A Super-Grover Separation Between Randomized and Quantum Query Complexities

We construct a total Boolean function $f$ satisfying $R(f)=\tilde{\mathrm{\Omega }}(Q(f{)}^{5\mathrm{/}2})$, refuting the long-standing conjecture that $R(f)=O(Q(f{)}^2)$ for all total Boolean functions. Assuming a conjecture of Aaronson and Ambainis about optimal quantum speedups for partial functions, we improve this to $R(f)=\tilde{\mathrm{\Omega }}(Q(f{)}^3)$. Our construction is motivated by the G"o"os-Pitassi-Watson function but does not use it.