Paper detail

Solving UNIQUE-SAT in a Modal Quantum Theory

In recent work, Benjamin Schumacher and Michael D. Westmoreland investigate a version of quantum mechanics which they call modal quantum theory. This theory is obtained by instantiating the mathematical framework of Hilbert spaces with a finite field instead of the field of complex numbers. This instantiation collapses much the structure of actual quantum mechanics but retains several of its distinguishing characteristics including the notions of superposition, interference, and entanglement. Furthermore, modal quantum theory excludes local hidden variable models, has a no-cloning theorem, and can express natural counterparts of quantum information protocols such as superdense coding and teleportation. We show that the problem of UNIQUE-SAT --- which decides whether a given Boolean formula is unsatisfiable or has exactly one satisfying assignment --- is deterministically solvable in any modal quantum theory in constant time. The solution exploits the lack of orthogonality in modal quantum theories and is not directly applicable to actual quantum theory.