Semiquantitative Group Testing in at Most Two Rounds

Semiquantitative group testing (SQGT) is a pooling method in which the test outcomes represent bounded intervals for the number of defectives. Alternatively, it may be viewed as an adder channel with quantized outputs. SQGT represents a natural choice for Covid-19 group testing as it allows for a straightforward interpretation of the cycle threshold values produced by polymerase chain reactions (PCR). Prior work on SQGT did not address the need for adaptive testing with a small number of rounds as required in practice. We propose conceptually simple methods for two-round and nonadaptive SQGT that significantly improve upon existing schemes by using ideas on nonbinary measurement matrices based on expander graphs and list-disjunct matrices.

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