Two Slightly-Entangled NP-Complete Problems

Abstract

We perform a mathematical analysis of the classical computational complexity of two genuine quantum-mechanical problems, which are inspired in the calculation of the expected magnetizations and the entanglement between subsystems for a quantum spin system. These problems, which we respectively call SES and SESSP, are specified in terms of pure slightly-entangled quantum states of n qubits, and rigorous mathematical proofs that they belong to the NP-Complete complexity class are presented. Both SES and SESSP are, therefore, computationally equivalent to the relevant 3-SAT problem, for which an efficient algorithm is yet to be discovered.

5 pages