Searcharxiv⌕ Search

arXiv subjects

Evgeniy O. Kiktenko

Publications and source records attributed to Evgeniy O. Kiktenko.

36 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Computable and noncomputable in the quantum domain: statements and conjectures

Significant advances in the development of computing devices based on quantum effects and the demonstration of their use to solve various problems have rekindled interest in the nature of the "quantum computational advantage." Although various attempts to quantify and characterize the nature of the quantum computational advantage have previously been made, this question largely remains open. Indeed, there is no universal approach that allows determining the scope of problems whose solution can be accelerated by quantum computers, in theory of in practice. In this paper, we consider an approach to this question based on the concept of complexity and reachability of quantum states. On the one hand, the class of quantum states that are of interest for quantum computing must be complex, i.e., not amenable to simulation by classical computers with less than exponential resources. On the other hand, such quantum states must be reachable on a practically feasible quantum computer. This means that the unitary operation that transforms the initial quantum state into the desired one must be decomposable into a sequence of one- and two-qubit gates of a length that is at most polynomial in the number of qubits. By formulating several statements and conjectures, we discuss the question of describing a class of problems whose solution can be accelerated by a quantum computer.

quant-ph↗

Towards multiqudit quantum processor based on a $^{171}$Yb$^{+}$ ion string: Realizing basic quantum algorithms

We demonstrate a quantum processor based on a 3D linear Paul trap that uses $^{171}$Yb$^{+}$ ions with 8 individually controllable four-level qudits (ququarts), which is computationally equivalent to a 16-qubit quantum processor. The design of the developed ion trap provides high secular frequencies, low heating rate, which, together with individual addressing and readout optical systems, allows executing quantum algorithms. In each of the 8 ions, we use four electronic levels coupled by E2 optical transition at 435 nm for qudit encoding. We present the results of single- and two-qubit operations benchmarking and realizing basic quantum algorithms, including Bernstein-Vazirani and Grover's search algorithms as well as H$_2$ and LiH molecular simulations. Our results pave the way to scalable qudit-based quantum processors using trapped ions.

quant-ph↗

Universal quantum computing with qubits embedded in trapped-ion qudits

Recent developments in qudit-based quantum computing, in particular with trapped ions, open interesting possibilities for scaling quantum processors without increasing the number of physical information carriers. In this work, we propose a method for compiling quantum circuits in the case, where qubits are embedded into qudits of experimentally relevant dimensionalities, $d=3,\ldots,8$, for the trapped-ion platform. In particular, we demonstrate how single-qubit, two-qubit, and multiqubit gates can be realized using single-qudit operations and the Molmer-Sorensen (MS) gate as a basic two-particle operation. We expect that our findings are directly applicable to trapped-ion-based qudit processors.

quant-ph↗

Efficient realization of quantum algorithms with qudits

The development of a universal fault-tolerant quantum computer that can solve efficiently various difficult computational problems is an outstanding challenge for science and technology. In this work, we propose a technique for an efficient implementation of quantum algorithms with multilevel quantum systems (qudits). Our method uses a transpilation of a circuit in the standard qubit form, which depends on the parameters of a qudit-based processor, such as their number and the number of accessible levels. This approach provides a qubit-to-qudit mapping and comparison to a standard realization of quantum algorithms highlighting potential advantages of qudits. We provide an explicit scheme of transpiling qubit circuits into sequences of single-qudit and two-qudit gates taken from a particular universal set. We then illustrate our method by considering an example of an efficient implementation of a $6$-qubit quantum algorithm with qudits. We expect that our findings are of relevance for ongoing experiments with noisy intermediate-scale quantum devices that operate with information carrier allowing qudit encodings, such as trapped ions and neutral atoms as well as optical and solid-state systems.

quant-ph↗

Barren plateaus are swamped with traps

Two main challenges preventing efficient training of variational quantum algorithms and quantum machine learning models are local minima and barren plateaus. Typically, barren plateaus are associated with deep circuits, while shallow circuits have been shown to suffer from suboptimal local minima. We point out a simple mechanism that creates exponentially many poor local minima specifically in the barren plateau regime. These local minima are trivial solutions, optimizing only a few terms in the loss function, leaving the rest on their barren plateaus. More precisely, we show the existence of approximate local minima, optimizing a single loss term, and conjecture the existence of exact local minima, optimizing only a logarithmic fraction of all loss function terms. One implication of our findings is that simply yielding large gradients is not sufficient to render an initialization strategy a meaningful solution to the barren plateau problem.

quant-ph↗

Demonstration of a parity-time symmetry breaking phase transition using superconducting and trapped-ion qutrits

Scalable quantum computers hold the promise to solve hard computational problems, such as prime factorization, combinatorial optimization, simulation of many-body physics, and quantum chemistry. While being key to understanding many real-world phenomena, simulation of non-conservative quantum dynamics presents a challenge for unitary quantum computation. In this work, we focus on simulating non-unitary parity-time symmetric systems, which exhibit a distinctive symmetry-breaking phase transition as well as other unique features that have no counterpart in closed systems. We show that a qutrit, a three-level quantum system, is capable of realizing this non-equilibrium phase transition. By using two physical platforms -- an array of trapped ions and a superconducting transmon -- and by controlling their three energy levels in a digital manner, we experimentally simulate the parity-time symmetry-breaking phase transition. Our results indicate the potential advantage of multi-level (qudit) processors in simulating physical effects, where additional accessible levels can play the role of a controlled environment.

quant-ph↗

Minimizing the negativity of quantum circuits in overcomplete quasiprobability representations

The problem of simulatability of quantum processes using classical resources plays a cornerstone role for quantum computing. Quantum circuits can be simulated classically, e.g., using Monte Carlo sampling techniques applied to quasiprobability representations of circuits' basic elements, i.e., states, gates, and measurements. The effectiveness of the simulation is determined by the amount of the negativity in the representation of these basic elements. Here we develop an approach for minimizing the total negativity of a given quantum circuit with respect to quasiprobability representations, that are overcomplete, i.e., are such that the dimensionality of corresponding quasistochastic vectors and matrices is larger than the squared dimension of quantum states. Our approach includes both optimization over equivalent quasistochastic vectors and matrices, which appear due to the overcompleteness, and optimization over overcomplete frames. We demonstrate the performance of the developed approach on some illustrative cases, and show its significant advantage compared to the standard overcomplete quasistochastic representations. We also study the negativity minimization of noisy brick-wall random circuits via a combination of increasing frame dimension and applying gate merging technique. We demonstrate that the former approach appears to be more efficient in the case of a strong decoherence.

quant-ph↗

Pitfalls of the sublinear QAOA-based factorization algorithm

Quantum computing devices are believed to be powerful in solving the prime factorization problem, which is at the heart of widely deployed public-key cryptographic tools. However, the implementation of Shor's quantum factorization algorithm requires significant resources scaling linearly with the number size; taking into account an overhead that is required for quantum error correction the estimation is that 20 millions of (noisy) physical qubits are required for factoring 2048-bit RSA key in 8 hours. Recent proposal by Yan et al. claims a possibility of solving the factorization problem with sublinear quantum resources. As we demonstrate in our work, this proposal lacks systematic analysis of the computational complexity of the classical part of the algorithm, which exploits the Schnorr's lattice-based approach. We provide several examples illustrating the need in additional resource analysis for the proposed quantum factorization algorithm.

quant-ph↗

Eurasian-Scale Experimental Satellite-based Quantum Key Distribution with Detector Efficiency Mismatch Analysis

The Micius satellite is the pioneering initiative to demonstrate quantum teleportation, entanglement distribution, quantum key distribution (QKD), and quantum-secured communications experiments at the global scale. In this work, we report on the results of the 600-mm-aperture ground station design which has enabled the establishment of a quantum-secured link between the Zvenigorod and Nanshan ground stations using the Micius satellite. As a result of a quantum communications session, an overall sifted key of 2.5 Mbits and a total final key length of 310 kbits have been obtained. We present an extension of the security analysis of the realization of satellite-based QKD decoy-state protocol by taking into account the effect of the detection-efficiency mismatch for four detectors. We also simulate the QKD protocol for the satellite passage and by that validate our semi-empirical model for a realistic receiver, which is in good agreement with the experimental data. Our results pave the way to the considerations of realistic imperfection of the QKD systems, which are important in the context of their practical security.

quant-ph↗

Quantum and quantum-inspired optimization for an in-core fuel management problem

Operation management of nuclear power plants consists of several computationally hard problems. Searching for an in-core fuel loading pattern is among them. The main challenge of this combinatorial optimization problem is the exponential growth of the search space with a number of loading elements. Here we study a reloading problem in a Quadratic Unconstrained Binary Optimization (QUBO) form. Such a form allows us to apply various techniques, including quantum annealing, classical simulated annealing, and quantum-inspired algorithms in order to find fuel reloading patterns for several realistic configurations of nuclear reactors. We present the results of benchmarking the in-core fuel management problem in the QUBO form using the aforementioned computational techniques. This work demonstrates potential applications of quantum computers and quantum-inspired algorithms in the energy industry.

quant-ph↗

Benchmarking a boson sampler with Hamming nets

Analyzing the properties of complex quantum systems is crucial for further development of quantum devices, yet this task is typically challenging and demanding with respect to required amount of measurements. A special attention to this problem appears within the context of characterizing outcomes of noisy intermediate-scale quantum devices, which produce quantum states with specific properties so that it is expected to be hard to simulate such states using classical resources. In this work, we address the problem of characterization of a boson sampling device, which uses interference of input photons to produce samples of non-trivial probability distributions that at certain condition are hard to obtain classically. For realistic experimental conditions the problem is to probe multi-photon interference with a limited number of the measurement outcomes without collisions and repetitions. By constructing networks on the measurements outcomes, we demonstrate a possibility to discriminate between regimes of indistinguishable and distinguishable bosons by quantifying the structures of the corresponding networks. Based on this we propose a machine-learning-based protocol to benchmark a boson sampler with unknown scattering matrix. Notably, the protocol works in the most challenging regimes of having a very limited number of bitstrings without collisions and repetitions. As we expect, our framework can be directly applied for characterizing boson sampling devices that are currently available in experiments.

quant-ph↗

Efficient variational synthesis of quantum circuits with coherent multi-start optimization

We consider the problem of the variational quantum circuit synthesis into a gate set consisting of the CNOT gate and arbitrary single-qubit (1q) gates with the primary target being the minimization of the CNOT count. First we note that along with the discrete architecture search suffering from the combinatorial explosion of complexity, optimization over 1q gates can also be a crucial roadblock due to the omnipresence of local minimums (well known in the context of variational quantum algorithms but apparently underappreciated in the context of the variational compiling). Taking the issue seriously, we make an extensive search over the initial conditions an essential part of our approach. Another key idea we propose is to use parametrized two-qubit (2q) controlled phase gates, which can interpolate between the identity gate and the CNOT gate, and allow a continuous relaxation of the discrete architecture search, which can be executed jointly with the optimization over 1q gates. This coherent optimization of the architecture together with 1q gates appears to work surprisingly well in practice, sometimes even outperforming optimization over 1q gates alone (for fixed optimal architectures). As illustrative examples and applications we derive 8 CNOT and T depth 3 decomposition of the 3q Toffoli gate on the nearest-neighbor topology, rediscover known best decompositions of the 4q Toffoli gate on all 4q topologies including a 1 CNOT gate improvement on the star-shaped topology, and propose decomposition of the 5q Toffoli gate on the nearest-neighbor topology with 48 CNOT gates. We also benchmark the performance of our approach on a number of 5q quantum circuits from the ibm_qx_mapping database showing that it is highly competitive with the existing software. The algorithm developed in this work is available as a Python package CPFlow.

quant-ph↗

Fourier expansion in variational quantum algorithms

The Fourier expansion of the loss function in variational quantum algorithms (VQA) contains a wealth of information, yet is generally hard to access. We focus on the class of variational circuits, where constant gates are Clifford gates and parameterized gates are generated by Pauli operators, which covers most practical cases while allowing much control thanks to the properties of stabilizer circuits. We give a classical algorithm that, for an $N$-qubit circuit and a single Pauli observable, computes coefficients of all trigonometric monomials up to a degree $m$ in time bounded by $\mathcal{O}(N2^m)$. Using the general structure and implementation of the algorithm we reveal several novel aspects of Fourier expansions in Clifford+Pauli VQA such as (i) reformulating the problem of computing the Fourier series as an instance of multivariate boolean quadratic system (ii) showing that the approximation given by a truncated Fourier expansion can be quantified by the $L^2$ norm and evaluated dynamically (iii) tendency of Fourier series to be rather sparse and Fourier coefficients to cluster together (iv) possibility to compute the full Fourier series for circuits of non-trivial sizes, featuring tens to hundreds of qubits and parametric gates.

quant-ph↗

Exploring postselection-induced quantum phenomena with time-bidirectional state formalism

Here we present the time-bidirectional state formalism (TBSF) unifying in a general manner the standard quantum mechanical formalism with no postselection and the time-symmetrized two-state (density) vector formalism, which deals with postselected states. In the proposed approach, a quantum particle's state, called a time-bidirectional state, is equivalent to a joined state of two particles propagating in opposite time directions. For a general time-bidirectional state, we derive outcome probabilities of generalized measurements, as well as mean and weak values of Hermitian observables. We also show how the obtained expressions reduce to known ones in the special cases of no postselection and generalized two-state (density) vectors. Then we develop tomography protocols based on mutually unbiased bases and a symmetric informationally complete positive operator-valued measure, allowing experimental reconstruction of an unknown single qubit time-bidirectional state. Finally, we employ the developed techniques for tracking of a qubit's time-reversal journey in a quantum teleportation protocol realized with a cloud-accessible noisy superconducting quantum processor. The obtained results justify an existence of a postselection-induced qubit's proper time-arrow, which is different from the time-arrow of a classical observer, and demonstrate capabilities of the TBSF for exploring quantum phenomena brought forth by a postselection in the presence of noise.

quant-ph↗

Generalized Toffoli gate decomposition using ququints: Towards realizing Grover's algorithm with qudits

Qubits, which are quantum counterparts of classical bits, are used as basic information units for quantum information processing, whereas underlying physical information carriers, e.g. (artificial) atoms or ions, admit encoding of more complex multilevel states -- qudits. Recently, significant attention is paid to the idea of using qudit encoding as a way for further scaling quantum processors. In this work, we present an efficient decomposition of the generalized Toffoli gate on the five-level quantum systems, so-called ququints, that uses ququints' space as the space of two qubits with a joint ancillary state. The basic two-qubit operation that we use is a version of controlled-phase gate. The proposed $N$-qubit Toffoli gate decomposition has $O(N)$ asymptotic depth using no ancillary qubits. We then apply our results for Grover's algorithm, where we indicate on the sizable advantage of the using qudit-based approach with the proposed decomposition. We expect that our results are applicable for quantum processors based on various physical platforms.

quant-ph↗

Quantum-inspired optimization for wavelength assignment

Problems related to wavelength assignment (WA) in optical communications networks involve allocating transmission wavelengths for known transmission paths between nodes that minimize a certain objective function, for example, the total number of wavelengths. Playing a central role in modern telecommunications, this problem belongs to NP-complete class for a general case, so that obtaining optimal solutions for industry relevant cases is exponentially hard. In this work, we propose and develop a quantum-inspired algorithm for solving the wavelength assignment problem. We propose an advanced embedding procedure for this problem into the quadratic unconstrained binary optimization (QUBO) form having an improvement in the number of iterations with price-to-pay being a slight increase in the number of variables ("spins"). Then we compare a quantum-inspired technique for solving the corresponding QUBO form against classical heuristic and industrial combinatorial solvers. The obtained numerical results indicate on an advantage of the quantum-inspired approach in a substantial number of test cases against the industrial combinatorial solver that works in the standard setting. Our results pave the way to the use of quantum-inspired algorithms for practical problems in telecommunications and open a perspective for the further analysis of the employ of quantum computing devices.

quant-ph↗

Suppressing decoherence in quantum state transfer with unitary operations

Decoherence is the fundamental obstacle limiting the performance of quantum information processing devices. The problem of transmitting a quantum state (known or unknown) from one place to another is of great interest in this context. In this work, by following the recent theoretical proposal [Opt. Eng. {\bf 59}, 061625 (2020)] we study an application of quantum state-dependent pre- and post-processing unitary operations for protecting the given (multi-qubit) quantum state against the effect of decoherence acting on all qubits. We observe the increase in the fidelity of the output quantum state both in a quantum emulation experiment, where all protecting unitaries are perfect, and in a real experiment with a cloud-accessible quantum processor, where protecting unitaries themselves are affected by the noise. We expect the considered approach can be useful for analyzing capabilities of quantum information processing devices in transmitting known quantum states. We also demonstrate an applicability of the developed approach for suppressing decoherence in the process of distributing a two-qubit state over remote physical qubits of a quantum processor.

quant-ph↗

Optimizing the deployment of quantum key distribution switch-based networks

Quantum key distribution (QKD) networks provide an infrastructure for establishing information-theoretic secure keys between legitimate parties via quantum and authentic classical channels. The deployment of QKD networks in real-world conditions faces several challenges, which are related in particular to the high costs of QKD devices and the condition to provide reasonable secret key rates. In this work, we present a QKD network architecture that provides a significant reduction in the cost of deploying QKD networks by using optical switches and reducing the number of QKD receiver devices, which use single-photon detectors. We describe the corresponding modification of the QKD network protocol. We also provide estimations for a network link of a total of 670 km length consisting of 8 nodes, and demonstrate that the switch-based architecture allows achieving significant resource savings of up to 28%, while the throughput is reduced by 8% only.

quant-ph↗