SEARCH · Searcharxiv

Search Searcharxiv

Search indexed arXiv papers on artificial intelligence, large language models, computer vision and robotics. Read source abstracts and follow links to arXiv.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

The Separation of $\mathit{NP}$ and $\mathit{PSPACE}$

There is an important and interesting open question in computational complexity on the relation between the complexity classes $\mathcal{NP}$ and $\mathcal{PSPACE}$. It is a widespread belief that $\mathcal{NP}\ne\mathcal{PSPACE}$. In this paper, we confirm this conjecture affirmatively by showing that there is a language $L_d$ accepted by no polynomial-time nondeterministic Turing machines but accepted by a nondeterministic Turing machine running within space $O(n^k)$ for all $k\in\mathbb{N}_1$. We achieve this by virtue of the prerequisite of $$ {\rm NTIME}[S(n)]\subseteq{\rm DSPACE}[S(n)], $$ and then by diagonalization against all polynomial-time nondeterministic Turing machines via a universal nondeterministic Turing machine $M_0$. We further show that $L_d\in \mathcal{PSPACE}$, which leads to the conclusion $$ \mathcal{NP}\subsetneqq\mathcal{PSPACE}. $$ Our approach is based on standard diagonalization and novel new techniques developed in the author's recent works \cite{Lin21a,Lin21b} with some new refinement.

cs.CC↗

arXiv2026

Complexity Amplification from Compression in Quantum Random Access Optimization

Compressed quantum encodings aim to overcome hardware limitations towards tackling challenging problems at scale, with many classical variables mapped onto noncommuting observables of fewer qubits. Classically, relaxations such as the semidefinite program formulation of MaxCut trade solution quality for computational efficiency. By contrast, quantum relaxations based on compression can amplify the worst-case complexity of the problem being solved. We study quantum random access optimization (QRAO), a special case of the Pauli correlation encoding (PCE) framework that assigns up to three binary variables to the Pauli $X$, $Y$, and $Z$ observables of each qubit, with the packing choices determining the compressed Hamiltonian to be optimized. We identify explicit QRAO optimal energy promise problems complete for NP, StoqMA, and QMA, with inverse-polynomial promise gaps for the latter two. Our problem reductions preserve inverse-polynomial promise gaps without requiring gadgets or ancillas. For any prescribed packing, we show that weighted MaxCut instances compress, up to a known shift and rescaling, to arbitrary nonnegative-weight pairwise Pauli couplings allowed by the packing. For QRAO, using one aligned axis gives an NP-complete energy problem. Using two or three positive aligned Pauli axes generally gives QMA-complete problems, with bipartite restrictions in BQP $\cap$ StoqMA. We show that this computational hardness survives compilation and is practically relevant. Notably, this result applies directly to the current QRAO compiler implementation in Qiskit Optimization 0.7.0, confirming our hardness results are not artifacts of artificial or contrived packing rules. Altogether our results identify worst-case complexity barriers arising from quantum compression, while making no broad claims about typical cases or the performance and trainability of algorithm pipelines that use it.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2026

Vanilla Exact Synthesis of CNOT Circuits is NP-hard

Exact CNOT synthesis seeks a minimum-size circuit implementing a given invertible binary linear transformation. We study its vanilla formulation: synthesis from the identity on fixed labeled qubits, without ancillas and with all-to-all connectivity. We prove that this problem is NP-hard and that its bounded decision version is NP-complete. Hardness persists even for unitriangular targets that are low-rank perturbations of the identity and under near-linear gate budgets. Our proof gives a polynomial-time reduction from the NP-complete Hamiltonian path problem on grid graphs. A unary hypercube embedding translates graph vertices into circuit parities and edge traversals into CNOT updates. The central challenge is that Hamiltonian paths require intermediate vertex visits, whereas exact synthesis constrains only the final transformation. We bridge this gap with a replicated recorder qubits construction that encodes the required parities in the final outputs, together with a tight gate budget that forces every sufficiently short implementation to trace a Hamiltonian path. Crucially, this path structure is enforced by the construction rather than imposed as a restriction on the circuit. The result directly implies NP-hardness for shortest word problem and Cayley-graph distance computation over $\mathrm{GL}(n,2)$ with elementary transvections as generators, as well as fixed-width sequential XOR program minimization. For CNOT-minimal exact phase polynomial synthesis, it yields NP-hardness with a zero phase polynomial; extending the reduction to grid-graph Hamiltonian cycle problem establishes hardness even when the final linear transformation is the identity. These complementary results show that the linear and phase components each independently suffice for NP-hardness of exact phase polynomial synthesis.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2026

The Complexity of Recognizing SDP Exactness for the Maximum Cut Problem

The standard semidefinite programming (SDP) relaxation of Max-Cut is exact when its optimum equals the maximum cut value. Delorme and Poljak resolved NP-completeness of recognizing exactness for weighted graphs and left the unweighted case open. We show that recognition is NP-complete even for connected simple unweighted graphs, and hence strongly NP-complete for nonnegative integer edge weights. The reduction provides an explicit SDP optimum and makes the additive integrality gap equal to the minimum number of unsatisfied clauses in the source formula. Recognition remains NP-complete even when an exact rational optimal primal--dual pair is supplied. We also establish strong NP-hardness of recognizing exactness of the Frieze--Jerrum Max-$k$-Cut relaxation for every fixed $k\ge3$, even for connected graphs with nonnegative integer edge weights. An independent bounded-weight construction gives a second proof for Max-Cut. Finally, reductions preserving the additive gap up to explicit factors establish strong NP-completeness of exactness recognition for a basic Max-DiCut SDP and NP-hardness for a Max-Bisection SDP.

math.OC↗

arXiv2026

Constructive solvability and the P versus NP problem

The relation between the computational complexity class NP and other complexity classes is addressed in the context of provability and limitations on the possibility of finding sound axioms for formal theories. We construct a family D of decision problems and show that under a certain finiteness condition, D contains a problem which is in NP. Further, it is shown that if the term ``constructible theory'' is defined in a way satisfying a specific natural condition, then no constructible and sound theory verifies a solution algorithm for any of the problems in D. Arguably, this solves the P versus NP problem under a constructive interpretation. The relation to classical proofs of NP $\subseteq$ EXPTIME is discussed. These proofs tacitly use an assumption which may fail for problems in D.

cs.CC↗

arXiv2026

Has quantum advantage been achieved?

Quantum computational advantage was claimed for the first time in 2019 and several experiments since then have reinforced and strengthened the claim. At the same time, a new generation of quantum computing devices with 100 logical qubits is being built. This raises two questions: Has quantum advantage actually been achieved? And what should our next milestones be for the upcoming 100-logical-qubit era? In this perspective, I argue that, in fact, quantum advantage has been achieved. The status today is analogous to Bell-inequality violations in the 1980s where some loopholes remain open, specifically, scalability and verifiability. I then outline three milestones for the 100-logical-qubit era aiming to close those loopholes: demonstrate fault-tolerant quantum advantage, perform efficiently verifiable advantage using random circuits with symmetries, and eventually demonstrate classically verifiable advantage with applications to certified randomness. These milestones are also natural stepping stones towards running algorithms with cryptographic applications.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2026

On Solving Problems of Substantially Super-linear Complexity in $N^{o(1)}$ Rounds in the MPC Model

We study the possibility of designing $N^{o(1)}$-round protocols for problems of substantially super-linear polynomial-time (sequential) complexity in the model of Massively Parallel Computation, where $N$ is the input size. We show that if the machines are not equipped with relatively large local memory and their number does not exceed $N$, then the exponent of the average time complexity of the local computation performed by a machine in a round (in terms of local memory size) in such protocols must be larger than the exponent of the time complexity of the given problem.

cs.DC↗

arXiv2026

Polynomial-time isomorphism test for solvable groups with abelian Sylow subgroups

The group isomorphism problem in computational complexity asks whether two finite groups given by their Cayley tables are isomorphic or not. Although polynomial-time isomorphism tests exist for many specific types of groups, no general polynomial-time algorithm is known, classes of solvable and nilpotent groups being the main obstacles. In 2012 Babai and Qiao gave a polynomial-time isomorphism test for the class of solvable groups admitting normal series with abelian Sylow factors. We generalize their result and give a polynomial-time isomorphism test for solvable A-groups, i.e. solvable groups with abelian Sylow subgroups. The algorithm heavily relies both on the computational methods developed by Babai and Qiao, and structural properties of A-groups.

math.GR↗

arXiv2026

Quantum Kravchuk Transform using $\mathfrak{su}(2)$ fast-forwarding

We present a quantum algorithm for the Kravchuk transform that scales logarithmically in both the dimension and the inverse of the error parameter. The quantum Kravchuk transform maps computational basis states to states with amplitudes proportional to Kravchuk functions. We achieve this by combining two key techniques: the structural relationship between the Kravchuk transform and the Lie algebras $\mathfrak{su}(2)$, and a recent fast-forwarding simulation method for $\mathfrak{su}(2)$ operators in the oscillator representation. More precisely, we first establish the map from Kravchuk transform in computational basis to $\mathfrak{su}(2)$ in Fock basis. Then built on this connection, we apply the fast-forwarding to achieve an efficient quantum Kravchuk transform.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2026

A Unified Complexity Framework for Quantum Property Testing

We develop a unified framework for analyzing the complexity of quantum property testing through functionals of the form $\mathcal{L}_ϕ(ρ) = \operatorname{tr}(ϕ(dρ))/d$, where $ρ$ is an unknown $d$-dimensional quantum state and $ϕ$ is a given function. A master theorem is established that derives sample complexity lower bounds for estimating $\mathcal{L}_ϕ(ρ)$ from properties of $ϕ$, combining Haar-random moment encoding with moment matching and best polynomial approximation. Corresponding query complexity lower bounds follow from quantum sample-to-query lifting. The framework yields nearly tight bounds for a broad class of problems, including entropy estimation (von Neumann, Rényi, and Tsallis), closeness estimation (trace distance and Uhlmann fidelity), spectrum estimation, rank testing (operator rank, Schmidt rank, and matrix product states). Combined with known upper bounds, these results resolve several open problems and establish the optimality of 31 quantum algorithms since 2015, up to polylogarithmic factors.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2026

An Elementary Proof of the $\widetilde O(n^{1/3})$ Bound for Separating Words

For two distinct binary words of length $n$, the separating words problem asks for a small deterministic finite automaton that accepts exactly one of them. Chase proved a $\widetilde O(n^{1/3})$ upper bound using a complex-analytic estimate for sparse polynomials. We replace that estimate by a finite-difference argument and a second-order real recurrence cutoff. The resulting elementary proof gives an explicit bound of $O(n^{1/3}(\log n)^{7/3})$ states.

cs.FL↗

arXiv2026

Homomorphism Indistinguishability, Multiplicity Automata Equivalence, and Polynomial Identity Testing

Two graphs $G$ and $H$ are homomorphism indistinguishable over a graph class $\mathcal{F}$ if they admit the same number of homomorphisms from every graph $F \in \mathcal{F}$. Many graph isomorphism relaxations such as (quantum) isomorphism and cospectrality can be characterised as homomorphism indistinguishability over specific graph classes. Thereby, the problems $\textrm{HomInd}(\mathcal{F})$ of deciding homomorphism indistinguishability over $\mathcal{F}$ subsume diverse graph isomorphism relaxations whose complexities range from logspace to undecidable. Establishing the first general result on the complexity of $\textrm{HomInd}(\mathcal{F})$, Seppelt (MFCS 2024) showed that $\textrm{HomInd}(\mathcal{F})$ is in randomised polynomial time for every graph class $\mathcal{F}$ of bounded treewidth that can be defined in counting monadic second-order logic $\mathsf{CMSO}_2$. We show that this algorithm is conditionally optimal, i.e. it cannot be derandomised unless polynomial identity testing is in $\mathsf{PTIME}$. For $\mathsf{CMSO}_2$-definable graph classes $\mathcal{F}$ of bounded pathwidth, we improve the previous complexity upper bound for $\textrm{HomInd}(\mathcal{F})$ from $\mathsf{PTIME}$ to $\mathsf{C}_=\mathsf{L}$ and show that this is tight. Secondarily, we establish a connection between homomorphism indistinguishability and multiplicity automata equivalence which allows us to pinpoint the complexity of the latter problem as $\mathsf{C}_=\mathsf{L}$-complete.

cs.CC↗

arXiv2026

RevCRN: Reversible Analog Computation using Chemical Reaction Networks

The computability of real numbers and functions using Turing Machines has been a central area of theoretical computer science since the mid-20th century. In the late 20th century, it was shown that chemical reactions can serve as a basis for computation using the Chemical Reaction Network (CRN) model. Recent advances in computing real numbers using Deterministic Chemical Reaction Networks (DCRNs) have identified numerous classes of DCRN-computable real numbers. In parallel, the works of R. Landauer and C. H. Bennett, spanning the 1960s to the early 2000s, showed that reversible computing offers significant advantages over irreversible methods, particularly in energy efficiency, motivating extensive research on reversible computation. In this work, we investigate the computability of real numbers using Reversible Chemical Reaction Networks (RevCRNs). The paper has two primary contributions: (1) establishing relationships among CRN-computable real number classes including Lyapunov CRN ($\mathbb{R}_{LCRN}$), Real-Time CRN ($\mathbb{R}_{RTCRN}$), rational numbers ($\mathbb{Q}$), and RevCRNs ($\mathbb{R}_{RevCRN}$), with key results: (i) $\mathbb{Q}$ is a strict subset of $\mathbb{R}_{RevCRN}$; (ii) the set of positive algebraic numbers ($ALG$), $\mathbb{R}_{LCRN}$, and real numbers computable by 1-species RevCRN ($\mathbb{R}_{RevCRN}^{1s}$) are equal; (iii) $\mathbb{R}_{RTCRN}$ and $\mathbb{R}_{RevCRN}$ exhibit non-empty overlap; and (iv) the set of real numbers computable by detailed-balanced RevCRNs ($\mathbb{R}^{DetBal}_{RevCRN}$) is a subset of $ALG$; and (2) exploring the existence of a hierarchy within $\mathbb{R}_{RevCRN}$. Finally, we leave open the exact relationship between $\mathbb{R}_{RevCRN}$ and $\mathbb{R}_{RTCRN}$ while conjecturing a general hierarchy of RevCRN-computable reals.

cs.CC↗

arXiv2026

Adversarial Resilience of Poisson-Process Submodular Maximization over Matroids, and Full-Bandit Learning

We study nonnegative submodular maximization on $n$ elements subject to a general matroid of rank $k$, when the offline algorithm is given an arbitrary controlled value oracle. Our main result is an adversarial resilience theorem for the Spiteful Greedy Swap Poisson Process (SGS-Poisson): without modifying its Poisson intensity, single-element exchange rule, or spiteful drop step, the algorithm retains limiting approximation factors $1/e$ for non-monotone objectives and $1-1/e$ for monotone objectives. More precisely, given an error bound $ξ\ge0$, under every controlled oracle $\widehat f$ satisfying $|\widehat f(S)-f(S)|\le ξ$ for every set $S$, our implementation returns a feasible set with expected value at least $(1/e-\varepsilon)OPT-O(kξ)$ and $(1-1/e-\varepsilon)OPT-O(kξ)$, respectively, where $OPT$ is the feasible optimum. The implementation uses a \emph{deterministically bounded} budget of $O(nk^{2}\varepsilon^{-2}\log n\log^{2}(1/\varepsilon))$ oracle calls. As a consequence, an offline-to-online reduction yields full-bandit combinatorial multi-armed bandit (CMAB) algorithms for general matroid-constrained submodular rewards with exact limiting approximation-regret factors $1/e$ and $1-1/e$ and $\widetilde O(n^{1/5}k^{4/5}T^{4/5})$ regret over $T$ rounds. These online guarantees allow exploration to play sets that become independent after deleting at most one element; exploitation and the benchmark remain matroid-feasible. For unit-capacity partition matroids we obtain $\widetilde O(n^{1/5}k^{3/5}T^{4/5})$ under the same exploration relaxation. We establish a deterministic query budget by truncating the Poisson process and identify the enlarged action set needed to answer its offline queries.

cs.LG↗

arXiv2026

Random Garbage Separates XOR from Forward-Only Queries

We give exponential quantum query separations between the standard XOR interface and two forward-only interfaces that supply neither an adjoint nor an inverse oracle. Let $X=\F_2^n$, $N=|X|$, and $f_{h,r}(x)=(h(x),x,r_x)$, where $h:X\to X$ is promised to be either a permutation or a Simon two-to-one function, and $r$ is a fixed table of $n$-bit tags, unrestricted by the promise and reused on every query. The resulting problem is solvable with at most $n+2$ standard XOR queries, but has forward-erasing query complexity $Θ(\sqrt N)$. This answers affirmatively open question 11 in [Scott Aaronson. Open problems related to quantum query complexity. ACM Transactions on Quantum Computing, 2(4):14:1-14:9, 2021] . We also embed these instances into permutations. The detailed construction retains the copy of $x$ in each prescribed output, but for these promises that copy can be replaced by one bit that distinguishes the two inputs in every Simon pair. This gives a permutation domain of size $L=4N^2$ and a permutation problem with the same standard-query upper bound and forward-only in-place query complexity $Θ(\sqrt N)=Θ(L^{1/4})$. Both lower bounds remain valid with a clean coherent bypass. The common lower bound uses an analysis-only recording replacement. In the replacement computation, tracing out the fixed random tag table after $T$ calls gives a sum of positive-semidefinite operator contributions, each depending on $h$ at no more than $T$ addresses. On such a set, the restrictions induced by random permutations and random Simon functions differ only if the set contains a hidden Simon pair, an event of probability $O(T^2/N)$.

cs.CC↗

arXiv2026

A PTAS for Non-Adaptive Stochastic Top-$k$ Sum under General Combinatorial Constraints

We study non-adaptive selection of a feasible set $S$ that maximizes the expected sum of the $k$ largest realized values among independent nonnegative discrete random variables. The same objective arises in team hiring and as VCG welfare in an $\ell$-unit auction. The main setting is a fixed-dimensional nonnegative packing family, whose natural LP has $d=O(1)$ packing inequalities with binary coefficients. We give a PTAS for every $k\ge 1$ on every such family, including binary one- and two-dimensional knapsack, by approximating the occupancy functional $p\mapsto\mathbb{E}[\min(k,N(p))]$ and realizing the resulting signatures in the packing LP. As a generic guarantee the scheme is essentially optimal: there is no FPTAS that works for every such $\mathcal{F}$ unless $P=NP$, and no EPTAS unless $W[1]=FPT$. An incomparable sufficient condition is a query-weight exact-sum oracle (DAG paths, matchings), which likewise yields a PTAS for every $k$. The same signatures give a PTAS for $\min_{S\in\mathcal{F}}\mathbb{E}[\mathrm{Top}_k(S)]$ on every fixed-$d$ covering family; two-dimensional covering knapsack rules out a generic FPTAS on that class.

cs.DS↗

arXiv2026

Resilience in labeled real-time automata

In this paper, we characterize resilience for a labeled real-time automaton (LRTA). An LRTA is resilient if whenever a faulty event occurs, after sufficiently many events occur, the LRTA returns to normalcy and the occurrence of the faulty event is not leaked. The notion of resilience reflects the ability of an LRTA recovering from a faulty behavior, and hence can model an intelligent agent. We formulate one definition of resilience for an LRTA and give verification algorithms for the definition based on two basic tools --- concurrent composition and observer.

cs.CC↗

arXiv2026

2-Fold Forrelation is in QAC$^0$

We show that 2-fold Forrelation with inverse-polylogarithmic promise gap can be solved, with bounded error, by polynomial-size QAC$^0$ circuits. Unlike the standard oracle-based Forrelation algorithm, our circuits receive the input explicitly, in the same form as the AC$^0$ circuits against which Forrelation is known to be hard. At constant gap, this yields a natural promise-problem separation between QAC$^0$ and AC$^0$.

quant-ph↗