Asymmetric graphs with quantum symmetry

Abstract: We present a sequence of finite graphs with trivial automorphism group and non-trivial quantum automorphism group, which are the first known examples of graphs with this property. The examples are based on solution groups to (binary) linear systems. We first show that the dual of every solution group occurs as the quantum automorphism group of some graph, and then construct an infinite sequence of systems whose solution groups are nontrivial but perfect, i.e., they have trivial abelianizations. We also prove a weak quantum analog of Frucht's theorem, namely that every classical finite group $\Gamma$ can occur as the quantum automorphism group of a graph. Moreover there are graphs $G_1$ and $G_2$ such that $\mathrm{Aut}(G_1) \cong \Gamma \cong \mathrm{Aut}(G_2)$, but $\mathrm{Qut}(G_1) \not \cong \mathrm{Qut}(G_2)$ for any finite group $\Gamma$. This allows us to answer several open questions from the literature, such as proving that there do not exist any "quantum excluding groups". Additionally, we present a procedure that allows us to decolor the vertices of any vertex-colored graph while preserving its quantum automorphism group.