Classical and quantum algorithms for characters of the symmetric group

Fuente: arXiv
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Autori principali: Bravyi, Sergey, Gosset, David, Havlicek, Vojtech, Schatzki, Louis
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2025
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author Bravyi, Sergey
Gosset, David
Havlicek, Vojtech
Schatzki, Louis
author_facet Bravyi, Sergey
Gosset, David
Havlicek, Vojtech
Schatzki, Louis
contents Characters of irreducible representations are ubiquitous in group theory. However, computing characters of some groups such as the symmetric group $S_n$ is a challenging problem known to be $\#P$-hard in the worst case. Here we describe a Matrix Product State (MPS) algorithm for characters of $S_n$. The algorithm computes an MPS encoding all irreducible characters of a given permutation. It relies on a mapping from characters of $S_n$ to quantum spin chains proposed by Crichigno and Prakash. We also provide a simpler derivation of this mapping. We complement this result by presenting a $poly(n)$ size quantum circuit that prepares the corresponding MPS, obtaining an efficient quantum algorithm for certain sampling problems based on characters of $S_n$. To assess classical hardness of these problems we present a general reduction from strong simulation (computing a given probability) to weak simulation (sampling with a small error). This reduction applies to any sampling problem with a certain granularity structure and may be of independent interest.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2501_12579
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Classical and quantum algorithms for characters of the symmetric group
Bravyi, Sergey
Gosset, David
Havlicek, Vojtech
Schatzki, Louis
Quantum Physics
Characters of irreducible representations are ubiquitous in group theory. However, computing characters of some groups such as the symmetric group $S_n$ is a challenging problem known to be $\#P$-hard in the worst case. Here we describe a Matrix Product State (MPS) algorithm for characters of $S_n$. The algorithm computes an MPS encoding all irreducible characters of a given permutation. It relies on a mapping from characters of $S_n$ to quantum spin chains proposed by Crichigno and Prakash. We also provide a simpler derivation of this mapping. We complement this result by presenting a $poly(n)$ size quantum circuit that prepares the corresponding MPS, obtaining an efficient quantum algorithm for certain sampling problems based on characters of $S_n$. To assess classical hardness of these problems we present a general reduction from strong simulation (computing a given probability) to weak simulation (sampling with a small error). This reduction applies to any sampling problem with a certain granularity structure and may be of independent interest.
title Classical and quantum algorithms for characters of the symmetric group
topic Quantum Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2501.12579