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Quantum state isomorphism problems for groups

arXiv Quantum Physics
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⚡ Quantum Brief
Researchers proved quantum state isomorphism problems—determining if two quantum states are related by a group action—are BQP-hard for all nontrivial groups, establishing fundamental computational limits for pure-state cases. For abelian groups, the problem reduces to the state hidden subgroup problem over generalized dihedral groups, while for the Clifford group, it matches Graph Isomorphism’s hardness under polynomial-time reductions. The mixed-state version is QSZK-complete for finite, efficiently representable groups, resolving an open question from 2025 by proving QSZK-hardness for abelian state hidden subgroup problems on mixed states. For infinite groups like bosonic linear optical unitaries, the problem—using stellar wave function representations—is at least as hard as Graph Isomorphism and contained in NP ∩ SZK. This work expands prior studies limited to symmetric groups, offering refined complexity classifications for Pauli (BQP-complete) and Clifford groups, advancing quantum computational complexity theory.
Quantum state isomorphism problems for groups

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Quantum Physics arXiv:2605.12615 (quant-ph) [Submitted on 12 May 2026] Title:Quantum state isomorphism problems for groups Authors:Alexandru Gheorghiu, Dale Jacobs, Saeed Mehraban, Arsalan Motamedi View a PDF of the paper titled Quantum state isomorphism problems for groups, by Alexandru Gheorghiu and 3 other authors View PDF HTML (experimental) Abstract:We study the computational complexity of quantum state isomorphism problems under group actions: given two quantum circuits that prepare pure or mixed states, decide whether the two states are related by a group action. This can be seen as a quantum state version of the Hidden Shift Problem, in much the same way that the State Hidden Subgroup Problem is a quantum version of the ordinary Hidden Subgroup Problem. We prove several results for this computational problem: - For the pure-state version, we show that the problem is BQP-hard for all nontrivial groups, and contained in QCMA $\cap$ QCSZK. We further obtain refined results for specific groups of interest: for abelian groups we show that the problem reduces to the state hidden subgroup problem over the generalized dihedral group; for the Clifford group, the problem is at least as hard as Graph Isomorphism under polynomial-time reductions; for the Pauli group it is BQP-complete. - For the mixed-state version, for nontrivial, finite and efficiently representable groups, the problem is QSZK-complete. - We also study a variant of this problem over an infinite group, in particular, the bosonic linear optical unitaries. We show that in the setting where the classical description of the quantum state is given in a suitable wave function representation known as the stellar representation, the problem is at least as hard as Graph Isomorphism, and is contained in NP $\cap$ SZK. Prior to our work, state isomorphism problems had only been studied for the symmetric group [LG17]. As a consequence of our results, we resolve an open question posed in [HEC25] about the existence of a quantum algorithm for the abelian state hidden subgroup problem on mixed states. We show that this problem is QSZK-hard in the worst case, thereby ruling out an efficient quantum algorithm unless QSZK = BQP. Subjects: Quantum Physics (quant-ph); Computational Complexity (cs.CC) Cite as: arXiv:2605.12615 [quant-ph] (or arXiv:2605.12615v1 [quant-ph] for this version) https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2605.12615 Focus to learn more arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite (pending registration) Submission history From: Dale Jacobs [view email] [v1] Tue, 12 May 2026 18:05:27 UTC (52 KB) Full-text links: Access Paper: View a PDF of the paper titled Quantum state isomorphism problems for groups, by Alexandru Gheorghiu and 3 other authorsView PDFHTML (experimental)TeX Source view license Current browse context: quant-ph new | recent | 2026-05 Change to browse by: cs cs.CC References & Citations INSPIRE HEP NASA ADSGoogle Scholar Semantic Scholar export BibTeX citation Loading... BibTeX formatted citation × loading... Data provided by: Bookmark Bibliographic Tools Bibliographic and Citation Tools Bibliographic Explorer Toggle Bibliographic Explorer (What is the Explorer?) Connected Papers Toggle Connected Papers (What is Connected Papers?) Litmaps Toggle Litmaps (What is Litmaps?) scite.ai Toggle scite Smart Citations (What are Smart Citations?) Code, Data, Media Code, Data and Media Associated with this Article alphaXiv Toggle alphaXiv (What is alphaXiv?) Links to Code Toggle CatalyzeX Code Finder for Papers (What is CatalyzeX?) DagsHub Toggle DagsHub (What is DagsHub?) GotitPub Toggle Gotit.pub (What is GotitPub?) Huggingface Toggle Hugging Face (What is Huggingface?) ScienceCast Toggle ScienceCast (What is ScienceCast?) Demos Demos Replicate Toggle Replicate (What is Replicate?) Spaces Toggle Hugging Face Spaces (What is Spaces?) Spaces Toggle TXYZ.AI (What is TXYZ.AI?) Related Papers Recommenders and Search Tools Link to Influence Flower Influence Flower (What are Influence Flowers?) Core recommender toggle CORE Recommender (What is CORE?) Author Venue Institution Topic About arXivLabs arXivLabs: experimental projects with community collaborators arXivLabs is a framework that allows collaborators to develop and share new arXiv features directly on our website. Both individuals and organizations that work with arXivLabs have embraced and accepted our values of openness, community, excellence, and user data privacy. arXiv is committed to these values and only works with partners that adhere to them. Have an idea for a project that will add value for arXiv's community? Learn more about arXivLabs. Which authors of this paper are endorsers? | Disable MathJax (What is MathJax?)

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Source: arXiv Quantum Physics