Complexity and Applications of Nearest Stabilizer Product State Problems

Abstract: Consider the following optimization problem over stabilizer product states: given an $n$-qubit stabilizer state $\left|ψ\right\rangle$ and a set of single-qubit stabilizer states $S$, maximize $$\left|\langle ψ| φ_1, \ldots, φ_n \rangle\right|<sup>2$$ over single-qubit stabilizer states $\left|φ_i\right\rangle \in S$. By varying the set $S$, we show that solutions to this problem can be useful in a variety of settings: tighter runtime bounds for certain classical simulation algorithms; measures of entanglement; and the complexity of low-rank matrix completion. Moreover, we give a complete complexity classification of this nearest stabilizer product state problem. After accounting for the symmetries in the Clifford group, there are $9$ distinct possible sets $S$, and we show that all but the two simplest of these are $\NP$-complete.