Explicit relation between all lower bound techniques for quantum query complexity

Abstract: The polynomial method and the adversary method are the two main techniques to prove lower bounds on quantum query complexity, and they have so far been considered as unrelated approaches. Here, we show an explicit reduction from the polynomial method to the multiplicative adversary method. The proof goes by extending the polynomial method from Boolean functions to quantum state generation problems. In the process, the bound is even strengthened. We then show that this extended polynomial method is a special case of the multiplicative adversary method with an adversary matrix that is independent of the function. This new result therefore provides insight on the reason why in some cases the adversary method is stronger than the polynomial method. It also reveals a clear picture of the relation between the different lower bound techniques, as it implies that all known techniques reduce to the multiplicative adversary method.