Quantum search of partially ordered sets

Abstract

We investigate the generalisation of quantum search of unstructured and totally ordered sets to search of partially ordered sets (posets). Two models for poset search are considered. In both models, we show that quantum algorithms can achieve at most a quadratic improvement in query complexity over classical algorithms, up to logarithmic factors; we also give quantum algorithms that almost achieve this optimal reduction in complexity. In one model, we give an improved quantum algorithm for searching forest-like posets; in the other, we give an optimal O(sqrt(m))-query quantum algorithm for searching posets derived from m*m arrays sorted by rows and columns. This leads to a quantum algorithm that finds the intersection of two sorted lists of n integers in O(sqrt(n)) time, which is optimal.