Quantum speedups for dynamic programming on $n$-dimensional lattice graphs

TL;DR

This paper explores quantum algorithms that provide speedups for solving pathfinding problems on n-dimensional lattice graphs, generalizing previous results on hypercubes and applying the findings to the Set Multicover problem.

Contribution

It introduces a quantum algorithm for n-dimensional lattice graphs with complexity improvements over classical methods, extending prior hypercube results and analyzing the complexity with advanced mathematical tools.

Findings

Quantum algorithm achieves complexity T_D^n with T_D < D+1

Lower bound T_D ≥ (D+1)/e shows limited speedup for large D

Application to Set Multicover problem demonstrates practical relevance

Abstract

Motivated by the quantum speedup for dynamic programming on the Boolean hypercube by Ambainis et al. (2019), we investigate which graphs admit a similar quantum advantage. In this paper, we examine a generalization of the Boolean hypercube graph, the $n$-dimensional lattice graph $Q(D,n)$ with vertices in $\{0,1,\ldots,D\}^n$. We study the complexity of the following problem: given a subgraph $G$ of $Q(D,n)$ via query access to the edges, determine whether there is a path from $0^n$ to $D^n$. While the classical query complexity is $\widetilde{\Theta}((D+1)^n)$, we show a quantum algorithm with complexity $\widetilde O(T_D^n)$, where $T_D < D+1$. The first few values of $T_D$ are $T_1 \approx 1.817$, $T_2 \approx 2.660$, $T_3 \approx 3.529$, $T_4 \approx 4.421$, $T_5 \approx 5.332$. We also prove that $T_D \geq \frac{D+1}{\mathrm e}$, thus for general $D$, this algorithm does not provide, for example, a speedup, polynomial in the size of the lattice. While the presented quantum algorithm is a natural generalization of the known quantum algorithm for $D=1$ by Ambainis et al., the analysis of complexity is rather complicated. For the precise analysis, we use the saddle-point method, which is a common tool in analytic combinatorics, but has not been widely used in this field. We then show an implementation of this algorithm with time complexity $\text{poly}(n)^{\log n} T_D^n$, and apply it to the Set Multicover problem. In this problem, $m$ subsets of $[n]$ are given, and the task is to find the smallest number of these subsets that cover each element of $[n]$ at least $D$ times. While the time complexity of the best known classical algorithm is $O(m(D+1)^n)$, the time complexity of our quantum algorithm is $\text{poly}(m,n)^{\log n} T_D^n$.