Abstract

Quantum query complexity is known to be characterized by the so-called quantum adversary bound. While this result has been proved in the standard discrete time model of quantum computation, it also holds for continuous-time (or Hamiltonian based) quantum computation, due to a known equivalence between these two query complexity models. In this work, we revisit this result by providing a direct proof in the continuous-time model. One originality of our proof is that it draws new connections between the adversary bound, a modern theoretical computer science technique, and early theorems of quantum mechanics. Indeed, the proof of the lower bound is based on Ehrenfest’s theorem, while the upper bound relies on the Adiabatic theorem, as it goes by constructing an optimal adiabatic quantum query algorithm.