Polyhedral Classical Simulators for Quantum Computation

Abstract

Quantum advantage in computation refers to the existence of computational tasks that can be performed efficiently on a quantum computer but cannot be efficiently simulated on any classical computer. Identifying the precise boundary of efficient classical simulability is a central challenge and motivates the development of new simulation paradigms. In this paper, we introduce polyhedral classical simulators, a framework for classical simulation grounded in polyhedral geometry. This framework encompasses well-known methods such as the Gottesman-Knill algorithm, while also extending naturally to more recent models of quantum computation, including those based on magic states and measurement-based quantum computation. We show how this framework unifies and extends existing simulation methods while at the same time providing a geometric roadmap for pushing the boundary of efficient classical simulation further.