arXiv subjects

Vojtěch Havlíček

Publications and source records attributed to Vojtěch Havlíček.

9 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Verifiable Quantum Advantage and Computation via Quantum Circuit Obfuscation

We construct protocols for classically verifiable quantum advantage and classical verification of $\mathsf{BQP}$ computations using \emph{quantum indistinguishability obfuscation} (qiO). Specifically, given qiO and assuming a slightly stronger version of $\mathsf{BQP}\neq\mathsf{BPP}$, we construct a two-message quantum-advantage protocol that is efficiently and publicly verifiable. Our result can be viewed as a rigorous cryptographic foundation for the heuristic quantum advantage proposals based on \emph{peaked random circuit sampling} of Aaronson and Zhang (arXiv:2404.14493). We also construct two simple protocols for classically verifying arbitrary $\mathsf{BQP}$ computations. The first protocol is privately verifiable and assumes only the existence of qiO. This gives a rare example of a nontrivial cryptographic application of (quantum) iO that does not make additional computational hardness assumptions. The second protocol additionally assumes post-quantum one-way functions and is \emph{publicly verifiable}. To our knowledge, this is the first publicly verifiable protocol for classical verification of $\mathsf{BQP}$ computations under computational assumptions in the standard model. As qiO is the basis for our results, we propose an approach to constructing qiO by adapting the local-mixing framework of Canetti--Chamon--Mucciolo--Ruckenstein.

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arXiv2025

Wavefunction Flows: Efficient Quantum Simulation of Continuous Flow Models

Flow models are a cornerstone of modern machine learning. They are generative models that progressively transform probability distributions according to learned dynamics. Specifically, they learn a continuous-time Markov process that efficiently maps samples from a simple source distribution into samples from a complex target distribution. We show that these models are naturally related to the Schrödinger equation, for an unusual Hamiltonian on continuous variables. Moreover, we prove that the dynamics generated by this Hamiltonian can be efficiently simulated on a quantum computer. Together, these results give a quantum algorithm for preparing coherent encodings (a.k.a., qsamples) for a vast family of probability distributions--namely, those expressible by flow models--by reducing the task to an existing classical learning problem, plus Hamiltonian simulation. For statistical problems defined by flow models, such as mean estimation and property testing, this enables the use of quantum algorithms tailored to qsamples, which may offer advantages over classical algorithms based only on samples from a flow model. More broadly, these results reveal a close connection between state-of-the-art machine learning models, such as flow matching and diffusion models, and one of the main expected capabilities of quantum computers: simulating quantum dynamics.

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arXiv2024

On the hardness of cloning and connections to representation theory

The states accepted by a quantum circuit are known as the witnesses for the quantum circuit's satisfiability. The assumption BQP does not equal QMA implies that no efficient algorithm exists for constructing a witness for a quantum circuit from the circuit's classical description. However, a similar complexity-theoretic lower bound on the computational hardness of cloning a witness is not known. In this note, we derive a conjecture about cloning algorithms for maximally entangled states over hidden subspaces which would imply that no efficient algorithm exists for cloning witnesses (assuming BQP does not contain NP). The conjecture and result follow from connections between quantum computation and representation theory; specifically, the relationship between quantum state complexity and the complexity of computing Kronecker coefficients.

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arXiv2019

Simple Communication Complexity Separation from Quantum State Antidistinguishability

A set of $n$ pure quantum states is called antidististinguishable if there exists an $n$-outcome measurement that never outputs the outcome `$k$' on the $k$-th quantum state. We describe sets of quantum states for which any subset of three states is antidistinguishable and use this to produce a two-player communication task that can be solved with $\log d$ qubits, but requires one-way communication of at least $\log (4/3) (d-1) - 1 \approx 0.415 (d-1) - 1$ classical bits. The advantages of the approach are that the proof is simple and self-contained -- not needing, for example, to rely on hard-to-establish prior results in combinatorics -- and that with slight modifications, non-trivial bounds can be established in any dimension $\geq 3$. The task can be framed in terms of the separated parties solving a relation, and the separation is also robust to multiplicative error in the output probabilities. We show, however, that for this particular task, the separation disappears if two-way classical communication is allowed. Finally, we state a conjecture regarding antidistinguishability of sets of states, and provide some supporting numerical evidence. If the conjecture holds, then there is a two-player communication task that can be solved with $\log d$ qubits, but requires one-way communication of $Ω(d \log d)$ classical bits.

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arXiv2019

OpenFermion: The Electronic Structure Package for Quantum Computers

Quantum simulation of chemistry and materials is predicted to be an important application for both near-term and fault-tolerant quantum devices. However, at present, developing and studying algorithms for these problems can be difficult due to the prohibitive amount of domain knowledge required in both the area of chemistry and quantum algorithms. To help bridge this gap and open the field to more researchers, we have developed the OpenFermion software package (www.openfermion.org). OpenFermion is an open-source software library written largely in Python under an Apache 2.0 license, aimed at enabling the simulation of fermionic models and quantum chemistry problems on quantum hardware. Beginning with an interface to common electronic structure packages, it simplifies the translation between a molecular specification and a quantum circuit for solving or studying the electronic structure problem on a quantum computer, minimizing the amount of domain expertise required to enter the field. The package is designed to be extensible and robust, maintaining high software standards in documentation and testing. This release paper outlines the key motivations behind design choices in OpenFermion and discusses some basic OpenFermion functionality which we believe will aid the community in the development of better quantum algorithms and tools for this exciting area of research.

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arXiv2019

A Classical Algorithm for Quantum $\textsf{SU}(2)$ Schur Sampling

Many quantum algorithms can be represented in a form of a classical circuit positioned between quantum Fourier transformations. Motivated by the search for new quantum algorithms, we turn to circuits where the latter transformation is replaced by the $\textsf{SU}(2)$ quantum Schur Transform -- a global transformation which maps the computational basis to a basis defined by angular momenta. We show that the output distributions of these circuits can be approximately classically sampled in polynomial time if they are sufficiently close to being sparse, thus isolating a regime in which these Quantum $\textsf{SU}(2)$ Schur Circuits could lead to algorithms with exponential computational advantage. Our work is primarily motivated by a conjecture that underpinned the hardness of Permutational Quantum Computing, a restricted quantum computational model that has the above circuit structure in one of its computationally interesting regimes. The conjecture stated that approximating transition amplitudes of Permutational Quantum Computing model to inverse polynomial precision on a classical computer is computationally hard. We disprove the extended version of this conjecture -- even in the case when the hardness of approximation originated from a difficulty of finding the large elements in the output probability distributions. Finally, we present some evidence that output of the above Permutational Quantum Computing circuits could be efficiently approximately sampled from on a classical computer.

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arXiv2017

A "problem of time" in the multiplicative scheme for the $n$-site hopper

Quantum Measure Theory (QMT) is an approach to quantum mechanics, based on the path integral, in which quantum theory is conceived of as a generalised stochastic process. One of the postulates of QMT is that events with zero quantum measure do not occur, however this is not sufficient to give a full picture of the quantum world. Determining the other postulates is a work in progress and this paper investigates a proposal called the Multiplicative Scheme for QMT in which the physical world corresponds, essentially, to a set of histories from the path integral. This scheme is applied to Sorkin's $n$-site hopper, a discrete, unitary model of a single particle on a ring of $n$ sites, motivated by free Schrödinger propagation. It is shown that the multiplicative scheme's global features lead to the conclusion that no non-trivial, time-finite event can occur.

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arXiv2017

Operator Locality in Quantum Simulation of Fermionic Models

Simulating fermionic lattice models with qubits requires mapping fermionic degrees of freedom to qubits. The simplest method for this task, the Jordan-Wigner transformation, yields strings of Pauli operators acting on an extensive number of qubits. This overhead can be a hindrance to implementation of qubit-based quantum simulators, especially in the analog context. Here we thus review and analyze alternative fermion-to-qubit mappings, including the two approaches by Bravyi and Kitaev and the Auxiliary Fermion transformation. The Bravyi-Kitaev transform is reformulated in terms of a classical data structure and generalized to achieve a further locality improvement for local fermionic models on a rectangular lattice. We conclude that the most compact encoding of the fermionic operators can be done using ancilla qubits with the Auxiliary Fermion scheme. Without introducing ancillas, a variant of the Bravyi-Kitaev transform provides the most compact fermion-to-qubit mapping for Hubbard-like models.

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arXiv2016

Local spin operators for fermion simulations

Digital quantum simulation of fermionic systems is important in the context of chemistry and physics. Simulating fermionic models on general purpose quantum computers requires imposing a fermionic algebra on spins. The previously studied Jordan-Wigner and Bravyi-Kitaev transformations are two techniques for accomplishing this task. Here we re-examine an auxiliary fermion construction which maps fermionic operators to local operators on spins. The local simulation is performed by relaxing the requirement that the number of spins should match the number of fermionic modes. Instead, auxiliary modes are introduced to enable non-consecutive fermionic couplings to be simulated with constant low-rank tensor products on spins. We connect the auxiliary fermion construction to other topological models and give examples of the construction.

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