Suppose a reversible circuit computes the angle bits in , where are known binary place values. Apply a controlled unitary gate to the target for each set angle bit. The rotations about the y-axis commute and their angles add, giving . Finally perform uncomputation of the angle and arithmetic workspace. An -bit angle needs controlled rotations and twice the reversible angle-computation cost. This preserves coherent superpositions of inputs and underlies the HHL controlled reciprocal rotation.
Cyclic periodicity on implies that the least positive period divides : the shifts preserving the function form a subgroup of the cyclic group. Injectivity within one period says that distinct residue classes modulo have distinct function values. Write .
Prepare the uniform superposition state by applying the quantum Fourier transform to , and evaluate reversibly into a second quantum register. This is efficient because the given classical Boolean circuit can be converted into a reversible circuit, with its workspace cleaned by uncomputation. The resulting quantum state is
Measuring the function quantum register leaves a uniform coset state for some . The amplitude at after a quantum Fourier transform is
The finite geometric series is zero unless is a multiple of , and then equals . Thus a computational-basis measurement produces a uniform Fourier sample
The exact period recovery from a Fourier sample computes
A greatest common divisor is computable in time polynomial in . The candidate is always a divisor of the true period, and equals it precisely when is coprime to .
For the success flag, compute and compare with . If , injectivity within the first period makes these unequal. If , periodicity makes them equal, including . Hence accept and output exactly when this comparison succeeds; otherwise report failure. This is heralded exact quantum period finding when the period divides the register size, with no false acceptance. The case succeeds even on the sample .
The exact success probability is
where is the Euler totient function. For , the prime-product formula gives . A Rosser–Schoenfeld totient bound supplies the needed lower bound for large . Every single attempt, including verification, has the assumed polynomial-in- gate cost. Repeating times gives constant success probability with a certified result whenever one is found.
The printed in the totient hint should be a lower-bound statement, . Literally, is false: at primes , . Likewise the exact single-sample success probability need not be ; for prime period it tends to one. The useful intended guarantee is the displayed inverse-log-log lower bound, not a universal upper bound. If an algorithm satisfying the literal success upper bound is desired, one can additionally accept an otherwise certified run only when independent fair bits are all zero. This retains a detectable failure flag and polynomial runtime, and has success at most , but deliberately weakens the useful guarantee. The standard unsuppressed algorithm above gives the stronger intended performance. Small can be handled directly. Primary evidence for the totient lower bound is Theorem 15, equations (3.41)–(3.42), in denisevellachemla.eu/Rosser-Schoenfeld-1962.pdf .
Let the known phase gate on the answer register be
where the comparison uses ordinary integers, not modular arithmetic. A reversible circuit computes the predicate, applies a Pauli Z gate to its flag, then performs uncomputation.
The compute-phase-uncompute construction now gives
Use modular-oracle inversion by negation to realize the last operation with one further query. Exactly two oracle queries implement , returning the answer register and comparison workspace to their initial states.
Use a reversible circuit to compute an -bit representation of the angle into a workspace register, with all additional work bits retained:
Write that representation as , with known binary place values (including the fixed scale and any integer bit). On the target, apply a controlled unitary gate controlled by each angle bit . Rotations about the same axis add their angles, so their product is
Finally apply to perform uncomputation. The workspace returns to zero while the control register and rotated target remain unchanged; the construction works coherently on every superposition of .
A polynomial time classical calculation has a polynomial-size reversible circuit with Toffoli gates, and each Toffoli gate has a constant-size decomposition into one-qubit and two-qubit gates. The controlled rotations are themselves two-qubit gates. Thus the total quantum circuit size is . This is the binary-angle implementation of a quantum variable rotation; the stipulated angle precision is understood.
Implement the assumed efficient classical algorithm for as a reversible circuit. On input , it computes an -bit binary expansion of the angle in a work register using Toffoli gates and elementary reversible gates. Write the computed angle as a sum of binary-weighted angles. For each angle bit, apply the corresponding controlled single-qubit rotation to the target. These rotations have the same axis, so their angles add and produce
Finally apply uncomputation to erase the work register. Each Toffoli gate and controlled rotation has a constant-size decomposition into one- and two-qubit gates when arbitrary one-qubit rotations are available. Ignoring the stipulated precision costs, the resulting circuit has size and returns every quantum ancilla to zero.
Let , where a reversible circuit computes into a clean register. Then applying as a phase on that register and performing uncomputation implements on the data register. For , a Boolean output qubit suffices: acts as when that qubit starts in . This exact construction avoids a Lie-Trotter product formula because the eigenvalue is computed directly.