantum state exclusion with many copies

Quantum state exclusion is the task of identifying at least one state from a known set that was not used in the preparation of a quantum system. A set of quantum states is said to admit state exclusion if there exists a measurement whose outcomes can be put in one-to-one correspondence with the states in the set, such that each outcome rules out its corresponding state with certainty (while possibly also ruling out other states), and each outcome occurs with nonzero probability for at least one state in the set. State exclusion, however, is not always possible in the single-copy setting. In this paper, we investigate whether access to multiple identical copies of the system enables state exclusion. We prove that for any set of three or more pure states, state exclusion becomes possible with a finite number of copies. Moreover, we show that the number of copies required may be arbitrarily large: in particular, for every natural number $N$, we construct sets of states for which state exclusion remains impossible with $N$ or fewer copies.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2025

Certifying the dimensionality of any quantum channel with minimal assumptions

High-dimensional entanglement offers significant advantages over its low-dimensional counterpart in various information-processing tasks. However, to harness these advantages, it is crucial that the quantum channels used to store or transmit the subsystems of an entangled system not only preserve entanglement but also maintain its dimensionality above a certain threshold. The maximum entanglement dimension that a channel can preserve is referred to as its effective dimensionality, since the channel cannot be used to transmit information of dimension greater than that in a single use. In this work, we present a method to certify whether a quantum channel can preserve entanglement dimension above a given threshold. Unlike existing approaches, our method is faithful, i.e., it can be applied to any channel, and avoids common assumptions such as preparation of entangled states, auxiliary side channels, or perfect measurement devices. Moreover, the method can be extended to faithfully certify other classes of non-resource-breaking channels, such as non-nonpositive-partial-transpose-breaking channels (non-NPT-breaking channels). Finally, we discuss possible experimental realizations of our certification scheme through explicit examples.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2025

Gottesman-Knill Limit on One-way Communication Complexity: Tracing the Quantum Advantage down to Magic Resources

Quantum systems are known to offer advantages over their classical counterpart in communication complexity protocols, where the aim is to minimize the amount of information exchange between distant parties to compute global functions of their distributed inputs. In this work, we establish that any one-way communication protocol implemented using a prime-dimensional quantum system -- restricted to stabilizer-state encodings and Clifford-operation decodings -- can be exactly simulated by transmitting a classical system of the same dimension, given access to shared randomness between the sender and receiver. In direct analogy with the Gottesman-Knill theorem, which attributes quantum computational speedup to non-stabilizer resources, commonly known as the magic resources, our result identifies the same non-stabilizer resources as the essential ingredient for the quantum advantage in one-way communication complexity. Furthermore, we present explicit tasks where even a 'minimal magic resource' suffices to achieve a provable quantum advantage, highlighting its efficient use in communication protocols.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2025

Measurement-device-independent Schmidt number certification of all entangled states

Bipartite quantum states with higher Schmidt numbers have been shown to outperform those with lower Schmidt numbers in various quantum information processing tasks, highlighting the operational advantage of entanglement dimensionality. Certifying the Schmidt number of such states is therefore crucial for efficient resource utilisation. Ideally, this certification should rely as little as possible on the certifying devices to ensure robustness against their potential imperfections. Fully device-independent certification via Bell-nonlocal games offers strong robustness but suffers from fundamental limitations: it cannot certify the Schmidt number of all entangled states. We demonstrate that this insufficiency of Bell-nonlocal games is not limited to entangled states that do not exhibit Bell-nonlocality. Specifically, we prove the existence of Bell-nonlocal states whose Schmidt number cannot be certified by any Bell-nonlocal game when the parties are restricted to local projective measurements. To overcome this, we develop a measurement-device-independent certification method based on semiquantum nonlocal games, which assume trusted preparation devices but treat measurement devices as black boxes. We prove that for any bipartite state with Schmidt number exceeding $r$, there exists a semiquantum nonlocal game that can certify its Schmidt number. Finally, we provide an explicit construction of such a semiquantum nonlocal game based on an optimal Schmidt number witness operator.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2024

Nonlocality-Assisted Enhancement of Error-Free Communication in Noisy Classical Channels

The zero-error capacity of a noisy classical channel quantifies its ability to transmit information with absolute certainty, i.e., without any error. Unlike Shannon's standard channel capacity, which remains unaffected by pre-shared correlations, zero-error capacity can be enhanced through nonlocal correlations. In this work, we investigate zero-error communication utility of such correlations arising in the 2-2-m Bell scenario, where two parties have two inputs and m possible outcomes per input. For all m\geq2, we construct examples of noisy classical channels with zero zero-error capacity that, when assisted by extremal 2-2-m nonlocal correlations, can transmit one bit of information. While nonlocal correlations arising from quantum entangled states cannot achieve a positive zero-error capacity for these channels, they significantly enhance the probability of successfully transmitting a classical bit in a single use. Extending this analysis to the 2-m-2 Bell scenario, we identify channels with zero zero-error capacity that can nonetheless perfectly transmit log m bits of information when assisted by corresponding extremal nonlocal correlations. Our findings underscore the versatile utility of Bell nonlocal correlations in achieving zero-error communication.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2024

EFX Exists for Three Types of Agents

We study the problem of finding an envy-free allocation of indivisible goods among agents with additive valuations. We focus on the fairness notion of envy-freeness up to any good (EFX). A central open question in fair division is whether EFX allocations always exist for any number of agents. While EFX has been established for three agents [CGM24] and for any number of agents with at most two distinct valuations [Mah23], its existence in more general settings remains open. In this paper, we make significant progress by proving that EFX allocations exist for any number of agents when there are at most three distinct additive valuations. This result simultaneously generalizes both the three-agent case and the two-type case, settling an open question in the field (see [Mah23]).

cs.GT↗

arXiv2024

Scalable & Noise-Robust Communication Advantage of Multipartite Quantum Entanglement

Distributed computing, involving multiple servers collaborating on designated computations, faces a critical challenge in optimizing inter-server communication -- an issue central to the study of communication complexity. Quantum resources offer advantages over classical methods in addressing this challenge. In this work, we investigate a distributed computing scenario with multiple senders and a single receiver, establishing a scalable advantage of multipartite quantum entanglement in mitigating communication complexity. Specifically, we demonstrate that when the receiver and the senders share a multi-qubit Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger (GHZ) state -- a quintessential form of genuine multipartite entanglement -- certain global functions of the distributed inputs can be computed with only one bit of classical communication from each sender. In contrast, without entanglement, two bits of communication are required from all but one sender. Consequently, quantum entanglement reduces communication overhead by (n-1) bits for n senders, allowing for arbitrary scaling with an increasing number of senders. We also show that the entanglement-based protocol exhibits significant robustness under white noise, thereby establishing the potential for experimental realization of this novel quantum advantage.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2024

Harnessing Causal Indefiniteness for Accessing Locally Inaccessible Data

Recent studies suggest that physical theories can exhibit indefinite causal structures, where the causal order of events is fundamentally undefined yet logically consistent. Beyond its foundational appeal, causal indefiniteness has also emerged as a novel information-theoretic resource, offering advantages in various information processing tasks. Here, we investigate its utility in the classical Data Retrieval (DR) task. In its simplest version, a referee encodes classical messages into bipartite quantum states and distributes the local parts to two distant parties, ensuring that neither can independently extract any information about the encoded message. To retrieve their assigned data, parties must collaborate, and we show that those embedded in an indefinite causal structure generally outperform those operating within a definite causal framework. For the bipartite case, we establish a duality between the DR task and the well known Guess Your Neighbour's Input game and derive a criterion analogous to the Peres-Horodecki separability test to identify quantum processes that yield nontrivial success in the DR task. We also report an intriguing super-activation phenomenon, where two quantum processes, each individually inefficient for the DR task, become useful when combined. Extending the analysis to tripartite case, we show that classical causally inseparable processes can outperform quantum bi-causal processes in the DR task. Our study, thus, reveals several unexplored aspects of causal indefiniteness, inviting deeper investigation.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2024

Asymptotic Birkhoff-Violation in Operational Theories: Thermodynamic Implications and Information Processing

In accordance with the entropy principle of thermodynamics, under spontaneous evolutions, physical systems always evolve towards states with equal or greater randomness. But, where does this randomness originate? Renowned Birkhoff-von Neumann theorem, often referred to as Birkhoff theorem, identifies source of this randomness to be the stochastic application of reversible operations on the system under study, thereby ensuring its epistemic origin. Analogue of this theorem is known to fail in the quantum case. Here, we extend this investigation beyond quantum mechanics to a broader class of operational theories described within the framework of general probabilistic theories (GPTs). In this generalized framework, we establish Birkhoff-violation as the prevalent trait; in fact the asymptotic variant of the theorem gets violated. We then demonstrate that Birkhoff-violation in GPTs can lead to consequences that are atypical to quantum theory. For instance, we report manifestation of Birkhoff-violation in a communication task, which otherwise is not observed in quantum world. We also show that, unlike the quantum case, in other operational theories the state transformation criteria can be distinct under mixtures of reversible transformations and doubly stochastic evolutions, leading to different resource theories of purity. Despite these exotic implications, we analyze how to define a coherent notion of entropy in this generalized framework, while upholding alignment with von Neumann's thought experiment.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2023

Distribution of quantum gravity induced entanglement in many-body systems

Recently, it was shown that if two distant test masses, each in a spatially superposed quantum state, become entangled due to their mutual gravitational interaction, then this entanglement could serve as evidence of the quantum nature of gravity. We extend this treatment to a many-body system in a general setup and study the entanglement properties of the time-evolved state. We exactly compute the time-dependent I-concurrence for every bipartition and obtain the necessary and sufficient condition for the creation of genuine many-body entanglement. We further show that this entanglement is of generalised GHZ type when certain conditions are met. We also evaluate the amount of multipartite entanglement in the system using a set of generalised Meyer-Wallach measures.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2023

Fair Healthcare Rationing to Maximize Dynamic Utilities

Allocation of scarce healthcare resources under limited logistic and infrastructural facilities is a major issue in the modern society. We consider the problem of allocation of healthcare resources like vaccines to people or hospital beds to patients in an online manner. Our model takes into account the arrival of resources on a day-to-day basis, different categories of agents, the possible unavailability of agents on certain days, and the utility associated with each allotment as well as its variation over time. We propose a model where priorities for various categories are modelled in terms of utilities of agents. We give online and offline algorithms to compute an allocation that respects eligibility of agents into different categories, and incentivizes agents not to hide their eligibility for some category. The offline algorithm gives an optimal allocation while the on-line algorithm gives an approximation to the optimal allocation in terms of total utility. Our algorithms are efficient, and maintain fairness among different categories of agents. Our models have applications in other areas like refugee settlement and visa allocation. We evaluate the performance of our algorithms on real-life and synthetic datasets. The experimental results show that the online algorithm is fast and performs better than the given theoretical bound in terms of total utility. Moreover, the experimental results confirm that our utility-based model correctly captures the priorities of categories

cs.MA↗

arXiv2023

Quantum superposition of causal structures as a universal resource for local implementation of nonlocal quantum operations

Spatial separation restricts the set of locally implementable quantum operations on distributed multipartite quantum systems. We propose that indefinite causal structure arising due to quantum superposition of different space-time geometries can be used as an independent universal resource for local implementation of any quantum operation on spatially distributed quantum systems. Consequently, all such quantum tasks that are not accomplishable by local operations and classical communication (LOCC) only also become locally accomplishable. We show that exploiting indefinite causal structure as the sole resource, it is possible to perfectly teleport the state of one agent's subsystem to the other distant laboratory in such a way that the agent at the distant laboratory can have access to the whole initially shared state in his or her laboratory and can perform any global quantum operation on the joint state locally. We further find that, after the teleportation process, the resource -- indefinite causal structure of the space-time does not get consumed. Hence, after implementing the desired quantum operation the state of the first agent's subsystem can be teleported back to its previous laboratory using the same resource. We show that this two-way teleportation is not always necessary for locally executing all nonlocal quantum tasks that are not realisable by LOCC only. Without invoking any kind of teleportation, we present a protocol for perfect local discrimination of the set of four Bell states that exploits indefinite causal structure as the sole resource. As immediate upshots, we present some more examples of such nonlocal tasks as local discrimination of the set of states exhibiting ``quantum nonlocality without entanglement" and activation of bound entangled states that are also achievable by our proposed protocol incorporating indefinite causal structure as a resource.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2023

(Almost Full) EFX for Three (and More) Types of Agents

We study the problem of determining an envy-free allocation of indivisible goods among multiple agents with additive valuations. EFX, which stands for envy-freeness up to any good, is a well-studied relaxation of the envy-free allocation problem and has been shown to exist for specific scenarios. EFX is known to exist for three agents, and for any number of agents when there are only two types of valuations. EFX allocations are also known to exist for four agents with at most one good unallocated. In this paper, we show that EFX exists with at most k-2 goods unallocated for any number of agents having k distinct valuations. Additionally, we show that complete EFX allocations exist when all but two agents have identical valuations.

cs.GT↗

arXiv2022

Locally unidentifiable subset of quantum states and its resourcefulness in secret password distribution

We introduce a hitherto unexplored form of quantum nonlocality, termed local subset unidentifiability, that arises from the limitation of spatially separated parties to perfectly identify a subset of mutually orthogonal multipartite quantum states, randomly chosen from a larger known set, using Local Operations and Classical Communication (LOCC). We show that this nonlocality is stronger than other existing forms of quantum nonlocality, such as local indistinguishability and local unmarkability. If more than one multipartite states from a locally indistinguishable set are distributed between spatially separated parties in a sequentially ordered fashion, then they may or may not mark which state is which using LOCC. However, we show that even when the parties cannot mark the states, they may still locally identify the particular states given to them, though not their order -- i.e., they can identify the elements of the given subset of states. Then we prove the existence of such subsets that are not even locally identifiable, thereby manifesting a stronger nonlocality. We also present the genuine version of this nonlocality -- genuine subset unidentifiability -- where the provided subset remains unidentifiable unless all the parties come together in a common location and perform global measurements. We anticipate potential applications of this nonlocality for future quantum technologies. We discuss one such application in a certain secret password distribution protocol, where this nonlocality outperforms its predecessors as a resource.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2022

Probability distribution for black hole evaporation

Non-thermal correction to the emission probability of particles from black holes can be obtained if the backreaction or self-gravitational effects of the emitted particles on the black hole spacetime are taken into consideration. These non-thermally emitted particles conserve the entropy of the black hole, i.e, the entropy of the system of radiated particles after complete evaporation of the black hole matches the initial entropy of the black hole. Using the non-thermal emission probability, we have determined the probability for a black hole of mass $M$ to be completely evaporated by a given number of particles $n$. This is done by first evaluating the number of possible ways in which the black hole can be evaporated by emitting $n$ number of particles, and then the total number of ways in which the black hole can be evaporated. The ratio of these two quantities gives us the desired probability. From the probability distribution, we get a displacement relation between the most probable number of particles exhausting the black hole and the temperature of the initial black hole. This relation resembles Wien's displacement law for blackbody radiation.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2020

The Dynamics of Rank-Maximal and Popular Matchings

Given a bipartite graph, where the two sets of vertices are applicants and posts and ranks on the edges represent preferences of applicants over posts, a {\em rank-maximal} matching is one in which the maximum number of applicants is matched to their rank one posts and subject to this condition, the maximum number of applicants is matched to their rank two posts, and so on. We study the dynamic version of the problem in which a new applicant or post may be added to the graph and we would like to maintain a rank-maximal matching. We show that after the arrival of one vertex, we are always able to update the existing rank-maximal matching in $\mathcal{O}(\min(c'n ,n^2) + m)$ time, where $n$ denotes the number of applicants, $m$ the number of edges and $c'$ the maximum rank of an edge in an optimal solution. Additionally, we update the matching using a minimal number of changes (replacements). All cases of a deletion of a vertex/edge and an addition of an edge can be reduced to the problem of handling the addition of a vertex. As a by-product, we also get an analogous $\mathcal{O}(m)$ result for the dynamic version of the (one-sided) popular matching problem. Our results are based on the novel use of the properties of the Edmonds-Gallai decomposition. The presented ideas may find applications in other (dynamic) matching problems.

cs.DS↗