Quantum Submodular Maximization

Abstract:We study the quantum query complexity of maximizing a non-negative submodular function, considering both the unconstrained setting and, for monotone functions, a cardinality constraint $k$ on an $n$-element ground set. In the exact reversible digital value-oracle model, our unconstrained algorithm achieves an expected $(1/2-\varepsilon)$-approximation using only $O_\varepsilon(\log n)$ queries. In contrast, any classical randomized algorithm that attains a fixed expected ratio above $1/4$ requires $\Omega(n/\log n)$ queries (Li, Feldman, Kazemi, and Karbasi, 2022), establishing an exponential separation in query complexity. For cardinality-constrained maximization, we give a bounded-error quantum algorithm that achieves a $(1-1/e-\varepsilon)$-approximation using $\widetilde O_\varepsilon(\min\{\sqrt n,n/k\})$ queries. When $k=o(n)$, our algorithm achieves at least a quadratic speedup up to logarithmic factors over classical randomized algorithms (Mirzasoleiman, Badanidiyuru, Karbasi, Vondrák, and Krause, 2015; Peng and Rubinstein, 2025). Moreover, when $k=cn$ for any fixed rational $c<1-1/e-\varepsilon$, the query complexity reduces to $O_{\varepsilon,c}(\log n)$, yielding an exponential separation from the classical $\Omega(n/\log n)$ lower bound (Li, Feldman, Kazemi, and Karbasi, 2022). We further prove quantum lower bounds of $\exp(\Omega(\varepsilon^2n))$ queries for achieving a ratio beyond $1/2+\varepsilon$ without constraints, and $\exp(\Omega(\varepsilon^2k))$ queries for exceeding $1-1/e+\varepsilon$ when $k/n\le\varepsilon$. These barriers demonstrate that quantum computation offers no exponential speedup at these approximation thresholds.

Quantum Physics (quant-ph); Computational Complexity (cs.CC); Data Structures and Algorithms (cs.DS)

arXiv:2610.04560 [quant-ph]

(or arXiv:2610.04560v1 [quant-ph] for this version)

https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2610.04560 Focus to learn more arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite (pending registration)

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