Testing quantum satisfiability

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that quantum k-SAT problems can be efficiently tested using property testing techniques, distinguishing satisfiable instances from those far from satisfiable by product states with high probability.

Contribution

It introduces a property testing approach for quantum k-SAT, leveraging classical results to efficiently differentiate between satisfiable and far-from-satisfiable instances.

Findings

Quantum k-SAT can be solved in randomized polynomial time under certain promises.

Most subproblems in satisfiable instances are product state satisfiable.

Most subproblems in far-from-satisfiable instances are product state unsatisfiable.

Abstract

Quantum k-SAT (the problem of determining whether a k-local Hamiltonian is frustration-free) is known to be QMA_1-complete for k >= 3, and hence likely hard for quantum computers to solve. Building on a classical result of Alon and Shapira, we show that quantum k-SAT can be solved in randomised polynomial time given the `property testing' promise that the instance is either satisfiable (by any state) or far from satisfiable by a product state; by `far from satisfiable by a product state' we mean that \epsilon n^k constraints must be removed before a product state solution exists, for some fixed \epsilon > 0. The proof has two steps: we first show that for a satisfiable instance of quantum k-SAT, most subproblems on a constant number of qubits are satisfiable by a product state. We then show that for an instance of quantum k-SAT which is far from satisfiable by a product state, most subproblems are unsatisfiable by a product state. Given the promise, quantum k-SAT may therefore be solved by checking satisfiability by a product state on randomly chosen subsystems of constant size.