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arXiv · 2608.25042

A Unified Framework for Operator Backpropagation and Observable Measurement in Quantum Computing

Kevin Dougherty·Ji Liu
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Abstract

Decoherence imposes severe limits on quantum circuit depth, motivating methods to reduce circuit depth. Operator backpropagation has recently been proposed as a way to lower circuit depth by classically backpropagating observables through subcircuits. While it lowers the circuit depth, it also significantly increases the number of backpropagated observables that must be measured. This calls for an efficient measurement protocol tailored to these backpropagated observables. Moreover, errors arise both during the backpropagation procedure and during measurement, and they accumulate in the final computation. No prior work has examined how to integrate operator backpropagation with advanced measurement protocols, and how to jointly optimize the combined process. In this paper, we introduce a comprehensive framework to determine the appropriate measurement protocol to achieve a desired level of accuracy with the fewest number of measurements based on the number of qubit-wise commuting (QWC) groups formed from operator backpropagation. We analyze and categorize the primary sources of error that arise through our workflow, including error incurred from the backpropagation algorithm, truncation error, and shot noise variation. We also examine truncation strategies to reduce the number of backpropagated observables by characterizing the structure of the set of backpropagated observables.

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Kevin Dougherty, Ji Liu. 2026-08-25. A Unified Framework for Operator Backpropagation and Observable Measurement in Quantum Computing. https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.25042

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