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Algorithms · Quantum query algorithm

Testing commutativity of a black-box group

Given a list of k generators for a group G together with black-box access to group multiplication, decide whether G is commutative using as few queries to that black box as possible.

Attested & literatureUpdated

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  • Record typeLiterature reference
  • Speedup class (secondary source)Polynomial
  • Primary source on the speedupNot checked against the primary source yet
  • Reported costO(k^(2/3)) for a black-box group given by k generators, with a lower bound of Ω(k^(2/3)) obtained by reduction from a special case of Element Distinctness; the Zoo records the resulting quantum query complexity as Θ̃(k^(2/3)). The classical baseline is Pak's randomized algorithm involving O(k) group operations, which the same paper states it proves optimal for the randomized model.
  • Papers1

References

  • Quantum Complexity of Testing Group Commutativity

    Frederic Magniez, Ashwin Nayak · 2005

    Primary source: it constructs the quantum algorithm whose complexity is in O(k^(2/3)) for a black-box group given by k generators, credits the construction to the quantization method of Szegedy, derives the Ω(k^(2/3)) lower bound by reduction from a special case of Element Distinctness, and reports a proof that Pak's O(k) randomized algorithm is optimal for the randomized model. Consult it for the black-box group model it assumes and for the special case of Element Distinctness the reduction uses.

Attested & literature
  • Peer-reviewed paper
Method
Curation only. The problem statement was recorded from the literature; the speedup class is not yet checked against the record's own primary paper; the primary reference's title, authors and submission year were read from its arXiv abs page; the complexity claim was taken from a clause of that paper's abstract (abstract of arXiv:quant-ph/0506265, quoted as it is written there: "We construct a quite optimal quantum algorithm for this problem whose complexity is in O (k^{2/3})", "For the lower bound of Omega(k^{2/3}), we give a reduction from a special case of Element Distinctness to our problem", and, for the classical side, "who gave a randomized algorithm involving O(k) group operations" together with "we prove the optimality of the algorithm of Pak for the randomized model"; Quantum Algorithm Zoo entry "Group Commutativity" (LaTeX rendered into Unicode): "Magniez and Nayak have shown that the quantum query complexity of this task is Θ̃(k^(2/3))". The Zoo's tilde absorbs logarithmic factors that the abstract's "O (k^{2/3})" does not display.). No circuit was constructed, simulated or run.
Result
Pass · the record's problem, speedup class and primary reference agree with the two sources named above.
Caveat
This is a literature record: no group was represented, no multiplication black box was implemented, and no circuit was built, compiled, simulated or run. The counts are queries to that black box — group operations — so they bound neither gate count nor circuit depth, and the cost of realizing group multiplication for a concrete G on hardware is outside this record. The two sources state the bound in two notations that are not identical: the Zoo writes Θ̃(k^(2/3)), whose tilde absorbs logarithmic factors, while the abstract's clause carries no tilde and calls the algorithm quite optimal rather than optimal; this record does not resolve the gap those two hedges leave. Everything above is measured in k, the number of generators supplied, and not in the order of G or the length of its element encodings, so nothing here bounds cost as a function of group size. The Ω(k^(2/3)) lower bound is recorded as the paper's, by reduction from a special case of Element Distinctness that is not characterized here, and the proof of optimality for Pak's randomized algorithm is likewise reported rather than re-derived.
Quantum Complexity of Testing Group Commutativity ↗
Kind
curated reference
Reviewed by
Leona Quantum curation pass
License
Citation metadata only; source publication terms apply
group commutativityblack-box groupelement distinctnessquery complexityszegedy quantization

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