new

Get trending papers in your email inbox!

Subscribe

Daily Papers

byAK and the research community

Jul 22

Quantum Transfer Learning for MNIST Classification Using a Hybrid Quantum-Classical Approach

In this research, we explore the integration of quantum computing with classical machine learning for image classification tasks, specifically focusing on the MNIST dataset. We propose a hybrid quantum-classical approach that leverages the strengths of both paradigms. The process begins with preprocessing the MNIST dataset, normalizing the pixel values, and reshaping the images into vectors. An autoencoder compresses these 784-dimensional vectors into a 64-dimensional latent space, effectively reducing the data's dimensionality while preserving essential features. These compressed features are then processed using a quantum circuit implemented on a 5-qubit system. The quantum circuit applies rotation gates based on the feature values, followed by Hadamard and CNOT gates to entangle the qubits, and measurements are taken to generate quantum outcomes. These outcomes serve as input for a classical neural network designed to classify the MNIST digits. The classical neural network comprises multiple dense layers with batch normalization and dropout to enhance generalization and performance. We evaluate the performance of this hybrid model and compare it with a purely classical approach. The experimental results indicate that while the hybrid model demonstrates the feasibility of integrating quantum computing with classical techniques, the accuracy of the final model, trained on quantum outcomes, is currently lower than the classical model trained on compressed features. This research highlights the potential of quantum computing in machine learning, though further optimization and advanced quantum algorithms are necessary to achieve superior performance.

  • 1 authors
·
Aug 5, 2024

Enhancing Quantum Variational Algorithms with Zero Noise Extrapolation via Neural Networks

In the emergent realm of quantum computing, the Variational Quantum Eigensolver (VQE) stands out as a promising algorithm for solving complex quantum problems, especially in the noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) era. However, the ubiquitous presence of noise in quantum devices often limits the accuracy and reliability of VQE outcomes. This research introduces a novel approach to ameliorate this challenge by utilizing neural networks for zero noise extrapolation (ZNE) in VQE computations. By employing the Qiskit framework, we crafted parameterized quantum circuits using the RY-RZ ansatz and examined their behavior under varying levels of depolarizing noise. Our investigations spanned from determining the expectation values of a Hamiltonian, defined as a tensor product of Z operators, under different noise intensities to extracting the ground state energy. To bridge the observed outcomes under noise with the ideal noise-free scenario, we trained a Feed Forward Neural Network on the error probabilities and their associated expectation values. Remarkably, our model proficiently predicted the VQE outcome under hypothetical noise-free conditions. By juxtaposing the simulation results with real quantum device executions, we unveiled the discrepancies induced by noise and showcased the efficacy of our neural network-based ZNE technique in rectifying them. This integrative approach not only paves the way for enhanced accuracy in VQE computations on NISQ devices but also underlines the immense potential of hybrid quantum-classical paradigms in circumventing the challenges posed by quantum noise. Through this research, we envision a future where quantum algorithms can be reliably executed on noisy devices, bringing us one step closer to realizing the full potential of quantum computing.

  • 4 authors
·
Mar 10, 2024

Sequential Quantum Computing

We propose and experimentally demonstrate sequential quantum computing (SQC), a paradigm that utilizes multiple homogeneous or heterogeneous quantum processors in hybrid classical-quantum workflows. In this manner, we are able to overcome the limitations of each type of quantum computer by combining their complementary strengths. Current quantum devices, including analog quantum annealers and digital quantum processors, offer distinct advantages, yet face significant practical constraints when individually used. SQC addresses this by efficient inter-processor transfer of information through bias fields. Consequently, measurement outcomes from one quantum processor are encoded in the initial-state preparation of the subsequent quantum computer. We experimentally validate SQC by solving a combinatorial optimization problem with interactions up to three-body terms. A D-Wave quantum annealer utilizing 678 qubits approximately solves the problem, and an IBM's 156-qubit digital quantum processor subsequently refines the obtained solutions. This is possible via the digital introduction of non-stoquastic counterdiabatic terms unavailable to the analog quantum annealer. The experiment shows a substantial reduction in computational resources and improvement in the quality of the solution compared to the standalone operations of the individual quantum processors. These results highlight SQC as a powerful and versatile approach for addressing complex combinatorial optimization problems, with potential applications in quantum simulation of many-body systems, quantum chemistry, among others.

  • 4 authors
·
Jun 24, 2025

Fine-Tuning Large Language Models on Quantum Optimization Problems for Circuit Generation

Large language models (LLM) have achieved remarkable outcomes in addressing complex problems, including math, coding, and analyzing large amounts of scientific reports. Yet few works have explored the potential of LLM in quantum computing. The most challenging problem is how to leverage LLMs to automatically generate quantum circuits at a large scale. In this paper, we address such a challenge by fine-tuning LLMs and injecting the domain-specific knowledge of quantum computing. In particular, we investigate the mechanisms to generate training data sets and construct the end-to-end pipeline to fine-tune pre-trained LLMs that produce parameterized quantum circuits for optimization problems. We have prepared 14,000 quantum circuits covering a substantial part of the quantum optimization landscape: 12 optimization problem instances and their optimized QAOA, VQE, and adaptive VQE circuits. The fine-tuned LLMs can construct syntactically correct parametrized quantum circuits in the most recent OpenQASM 3.0. We have evaluated the quality of the parameters by comparing them to the optimized expectation values and distributions. Our evaluation shows that the fine-tuned LLM outperforms state-of-the-art models and that the parameters are better than random. The LLM-generated parametrized circuits and initial parameters can be used as a starting point for further optimization, e.g., templates in quantum machine learning and the benchmark for compilers and hardware.

  • 4 authors
·
Apr 15, 2025

Q-Cluster: Quantum Error Mitigation Through Noise-Aware Unsupervised Learning

Quantum error mitigation (QEM) is critical in reducing the impact of noise in the pre-fault-tolerant era, and is expected to complement error correction in fault-tolerant quantum computing (FTQC). In this paper, we propose a novel QEM approach, Q-Cluster, that uses unsupervised learning (clustering) to reshape the measured bit-string distribution. Our approach starts with a simplified bit-flip noise model. It first performs clustering on noisy measurement results, i.e., bit-strings, based on the Hamming distance. The centroid of each cluster is calculated using a qubit-wise majority vote. Next, the noisy distribution is adjusted with the clustering outcomes and the bit-flip error rates using Bayesian inference. Our simulation results show that Q-Cluster can mitigate high noise rates (up to 40% per qubit) with the simple bit-flip noise model. However, real quantum computers do not fit such a simple noise model. To address the problem, we (a) apply Pauli twirling to tailor the complex noise channels to Pauli errors, and (b) employ a machine learning model, ExtraTrees regressor, to estimate an effective bit-flip error rate using a feature vector consisting of machine calibration data (gate & measurement error rates), circuit features (number of qubits, numbers of different types of gates, etc.) and the shape of the noisy distribution (entropy). Our experimental results show that our proposed Q-Cluster scheme improves the fidelity by a factor of 1.46x, on average, compared to the unmitigated output distribution, for a set of low-entropy benchmarks on five different IBM quantum machines. Our approach outperforms the state-of-art QEM approaches M3 [24], Hammer [35], and QBEEP [33] by 1.29x, 1.47x, and 2.65x, respectively.

  • 3 authors
·
Apr 14, 2025

Curriculum reinforcement learning for quantum architecture search under hardware errors

The key challenge in the noisy intermediate-scale quantum era is finding useful circuits compatible with current device limitations. Variational quantum algorithms (VQAs) offer a potential solution by fixing the circuit architecture and optimizing individual gate parameters in an external loop. However, parameter optimization can become intractable, and the overall performance of the algorithm depends heavily on the initially chosen circuit architecture. Several quantum architecture search (QAS) algorithms have been developed to design useful circuit architectures automatically. In the case of parameter optimization alone, noise effects have been observed to dramatically influence the performance of the optimizer and final outcomes, which is a key line of study. However, the effects of noise on the architecture search, which could be just as critical, are poorly understood. This work addresses this gap by introducing a curriculum-based reinforcement learning QAS (CRLQAS) algorithm designed to tackle challenges in realistic VQA deployment. The algorithm incorporates (i) a 3D architecture encoding and restrictions on environment dynamics to explore the search space of possible circuits efficiently, (ii) an episode halting scheme to steer the agent to find shorter circuits, and (iii) a novel variant of simultaneous perturbation stochastic approximation as an optimizer for faster convergence. To facilitate studies, we developed an optimized simulator for our algorithm, significantly improving computational efficiency in simulating noisy quantum circuits by employing the Pauli-transfer matrix formalism in the Pauli-Liouville basis. Numerical experiments focusing on quantum chemistry tasks demonstrate that CRLQAS outperforms existing QAS algorithms across several metrics in both noiseless and noisy environments.

  • 6 authors
·
Feb 5, 2024

Practical Benchmarking of Randomized Measurement Methods for Quantum Chemistry Hamiltonians

Many hybrid quantum-classical algorithms for the application of ground state energy estimation in quantum chemistry involve estimating the expectation value of a molecular Hamiltonian with respect to a quantum state through measurements on a quantum device. To guide the selection of measurement methods designed for this observable estimation problem, we propose a benchmark called CSHOREBench (Common States and Hamiltonians for ObseRvable Estimation Benchmark) that assesses the performance of these methods against a set of common molecular Hamiltonians and common states encountered during the runtime of hybrid quantum-classical algorithms. In CSHOREBench, we account for resource utilization of a quantum computer through measurements of a prepared state, and a classical computer through computational runtime spent in proposing measurements and classical post-processing of acquired measurement outcomes. We apply CSHOREBench considering a variety of measurement methods on Hamiltonians of size up to 16 qubits. Our discussion is aided by using the framework of decision diagrams which provides an efficient data structure for various randomized methods and illustrate how to derandomize distributions on decision diagrams. In numerical simulations, we find that the methods of decision diagrams and derandomization are the most preferable. In experiments on IBM quantum devices against small molecules, we observe that decision diagrams reduces the number of measurements made by classical shadows by more than 80%, that made by locally biased classical shadows by around 57%, and consistently require fewer quantum measurements along with lower classical computational runtime than derandomization. Furthermore, CSHOREBench is empirically efficient to run when considering states of random quantum ansatz with fixed depth.

  • 7 authors
·
Dec 12, 2023

From Circuits to Hardware: Benchmarking Standard and Qubit-Efficient Quantum Optimization on Real Hardware

Despite rapid progress in quantum optimization, broad real-hardware benchmarks comparing multiple algorithmic families across diverse combinatorial problems under a common protocol remain limited. We benchmark gate-based quantum optimization on four NP-hard problems: multi-dimensional knapsack (MDKP), maximum independent set (MIS), quadratic assignment (QAP), and market-share (MSP). We study VQE, CVaR-VQE, standard, multi-angle, and warm-start QAOA, together with qubit-efficient PCE and QRAO, on IBM Heron r1/r2 processors using resilience-level-2 mitigation. To our knowledge, this includes the first real-hardware QRAO results and the first multi-problem PCE hardware benchmark. Across 247 method-instance combinations, we report transpiled circuit size, hardware outcomes, and an independent-error gate-count fidelity proxy, F_{est}. For MDKP and MIS, an empirical operating point near F_{est}approx 0.1, corresponding to about 770 two-qubit gates at the median Heron-r2 CZ error rate, marks the onset of noise-dominated execution. QAP exposes a separate bottleneck: dense one-hot encodings and an exponentially sparse feasible manifold, with feasible fraction 10!/2^{100} at n=10; no tested hardware method produces a feasible assignment. Compiled QAOA-family circuits are generally noise dominated, and a matched uniform-random control shows that most feasible low-fidelity outcomes fall within the random range, apart from one finite-sample MIS warm-start exception. A SWAP-aware, fractional-gate, Nighthawk-topology compilation counterfactual reduces two-qubit counts but leaves all circuits below F_{est}=10^{-3}. These conclusions apply to the tested implementations rather than QAOA in general. Qubit-efficient methods extend runnable instance sizes, but only within the empirical fidelity budget.

  • 2 authors
·
Jul 12

Understanding Quantum Technologies 2025

Understanding Quantum Technologies 2025 is the 8th update of a free open science ebook that provides a 360 degrees overview of quantum technologies from science and technology to geopolitical and societal issues. It covers quantum physics history, quantum physics 101, gate-based quantum computing, quantum computing engineering (including quantum error corrections, quantum computing energetics and a new subsection of the effects of the Lieb-Robinson limit), quantum computing hardware (all qubit types, including quantum annealing and quantum simulation paradigms, history, science, research, implementation and vendors scientific and engineering approaches and roadmaps), quantum enabling technologies (cryogenics, control electronics, photonics, components fabs and manufacturing process, raw materials), unconventional computing (potential alternatives to quantum and classical computing), quantum computing algorithms, software development tools, resource estimate and benchmark tools, use case and case studies analysis methodologies, application use cases per market, quantum communications and cryptography (including QKD, PQC and QPU interconnect technologies), quantum sensing, quantum technologies around the world, quantum technologies societal impact and even quantum fake sciences. The main audience are computer science engineers, developers and IT specialists as well as quantum scientists and students who want to acquire a global view of how quantum technologies work, and particularly quantum computing. This version is an update to the 2024, 2023, 2022, and 2021 editions published respectively in October 2024, 2023, 2022 and 2021. An update log is provided at the end of the book.

  • 1 authors
·
Nov 24, 2021

Towards violations of Local Friendliness with quantum computers

Local Friendliness (LF) inequalities follow from seemingly reasonable assumptions about reality: (i) ``absoluteness of observed events'' (e.g., every observed event happens for all observers) and (ii) ``local agency'' (e.g., free choices can be made uncorrelated with other events outside their future light cone). Extended Wigner's Friend Scenario (EWFS) thought experiments show that textbook quantum mechanics violates these inequalities. Thus, experimental evidence of these violations would make these two assumptions incompatible. In [Nature Physics 16, 1199 (2020)], the authors experimentally implemented an EWFS, using a photonic qubit to play the role of each of the ``friends'' and measured violations of LF. One may question whether a photonic qubit is a physical system that counts as an ``observer'' and thereby question whether the experiment's outcome is significant. Intending to measure increasingly meaningful violations, we propose using a statistical measure called the ``branch factor'' to quantify the ``observerness'' of the system. We then encode the EWFS as a quantum circuit such that the components of the circuit that define the friend are quantum systems of increasing branch factor. We run this circuit on quantum simulators and hardware devices, observing LF violations as the system sizes scale. As errors in quantum computers reduce the significance of the violations, better quantum computers can produce better violations. Our results extend the state of the art in proof-of-concept experimental violations from branch factor 0.0 to branch factor 16.0. This is an initial result in an experimental program for measuring LF violations at increasingly meaningful branch factors using increasingly more powerful quantum processors and networks. We introduce this program as a fundamental science application for near-term and developing quantum technology.

  • 3 authors
·
Sep 3, 2025

C2|Q>: A Robust Framework for Bridging Classical and Quantum Software Development

QSE is emerging as a critical discipline to make quantum computing accessible to a broader developer community; however, most quantum development environments still require developers to engage with low-level details across the software stack - including problem encoding, circuit construction, algorithm configuration, hardware selection, and result interpretation - making them difficult for classical software engineers to use. To bridge this gap, we present C2|Q>, a hardware-agnostic quantum software development framework that translates specific types of classical specifications into quantum-executable programs while preserving methodological rigor. The framework applies modular SE principles by classifying the workflow into three core modules: an encoder that classifies problems, produces Quantum-Compatible Formats, and constructs quantum circuits, a deployment module that generates circuits and recommends hardware based on fidelity, runtime, and cost, and a decoder that interprets quantum outputs into classical solutions. In evaluation, the encoder module achieved a 93.8% completion rate, the hardware recommendation module consistently selected the appropriate quantum devices for workloads scaling up to 56 qubits. End-to-end experiments on 434 Python programs and 100 JSON problem instances show that the full C2|Q> workflow executes reliably on simulators and can be deployed successfully on representative real quantum hardware, with empirical runs limited to small- and medium-sized instances consistent with current NISQ capabilities. These results indicate that C2|Q> lowers the entry barrier to quantum software development by providing a reproducible, extensible toolchain that connects classical specifications to quantum execution. The open-source implementation of C2|Q> is available at https://github.com/C2-Q/C2Q and as a Python package at https://pypi.org/project/c2q-framework/.

  • 7 authors
·
Oct 3, 2025

Foundations for Near-Term Quantum Natural Language Processing

We provide conceptual and mathematical foundations for near-term quantum natural language processing (QNLP), and do so in quantum computer scientist friendly terms. We opted for an expository presentation style, and provide references for supporting empirical evidence and formal statements concerning mathematical generality. We recall how the quantum model for natural language that we employ canonically combines linguistic meanings with rich linguistic structure, most notably grammar. In particular, the fact that it takes a quantum-like model to combine meaning and structure, establishes QNLP as quantum-native, on par with simulation of quantum systems. Moreover, the now leading Noisy Intermediate-Scale Quantum (NISQ) paradigm for encoding classical data on quantum hardware, variational quantum circuits, makes NISQ exceptionally QNLP-friendly: linguistic structure can be encoded as a free lunch, in contrast to the apparently exponentially expensive classical encoding of grammar. Quantum speed-up for QNLP tasks has already been established in previous work with Will Zeng. Here we provide a broader range of tasks which all enjoy the same advantage. Diagrammatic reasoning is at the heart of QNLP. Firstly, the quantum model interprets language as quantum processes via the diagrammatic formalism of categorical quantum mechanics. Secondly, these diagrams are via ZX-calculus translated into quantum circuits. Parameterisations of meanings then become the circuit variables to be learned. Our encoding of linguistic structure within quantum circuits also embodies a novel approach for establishing word-meanings that goes beyond the current standards in mainstream AI, by placing linguistic structure at the heart of Wittgenstein's meaning-is-context.

  • 4 authors
·
Dec 7, 2020

The probabilistic world

Physics is based on probabilities as fundamental entities of a mathematical description. Expectation values of observables are computed according to the classical statistical rule. The overall probability distribution for one world covers all times. The quantum formalism arises once one focuses on the evolution of the time-local probabilistic information. Wave functions or the density matrix allow the formulation of a general linear evolution law for classical statistics. The quantum formalism for classical statistics is a powerful tool which allows us to implement for generalized Ising models the momentum observable with the associated Fourier representation. The association of operators to observables permits the computation of expectation values in terms of the density matrix by the usual quantum rule. We show that probabilistic cellular automata are quantum systems in a formulation with discrete time steps and real wave functions. With a complex structure the evolution operator for automata can be expressed in terms of a Hamiltonian involving fermionic creation and annihilation operators. The time-local probabilistic information amounts to a subsystem of the overall probabilistic system which is correlated with its environment consisting of the past and future. Such subsystems typically involve probabilistic observables for which only a probability distribution for their possible measurement values is available. Incomplete statistics does not permit to compute classical correlation functions for arbitrary subsystem-observables. Bell's inequalities are not generally applicable.

  • 1 authors
·
Nov 4, 2020

Entanglement Purification in Quantum Networks: Guaranteed Improvement and Optimal Time

While the concept of entanglement purification protocols (EPPs) is straightforward, the integration of EPPs in network architectures requires careful performance evaluations and optimizations that take into account realistic conditions and imperfections, especially probabilistic entanglement generation and quantum memory decoherence. It is important to understand what is guaranteed to be improved from successful EPP with arbitrary non-identical input, which determines whether we want to perform the EPP at all. When successful EPP can offer improvement, the time to perform the EPP should also be optimized to maximize the improvement. In this work, we study the guaranteed improvement and optimal time for the CNOT-based recurrence EPP, previously shown to be optimal in various scenarios. We firstly prove guaranteed improvement for multiple figures of merit, including fidelity and several entanglement measures when compared to practical baselines as functions of input states. However, it is noteworthy that the guaranteed improvement we prove does not imply the universality of the EPP as introduced in arXiv:2407.21760. Then we prove robust, parameter-independent optimal time for typical error models and figures of merit. We further explore memory decoherence described by continuous-time Pauli channels, and demonstrate the phenomenon of optimal time transition when the memory decoherence error pattern changes. Our work deepens the understanding of EPP performance in realistic scenarios and offers insights into optimizing quantum networks that integrate EPPs.

  • 5 authors
·
May 4, 2025

Experimental Implementation of the Quantum Volunteer's Dilemma on NISQ Hardware: Noise Analysis and Digital-Twin Validation

We present an experimental implementation of the multiplayer Quantum Volunteer's Dilemma on noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) hardware, executed on the ibm_kingston backend via Qiskit Runtime. The game is evaluated for N = 2 to 9 players under four transpiler optimization levels, with 20 independent repetitions per configuration and 2048 shots per circuit, including post-processing readout error correction via mthree. Target-state fidelity decays with system size but remains above 70% (corrected) through N = 9. With readout correction, the global average payoff reproduces the quantum theoretical benchmark exactly for N <= 6 and exceeds the classical Nash equilibrium across the full tested range. Optimization level 2 is selected as the reference configuration after gate count analysis reveals that levels 2 and 3 produce identical transpiled circuits, with level 2 achieving superior fidelity stability. A Hamming distance analysis of raw measurement counts shows that single-qubit errors dominate at small N, with multi-qubit contributions growing beyond N = 6. A calibration-based digital twin captures global payoff trends but exhibits a linear fidelity decay profile that diverges from the hardware behavior at large N, exposing the limits of first-order independent per-qubit noise models. These results demonstrate that aggregate quantum advantage in multiplayer games is robust to NISQ noise conditions across the full tested range, while the practical observability of state-level advantage is constrained to N <= 8 under post-processed readout correction.

  • 7 authors
·
May 28

Quantum-enhanced causal discovery for a small number of samples

The discovery of causal relations from observed data has attracted significant interest from disciplines such as economics, social sciences, and biology. In practical applications, considerable knowledge of the underlying systems is often unavailable, and real data are usually associated with nonlinear causal structures, which makes the direct use of most conventional causality analysis methods difficult. This study proposes a novel quantum Peter-Clark (qPC) algorithm for causal discovery that does not require any assumptions about the underlying model structures. Based on conditional independence tests in a class of reproducing kernel Hilbert spaces characterized by quantum circuits, the proposed algorithm can explore causal relations from the observed data drawn from arbitrary distributions. We conducted systematic experiments on fundamental graphs of causal structures, demonstrating that the qPC algorithm exhibits better performance, particularly with smaller sample sizes compared to its classical counterpart. Furthermore, we proposed a novel optimization approach based on Kernel Target Alignment (KTA) for determining hyperparameters of quantum kernels. This method effectively reduced the risk of false positives in causal discovery, enabling more reliable inference. Our theoretical and experimental results demonstrate that the quantum algorithm can empower classical algorithms for accurate inference in causal discovery, supporting them in regimes where classical algorithms typically fail. In addition, the effectiveness of this method was validated using the datasets on Boston housing prices, heart disease, and biological signaling systems as real-world applications. These findings highlight the potential of quantum-based causal discovery methods in addressing practical challenges, particularly in small-sample scenarios, where traditional approaches have shown significant limitations.

  • 6 authors
·
Jan 9, 2025

An Architecture for Meeting Quality-of-Service Requirements in Multi-User Quantum Networks

Quantum communication can enhance internet technology by enabling novel applications that are provably impossible classically. The successful execution of such applications relies on the generation of quantum entanglement between different users of the network which meets stringent performance requirements. Alongside traditional metrics such as throughput and jitter, one must ensure the generated entanglement is of sufficiently high quality. Meeting such performance requirements demands a careful orchestration of many devices in the network, giving rise to a fundamentally new scheduling problem. Furthermore, technological limitations of near-term quantum devices impose significant constraints on scheduling methods hoping to meet performance requirements. In this work, we propose the first end-to-end design of a centralized quantum network with multiple users that orchestrates the delivery of entanglement which meets quality-of-service (QoS) requirements of applications. We achieve this by using a centrally constructed schedule that manages usage of devices and ensures the coordinated execution of different quantum operations throughout the network. We use periodic task scheduling and resource-constrained project scheduling techniques, including a novel heuristic, to construct the schedules. Our simulations of four small networks using hardware-validated network parameters, and of a real-world fiber topology using futuristic parameters, illustrate trade-offs between traditional and quantum performance metrics.

  • 2 authors
·
Nov 25, 2021

Less Quantum, More Advantage: An End-to-End Quantum Algorithm for the Jones Polynomial

We present an end-to-end reconfigurable algorithmic pipeline for solving a famous problem in knot theory using a noisy digital quantum computer, namely computing the value of the Jones polynomial at the fifth root of unity within additive error for any input link, i.e. a closed braid. This problem is DQC1-complete for Markov-closed braids and BQP-complete for Plat-closed braids, and we accommodate both versions of the problem. Even though it is widely believed that DQC1 is strictly contained in BQP, and so is 'less quantum', the resource requirements of classical algorithms for the DQC1 version are at least as high as for the BQP version, and so we potentially gain 'more advantage' by focusing on Markov-closed braids in our exposition. We demonstrate our quantum algorithm on Quantinuum's H2-2 quantum computer and show the effect of problem-tailored error-mitigation techniques. Further, leveraging that the Jones polynomial is a link invariant, we construct an efficiently verifiable benchmark to characterise the effect of noise present in a given quantum processor. In parallel, we implement and benchmark the state-of-the-art tensor-network-based classical algorithms for computing the Jones polynomial. The practical tools provided in this work allow for precise resource estimation to identify near-term quantum advantage for a meaningful quantum-native problem in knot theory.

  • 9 authors
·
Mar 7, 2025

A Comparative Study of Quantum Optimization Techniques for Solving Combinatorial Optimization Benchmark Problems

Quantum optimization holds promise for addressing classically intractable combinatorial problems, yet a standardized framework for benchmarking its performance, particularly in terms of solution quality, computational speed, and scalability is still lacking. In this work, we introduce a comprehensive benchmarking framework designed to systematically evaluate a range of quantum optimization techniques against well-established NP-hard combinatorial problems. Our framework focuses on key problem classes, including the Multi-Dimensional Knapsack Problem (MDKP), Maximum Independent Set (MIS), Quadratic Assignment Problem (QAP), and Market Share Problem (MSP). Our study evaluates gate-based quantum approaches, including the Variational Quantum Eigensolver (VQE) and its CVaR-enhanced variant, alongside advanced quantum algorithms such as the Quantum Approximate Optimization Algorithm (QAOA) and its extensions. To address resource constraints, we incorporate qubit compression techniques like Pauli Correlation Encoding (PCE) and Quantum Random Access Optimization (QRAO). Experimental results, obtained from simulated quantum environments and classical solvers, provide key insights into feasibility, optimality gaps, and scalability. Our findings highlight both the promise and current limitations of quantum optimization, offering a structured pathway for future research and practical applications in quantum-enhanced decision-making.

  • 2 authors
·
Mar 15, 2025

Qiskit Code Assistant: Training LLMs for generating Quantum Computing Code

Code Large Language Models (Code LLMs) have emerged as powerful tools, revolutionizing the software development landscape by automating the coding process and reducing time and effort required to build applications. This paper focuses on training Code LLMs to specialize in the field of quantum computing. We begin by discussing the unique needs of quantum computing programming, which differ significantly from classical programming approaches or languages. A Code LLM specializing in quantum computing requires a foundational understanding of quantum computing and quantum information theory. However, the scarcity of available quantum code examples and the rapidly evolving field, which necessitates continuous dataset updates, present significant challenges. Moreover, we discuss our work on training Code LLMs to produce high-quality quantum code using the Qiskit library. This work includes an examination of the various aspects of the LLMs used for training and the specific training conditions, as well as the results obtained with our current models. To evaluate our models, we have developed a custom benchmark, similar to HumanEval, which includes a set of tests specifically designed for the field of quantum computing programming using Qiskit. Our findings indicate that our model outperforms existing state-of-the-art models in quantum computing tasks. We also provide examples of code suggestions, comparing our model to other relevant code LLMs. Finally, we introduce a discussion on the potential benefits of Code LLMs for quantum computing computational scientists, researchers, and practitioners. We also explore various features and future work that could be relevant in this context.

  • 8 authors
·
May 29, 2024

Hardware-efficient Variational Quantum Eigensolver for Small Molecules and Quantum Magnets

Quantum computers can be used to address molecular structure, materials science and condensed matter physics problems, which currently stretch the limits of existing high-performance computing resources. Finding exact numerical solutions to these interacting fermion problems has exponential cost, while Monte Carlo methods are plagued by the fermionic sign problem. These limitations of classical computational methods have made even few-atom molecular structures problems of practical interest for medium-sized quantum computers. Yet, thus far experimental implementations have been restricted to molecules involving only Period I elements. Here, we demonstrate the experimental optimization of up to six-qubit Hamiltonian problems with over a hundred Pauli terms, determining the ground state energy for molecules of increasing size, up to BeH2. This is enabled by a hardware-efficient variational quantum eigensolver with trial states specifically tailored to the available interactions in our quantum processor, combined with a compact encoding of fermionic Hamiltonians and a robust stochastic optimization routine. We further demonstrate the flexibility of our approach by applying the technique to a problem of quantum magnetism. Across all studied problems, we find agreement between experiment and numerical simulations with a noisy model of the device. These results help elucidate the requirements for scaling the method to larger systems, and aim at bridging the gap between problems at the forefront of high-performance computing and their implementation on quantum hardware.

  • 7 authors
·
Apr 17, 2017

Sampling-based sublinear low-rank matrix arithmetic framework for dequantizing quantum machine learning

We present an algorithmic framework for quantum-inspired classical algorithms on close-to-low-rank matrices, generalizing the series of results started by Tang's breakthrough quantum-inspired algorithm for recommendation systems [STOC'19]. Motivated by quantum linear algebra algorithms and the quantum singular value transformation (SVT) framework of Gilyén, Su, Low, and Wiebe [STOC'19], we develop classical algorithms for SVT that run in time independent of input dimension, under suitable quantum-inspired sampling assumptions. Our results give compelling evidence that in the corresponding QRAM data structure input model, quantum SVT does not yield exponential quantum speedups. Since the quantum SVT framework generalizes essentially all known techniques for quantum linear algebra, our results, combined with sampling lemmas from previous work, suffice to generalize all recent results about dequantizing quantum machine learning algorithms. In particular, our classical SVT framework recovers and often improves the dequantization results on recommendation systems, principal component analysis, supervised clustering, support vector machines, low-rank regression, and semidefinite program solving. We also give additional dequantization results on low-rank Hamiltonian simulation and discriminant analysis. Our improvements come from identifying the key feature of the quantum-inspired input model that is at the core of all prior quantum-inspired results: ell^2-norm sampling can approximate matrix products in time independent of their dimension. We reduce all our main results to this fact, making our exposition concise, self-contained, and intuitive.

  • 6 authors
·
Jul 9, 2023

Qiskit QuantumKatas: Adapting Microsoft's Quantum Computing exercises for LLM evaluation

We adapt Microsoft's QuantumKatas -- a well-established quantum computing curriculum -- from Q# to Qiskit, the most widely-adopted quantum computing framework, and package it with an evaluation framework for systematic LLM assessment. The resulting benchmark comprises 350 tasks across 26 categories, spanning fundamental gates through advanced algorithms (Grover's, Simon's, Deutsch-Jozsa), error correction, key distribution, and quantum games. Each task includes a natural language prompt, canonical solution, and deterministic test verification via classical circuit simulation. By building on the QuantumKatas' proven pedagogical design rather than creating tasks from scratch, we inherit a principled difficulty progression and comprehensive concept coverage while contributing the framework adaptation, evaluation infrastructure, and empirical analysis. We evaluate 16 LLMs across 7 prompting configurations -- a total of 39,200 model runs -- to demonstrate the benchmark's utility. Three key findings emerge: (1) the benchmark effectively differentiates model capabilities, with best-configuration pass rates ranging from 32.3% to 83.1% and a 26.1 pp average gap between frontier and open-source models; (2) models perform well at implementing known algorithms (SimonsAlgorithm 82.1%, BasicGates 81.6%) but struggle with problem encoding (SolveSATWithGrover 34.4%, DistinguishUnitaries 40.0%); and (3) chain-of-thought prompting shows a modestly bimodal effect -- it is the best strategy for three models (two of them explicitly reasoning-tuned per vendor documentation) but degrades performance for the rest, leaving it mid-pack in aggregate (56.3% mean) behind few-shot-5 (57.8%). We release the benchmark, evaluation framework, and baseline results to support research on LLM capabilities in quantum computing.

  • 2 authors
·
May 25

Classification with Quantum Neural Networks on Near Term Processors

We introduce a quantum neural network, QNN, that can represent labeled data, classical or quantum, and be trained by supervised learning. The quantum circuit consists of a sequence of parameter dependent unitary transformations which acts on an input quantum state. For binary classification a single Pauli operator is measured on a designated readout qubit. The measured output is the quantum neural network's predictor of the binary label of the input state. First we look at classifying classical data sets which consist of n-bit strings with binary labels. The input quantum state is an n-bit computational basis state corresponding to a sample string. We show how to design a circuit made from two qubit unitaries that can correctly represent the label of any Boolean function of n bits. For certain label functions the circuit is exponentially long. We introduce parameter dependent unitaries that can be adapted by supervised learning of labeled data. We study an example of real world data consisting of downsampled images of handwritten digits each of which has been labeled as one of two distinct digits. We show through classical simulation that parameters can be found that allow the QNN to learn to correctly distinguish the two data sets. We then discuss presenting the data as quantum superpositions of computational basis states corresponding to different label values. Here we show through simulation that learning is possible. We consider using our QNN to learn the label of a general quantum state. By example we show that this can be done. Our work is exploratory and relies on the classical simulation of small quantum systems. The QNN proposed here was designed with near-term quantum processors in mind. Therefore it will be possible to run this QNN on a near term gate model quantum computer where its power can be explored beyond what can be explored with simulation.

  • 2 authors
·
Feb 16, 2018

QuantumLLMInstruct: A 500k LLM Instruction-Tuning Dataset with Problem-Solution Pairs for Quantum Computing

We present QuantumLLMInstruct (QLMMI), an innovative dataset featuring over 500,000 meticulously curated instruction-following problem-solution pairs designed specifically for quantum computing - the largest and most comprehensive dataset of its kind. Originating from over 90 primary seed domains and encompassing hundreds of subdomains autonomously generated by LLMs, QLMMI marks a transformative step in the diversity and richness of quantum computing datasets. Designed for instruction fine-tuning, QLMMI seeks to significantly improve LLM performance in addressing complex quantum computing challenges across a wide range of quantum physics topics. While Large Language Models (LLMs) have propelled advancements in computational science with datasets like Omni-MATH and OpenMathInstruct, these primarily target Olympiad-level mathematics, leaving quantum computing largely unexplored. The creation of QLMMI follows a rigorous four-stage methodology. Initially, foundational problems are developed using predefined templates, focusing on critical areas such as synthetic Hamiltonians, QASM code generation, Jordan-Wigner transformations, and Trotter-Suzuki quantum circuit decompositions. Next, detailed and domain-specific solutions are crafted to ensure accuracy and relevance. In the third stage, the dataset is enriched through advanced reasoning techniques, including Chain-of-Thought (CoT) and Task-Oriented Reasoning and Action (ToRA), which enhance problem-solution diversity while adhering to strict mathematical standards. Lastly, a zero-shot Judge LLM performs self-assessments to validate the dataset's quality and reliability, minimizing human oversight requirements.

  • 1 authors
·
Dec 30, 2024

Lorentz-Equivariant Quantum Graph Neural Network for High-Energy Physics

The rapid data surge from the high-luminosity Large Hadron Collider introduces critical computational challenges requiring novel approaches for efficient data processing in particle physics. Quantum machine learning, with its capability to leverage the extensive Hilbert space of quantum hardware, offers a promising solution. However, current quantum graph neural networks (GNNs) lack robustness to noise and are often constrained by fixed symmetry groups, limiting adaptability in complex particle interaction modeling. This paper demonstrates that replacing the Lorentz Group Equivariant Block modules in LorentzNet with a dressed quantum circuit significantly enhances performance despite using nearly 5.5 times fewer parameters. Additionally, quantum circuits effectively replace MLPs by inherently preserving symmetries, with Lorentz symmetry integration ensuring robust handling of relativistic invariance. Our Lorentz-Equivariant Quantum Graph Neural Network (Lorentz-EQGNN) achieved 74.00% test accuracy and an AUC of 87.38% on the Quark-Gluon jet tagging dataset, outperforming the classical and quantum GNNs with a reduced architecture using only 4 qubits. On the Electron-Photon dataset, Lorentz-EQGNN reached 67.00% test accuracy and an AUC of 68.20%, demonstrating competitive results with just 800 training samples. Evaluation of our model on generic MNIST and FashionMNIST datasets confirmed Lorentz-EQGNN's efficiency, achieving 88.10% and 74.80% test accuracy, respectively. Ablation studies validated the impact of quantum components on performance, with notable improvements in background rejection rates over classical counterparts. These results highlight Lorentz-EQGNN's potential for immediate applications in noise-resilient jet tagging, event classification, and broader data-scarce HEP tasks.

  • 5 authors
·
Nov 3, 2024

Exponential concentration in quantum kernel methods

Kernel methods in Quantum Machine Learning (QML) have recently gained significant attention as a potential candidate for achieving a quantum advantage in data analysis. Among other attractive properties, when training a kernel-based model one is guaranteed to find the optimal model's parameters due to the convexity of the training landscape. However, this is based on the assumption that the quantum kernel can be efficiently obtained from quantum hardware. In this work we study the performance of quantum kernel models from the perspective of the resources needed to accurately estimate kernel values. We show that, under certain conditions, values of quantum kernels over different input data can be exponentially concentrated (in the number of qubits) towards some fixed value. Thus on training with a polynomial number of measurements, one ends up with a trivial model where the predictions on unseen inputs are independent of the input data. We identify four sources that can lead to concentration including: expressivity of data embedding, global measurements, entanglement and noise. For each source, an associated concentration bound of quantum kernels is analytically derived. Lastly, we show that when dealing with classical data, training a parametrized data embedding with a kernel alignment method is also susceptible to exponential concentration. Our results are verified through numerical simulations for several QML tasks. Altogether, we provide guidelines indicating that certain features should be avoided to ensure the efficient evaluation of quantum kernels and so the performance of quantum kernel methods.

  • 4 authors
·
Apr 13, 2024

Quantum singular value transformation and beyond: exponential improvements for quantum matrix arithmetics

Quantum computing is powerful because unitary operators describing the time-evolution of a quantum system have exponential size in terms of the number of qubits present in the system. We develop a new "Singular value transformation" algorithm capable of harnessing this exponential advantage, that can apply polynomial transformations to the singular values of a block of a unitary, generalizing the optimal Hamiltonian simulation results of Low and Chuang. The proposed quantum circuits have a very simple structure, often give rise to optimal algorithms and have appealing constant factors, while usually only use a constant number of ancilla qubits. We show that singular value transformation leads to novel algorithms. We give an efficient solution to a certain "non-commutative" measurement problem and propose a new method for singular value estimation. We also show how to exponentially improve the complexity of implementing fractional queries to unitaries with a gapped spectrum. Finally, as a quantum machine learning application we show how to efficiently implement principal component regression. "Singular value transformation" is conceptually simple and efficient, and leads to a unified framework of quantum algorithms incorporating a variety of quantum speed-ups. We illustrate this by showing how it generalizes a number of prominent quantum algorithms, including: optimal Hamiltonian simulation, implementing the Moore-Penrose pseudoinverse with exponential precision, fixed-point amplitude amplification, robust oblivious amplitude amplification, fast QMA amplification, fast quantum OR lemma, certain quantum walk results and several quantum machine learning algorithms. In order to exploit the strengths of the presented method it is useful to know its limitations too, therefore we also prove a lower bound on the efficiency of singular value transformation, which often gives optimal bounds.

  • 4 authors
·
Jun 4, 2018

A Resource Efficient Quantum Kernel

Quantum processors may enhance machine learning by mapping high-dimensional data onto quantum systems for processing. Conventional feature maps, for encoding data onto a quantum circuit are currently impractical, as the number of entangling gates scales quadratically with the dimension of the dataset and the number of qubits. In this work, we introduce a quantum feature map designed to handle high-dimensional data with a significantly reduced number of qubits and entangling operations. Our approach preserves essential data characteristics while promoting computational efficiency, as evidenced by extensive experiments on benchmark datasets that demonstrate a marked improvement in both accuracy and resource utilization when using our feature map as a kernel for characterization, as compared to state-of-the-art quantum feature maps. Our noisy simulation results, combined with lower resource requirements, highlight our map's ability to function within the constraints of noisy intermediate-scale quantum devices. Through numerical simulations and small-scale implementation on a superconducting circuit quantum computing platform, we demonstrate that our scheme performs on par or better than a set of classical algorithms for classification. While quantum kernels are typically stymied by exponential concentration, our approach is affected with a slower rate with respect to both the number of qubits and features, which allows practical applications to remain within reach. Our findings herald a promising avenue for the practical implementation of quantum machine learning algorithms on near future quantum computing platforms.

  • 4 authors
·
Jul 4, 2025

ResearchEVO: An End-to-End Framework for Automated Scientific Discovery and Documentation

An important recurring pattern in scientific breakthroughs is a two-stage process: an initial phase of undirected experimentation that yields an unexpected finding, followed by a retrospective phase that explains why the finding works and situates it within existing theory. We present ResearchEVO, an end-to-end framework that computationally instantiates this discover-then-explain paradigm. The Evolution Phase employs LLM-guided bi-dimensional co-evolution -- simultaneously optimizing both algorithmic logic and overall architecture -- to search the space of code implementations purely by fitness, without requiring any understanding of the solutions it produces. The Writing Phase then takes the best-performing algorithm and autonomously generates a complete, publication-ready research paper through sentence-level retrieval-augmented generation with explicit anti-hallucination verification and automated experiment design. To our knowledge, ResearchEVO is the first system to cover this full pipeline end to end: no prior work jointly performs principled algorithm evolution and literature-grounded scientific documentation. We validate the framework on two cross-disciplinary scientific problems -- Quantum Error Correction using real Google quantum hardware data, and Physics-Informed Neural Networks -- where the Evolution Phase discovered human-interpretable algorithmic mechanisms that had not been previously proposed in the respective domain literatures. In both cases, the Writing Phase autonomously produced compilable LaTeX manuscripts that correctly grounded these blind discoveries in existing theory via RAG, with zero fabricated citations.

  • 7 authors
·
Apr 6

QuXAI: Explainers for Hybrid Quantum Machine Learning Models

The emergence of hybrid quantum-classical machine learning (HQML) models opens new horizons of computational intelligence but their fundamental complexity frequently leads to black box behavior that undermines transparency and reliability in their application. Although XAI for quantum systems still in its infancy, a major research gap is evident in robust global and local explainability approaches that are designed for HQML architectures that employ quantized feature encoding followed by classical learning. The gap is the focus of this work, which introduces QuXAI, an framework based upon Q-MEDLEY, an explainer for explaining feature importance in these hybrid systems. Our model entails the creation of HQML models incorporating quantum feature maps, the use of Q-MEDLEY, which combines feature based inferences, preserving the quantum transformation stage and visualizing the resulting attributions. Our result shows that Q-MEDLEY delineates influential classical aspects in HQML models, as well as separates their noise, and competes well against established XAI techniques in classical validation settings. Ablation studies more significantly expose the virtues of the composite structure used in Q-MEDLEY. The implications of this work are critically important, as it provides a route to improve the interpretability and reliability of HQML models, thus promoting greater confidence and being able to engage in safer and more responsible use of quantum-enhanced AI technology.

  • 6 authors
·
May 15, 2025 3

Exponential quantum advantage in processing massive classical data

Broadly applicable quantum advantage, particularly in classical data processing and machine learning, has been a fundamental open problem. In this work, we prove that a small quantum computer of polylogarithmic size can perform large-scale classification and dimension reduction on massive classical data by processing samples on the fly, whereas any classical machine achieving the same prediction performance requires exponentially larger size. Furthermore, classical machines that are exponentially larger yet below the required size need superpolynomially more samples and time. We validate these quantum advantages in real-world applications, including single-cell RNA sequencing and movie review sentiment analysis, demonstrating four to six orders of magnitude reduction in size with fewer than 60 logical qubits. These quantum advantages are enabled by quantum oracle sketching, an algorithm for accessing the classical world in quantum superposition using only random classical data samples. Combined with classical shadows, our algorithm circumvents the data loading and readout bottleneck to construct succinct classical models from massive classical data, a task provably impossible for any classical machine that is not exponentially larger than the quantum machine. These quantum advantages persist even when classical machines are granted unlimited time or if BPP=BQP, and rely only on the correctness of quantum mechanics. Together, our results establish machine learning on classical data as a broad and natural domain of quantum advantage and a fundamental test of quantum mechanics at the complexity frontier.

  • 7 authors
·
Apr 7 1

Evaluating the Performance of Some Local Optimizers for Variational Quantum Classifiers

In this paper, we have studied the performance and role of local optimizers in quantum variational circuits. We studied the performance of the two most popular optimizers and compared their results with some popular classical machine learning algorithms. The classical algorithms we used in our study are support vector machine (SVM), gradient boosting (GB), and random forest (RF). These were compared with a variational quantum classifier (VQC) using two sets of local optimizers viz AQGD and COBYLA. For experimenting with VQC, IBM Quantum Experience and IBM Qiskit was used while for classical machine learning models, sci-kit learn was used. The results show that machine learning on noisy immediate scale quantum machines can produce comparable results as on classical machines. For our experiments, we have used a popular restaurant sentiment analysis dataset. The extracted features from this dataset and then after applying PCA reduced the feature set into 5 features. Quantum ML models were trained using 100 epochs and 150 epochs on using EfficientSU2 variational circuit. Overall, four Quantum ML models were trained and three Classical ML models were trained. The performance of the trained models was evaluated using standard evaluation measures viz, Accuracy, Precision, Recall, F-Score. In all the cases AQGD optimizer-based model with 100 Epochs performed better than all other models. It produced an accuracy of 77% and an F-Score of 0.785 which were highest across all the trained models.

  • 3 authors
·
Feb 17, 2021

Let the Quantum Creep In: Designing Quantum Neural Network Models by Gradually Swapping Out Classical Components

Artificial Intelligence (AI), with its multiplier effect and wide applications in multiple areas, could potentially be an important application of quantum computing. Since modern AI systems are often built on neural networks, the design of quantum neural networks becomes a key challenge in integrating quantum computing into AI. To provide a more fine-grained characterisation of the impact of quantum components on the performance of neural networks, we propose a framework where classical neural network layers are gradually replaced by quantum layers that have the same type of input and output while keeping the flow of information between layers unchanged, different from most current research in quantum neural network, which favours an end-to-end quantum model. We start with a simple three-layer classical neural network without any normalisation layers or activation functions, and gradually change the classical layers to the corresponding quantum versions. We conduct numerical experiments on image classification datasets such as the MNIST, FashionMNIST and CIFAR-10 datasets to demonstrate the change of performance brought by the systematic introduction of quantum components. Through this framework, our research sheds new light on the design of future quantum neural network models where it could be more favourable to search for methods and frameworks that harness the advantages from both the classical and quantum worlds.

  • 4 authors
·
Sep 26, 2024

Mitigating the quantum hype

We are in the midst of quantum hype with some excessive claims of quantum computing potential, many vendors' and even some research organizations' exaggerations, and a funding frenzy for very low technology readiness level startups. Governments are contributing to this hype with their large quantum initiatives and their technology sovereignty aspirations. Technology hypes are not bad per se since they create emulation, drive innovations and also contribute to attracting new talents. It works as scientists and vendors deliver progress and innovation on a continuous basis after a so-called peak of expectations. It fails with exaggerated overpromises and underdeliveries that last too long. It could cut short research and innovation funding, creating some sort of quantum winter. After looking at the shape and form of technology and science hypes and driving some lessons from past hypes, we investigate the current quantum hype and its specifics. We find that, although there is some significant uncertainty on the potential to create real scalable quantum computers, the scientific and vendor fields are relatively sane and solid compared to other technology hypes. The vendors hype has some profound and disruptive impact on the organization of fundamental research. Also, quantum technologies comprise other fields like quantum telecommunications and quantum sensing with a higher technology readiness level, which are less prone to hype. We then make some proposals to mitigate the potential negative effects of the current quantum hype including recommendations on scientific communication to strengthen the trust in quantum science, vendor behavior improvements, benchmarking methodologies, public education and putting in place a responsible research and innovation approach.

  • 1 authors
·
Jan 23, 2022