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Valter Uotila

Publications and source records attributed to Valter Uotila.

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Systematic Experiment Tracking in Quantum Software: A Case Study of Reservoir Computing with Error Mitigation

Quantum computers are more widely available than ever, making the field more accessible and widespread. Practitioners are coming from a wide range of domains, conducting experiments and research using quantum computing approaches across a variety of problems. The current literature suggests that developers follow certain methodologies in quantum software development, often with a matching set of tools provided. Yet with the novel paradigm, there are areas that remain unaddressed in practices and tools. In this article, we go into the details of experiment tracking in quantum software development. We explain the basic concept of experiment tracking and detail how, in essence, quantum computing sets demands on tracking practices. Given the experimental state of hardware and the constantly evolving software, quantum execution must be monitored, marginal gains aggregated for the best outcome, and error sources detected. In our case study, quantum reservoir computing for chaotic time series data prediction with error mitigation, we present a detailed quantum software development process and describe how experiments can be tracked throughout development. We then generalize this knowledge into the broader quantum development process.

quant-ph

SQL2Circuits: Estimating Cardinalities, Execution Times, and Costs for SQL Queries with Quantum Natural Language Processing

Recent advances in quantum computing have led to progress in exploring quantum applications across diverse fields, including databases and data management. This work presents a quantum machine learning model that tackles the challenge of estimating metrics, such as cardinalities, execution times, and costs, for SQL queries in relational databases. Precise estimations are crucial for the query optimizer to optimize query processing in relational databases efficiently. Our proposed quantum machine learning model consists of a novel query encoding mechanism, which maps SQL queries into high-dimensional Hilbert spaces using grammatical representations of the queries. The encoding mechanism translates SQL queries into parameterized quantum circuits, forming the core of the quantum machine learning model. The parameters in this model are tuned using standard quantum machine learning techniques. This encoding was first developed in quantum natural language processing (QNLP), and this work demonstrates its natural application in database optimization. Because the encoding mechanism is mathematically robust, the quantum machine learning model is also explainable, allowing us to draw a one-to-one correspondence between the elements in SQL queries and the model's parameters. The method is also scalable because it consists of multiple circuits, and we train and evaluate the model with hundreds of queries. Compared to previous research, our model achieves high accuracy, supporting the results obtained in the original QNLP research. We extend the previous QNLP work by adding 4-class and 8-class classification tasks and comparing the cardinality estimation results with those from state-of-the-art databases. We theoretically analyze the quantum machine learning model by calculating its expressibility and entangling capabilities.

cs.DB

Opportunities and Challenges for Data Quality in the Era of Quantum Computing

In an era where data underpins decision-making across science, politics, and economics, ensuring high data quality is of paramount importance. Conventional computing algorithms for enhancing data quality, including anomaly detection, demand substantial computational resources, lengthy processing times, and extensive training datasets. This work aims to explore the potential advantages of quantum computing for enhancing data quality, with a particular focus on detection. We begin by examining quantum techniques that could replace key subroutines in conventional anomaly detection frameworks to mitigate their computational intensity. We then provide practical demonstrations of quantum-based anomaly detection methods, highlighting their capabilities. We present a technical implementation for detecting volatility regime changes in stock market data using quantum reservoir computing, which is a special type of quantum machine learning model. The experimental results indicate that quantum-based embeddings are a competitive alternative to classical ones in this particular example. Finally, we identify unresolved challenges and limitations in applying quantum computing to data quality tasks. Our findings open up new avenues for innovative research and commercial applications that aim to advance data quality through quantum technologies.

quant-ph

ZX-DB: A Graph Database for Quantum Circuit Simplification and Rewriting via the ZX-Calculus

Quantum computing is an emerging computational paradigm with the potential to outperform classical computers in solving a variety of problems. To achieve this, quantum programs are typically represented as quantum circuits, which must be optimized and adapted for target hardware through quantum circuit compilation. We introduce ZX-DB, a data-driven system that performs quantum circuit simplification and rewriting inside a graph database using ZX-calculus, a complete graphical formalism for quantum mechanics. ZX-DB encodes ZX-calculus rewrite rules as standard openCypher queries and executes them on an example graph database engine, Memgraph, enabling efficient, database-native transformations of large-scale quantum circuits. ZX-DB integrates correctness validation via tensor and graph equivalence checks and is evaluated against the state-of-the-art PyZX framework. Experimental results show that ZX-DB achieves up to an order-of-magnitude speedup for independent rewrites, while exposing pattern-matching bottlenecks in current graph database engines. By uniting quantum compilation and graph data management, ZX-DB opens a new systems direction toward scalable, database-supported quantum computing pipelines.

quant-ph

Twirlator: A Pipeline for Analyzing Subgroup Symmetry Effects in Quantum Machine Learning Ansatzes

Symmetry is a strong inductive bias in geometric deep learning and its quantum counterpart, and has attracted increasing attention for improving the trainability of QML models. Yet incorporating symmetries into quantum machine learning (QML) ansatzes is not free: symmetrization often adds gates and constrains the circuits. To understand these effects, we present Twirlator, which is an automated pipeline that symmetrizes parameterized QML ansatzes and quantifies the trade-offs as the amount of symmetry increases. Twirlator models partial symmetries by the size of a subgroup of the symmetric group, enabling analysis between the ``no symmetry'' and ``full symmetry'' extremes. Across 19 common ansatz patterns, Twirlator symmetrizes circuits with respect to any subgroup of $S_n$ and measures (1) generator drift, (2) circuit overhead (depth and size), and (3) expressibility and entangling capability. The experimental evaluation focuses on subgroups of $S_4$ and $S_5$. Twirlator reveals that larger subgroups typically increase circuit overhead, reduce expressibility, and often increase entangling capability. The pipeline and results provide practical guidance for selecting ansatz patterns and symmetry levels that balance hardware cost and model performance in symmetry-aware QML applications.

quant-ph

QUASAR: Quantum Assembly Code Generation Using Tool-Augmented LLMs via Agentic RL

Designing and optimizing task-specific quantum circuits are crucial to leverage the advantage of quantum computing. Recent large language model (LLM)-based quantum circuit generation has emerged as a promising automatic solution. However, the fundamental challenges remain unaddressed: (i) parameterized quantum gates require precise numerical values for optimal performance, which also depend on multiple aspects, including the number of quantum gates, their parameters, and the layout/depth of the circuits. (ii) LLMs often generate low-quality or incorrect quantum circuits due to the lack of quantum domain-specific knowledge. We propose QUASAR, an agentic reinforcement learning (RL) framework for quantum circuits generation and optimization based on tool-augmented LLMs. To align the LLM with quantum-specific knowledge and improve the generated quantum circuits, QUASAR designs (i) a quantum circuit verification approach with external quantum simulators and (ii) a sophisticated hierarchical reward mechanism in RL training. Extensive evaluation shows improvements in both syntax and semantic performance of the generated quantum circuits. When augmenting a 4B LLM, QUASAR has achieved the validity of 99.31% in Pass@1 and 100% in Pass@10, outperforming industrial LLMs of GPT-4o, GPT-5 and DeepSeek-V3 and several supervised-fine-tuning (SFT)-only and RL-only baselines.

cs.AI

Agent-Q: Fine-Tuning Large Language Models for Quantum Circuit Generation and Optimization

Large language models (LLMs) have achieved remarkable outcomes in complex problems, including math, coding, and analyzing large amounts of scientific reports. Yet, few works have explored the potential of LLMs in quantum computing. The most challenging problem is to leverage LLMs to automatically generate quantum circuits at a large scale. Fundamentally, the existing pre-trained LLMs lack the knowledge of quantum circuits. In this paper, we address this challenge by fine-tuning LLMs and injecting the domain-specific knowledge of quantum computing. We describe Agent-Q, an LLM fine-tuning system to generate and optimize quantum circuits. In particular, Agent-Q implements the mechanisms to generate training data sets and constructs an end-to-end pipeline to fine-tune pre-trained LLMs to generate parameterized quantum circuits for various optimization problems. Agent-Q provides 14,000 quantum circuits covering a large spectrum of the quantum optimization landscape: 12 optimization problem instances and their optimized QAOA, VQE, and adaptive VQE circuits. Based thereon, Agent-Q fine-tunes LLMs and constructs syntactically correct parametrized quantum circuits in OpenQASM 3.0. We have evaluated the quality of the LLM-generated circuits and parameters by comparing them to the optimized expectation values and distributions. Experimental results show superior performance of Agent-Q, compared to several state-of-the-art LLMs and better parameters than random. Agent-Q can be integrated into an agentic workflow, and the generated parametrized circuits with initial parameters can be used as a starting point for further optimization, e.g., as templates in quantum machine learning and as benchmarks for compilers and hardware.

quant-ph

Higher-Order Portfolio Optimization with Quantum Approximate Optimization Algorithm

Portfolio optimization is one of the most studied optimization problems at the intersection of quantum computing and finance. In this work, we develop the first quantum formulation for a portfolio optimization problem with higher-order moments, skewness and kurtosis. Including higher-order moments leads to more detailed modeling of portfolio return distributions. Portfolio optimization with higher-order moments has been studied in classical portfolio optimization approaches but with limited exploration within quantum formulations. In the context of quantum optimization, higher-order moments generate higher-order terms in the cost Hamiltonian. Thus, instead of obtaining a quadratic unconstrained binary optimization problem, we obtain a higher-order unconstrained binary optimization (HUBO) problem, which has a natural formulation as a parametrized circuit. Additionally, we employ realistic integer variable encoding and a capital-based budget constraint. We consider the classical continuous variable solution with integer programming-based discretization to be the computationally efficient classical baseline for the problem. Our extensive experimental evaluation of 100 portfolio optimization problems shows that the solutions to the HUBO formulation often correspond to better portfolio allocations than the classical baseline. This is a promising result for those who want to perform computationally challenging portfolio optimization on quantum hardware, as portfolio optimization with higher moments is classically complex. Moreover, the experimental evaluation studies QAOA's performance with higher-order terms in this practically relevant problem.

quant-ph

Perspectives on Utilization of Measurements in Quantum Algorithms

Measurement is a fundamental operation in quantum computing and has many important use cases in quantum algorithms. This article provides a comprehensive overview of the basic measurement operations in quantum computing and represents a selected set of their applications in quantum algorithms. Our goal is to provide one of the first algorithmic overviews of measurement processes in quantum computing. From the quantum information-theoretical perspective, measurements are either a method to access the result of a quantum computation or a technique to modify a quantum state. We also identify measurement-based methods to solve quantum computational challenges, such as error mitigation and circuit cutting. We discuss three main categories of measurements: performing measurements in static quantum circuits, modifying the quantum state in dynamic quantum circuits via measurements, and addressing challenges in quantum computing with measurements. Based on the reviewed topics, the measurement operations are frequently not at the center of the quantum algorithm design. However, the most novel and error-prone quantum algorithms will likely require sophisticated measurement schemes. Thus, the central message of this article is to broaden the view of measurement operations and highlight their importance at every level of quantum algorithm design.

quant-ph

Quantum Information-Theoretical Size Bounds for Conjunctive Queries with Functional Dependencies

Deriving formulations to estimate worst-case size bounds for conjunctive queries under various constraints has been at the core of theoretical database research. If the problem has no constraints or has a single functional dependency, tight worst-case size bounds are computable. If the problem has more than one functional dependency, computing tight bounds can be difficult in practice and may even require an infinite number of linear inequalities in its optimization formulation. While these challenges have been addressed with varying methods, no prior research has employed quantum information theory to address this problem. In this work, we establish a connection between earlier classical information theory-based works and quantum information theory. We propose replacing the classical Shannon entropy formulation with the quantum R\'enyi entropy of order $\alpha \in (0,1)$ whose entropy cone is characterized simply by non-negativity. The first key result is to express the bound in terms of optimizing over quantum states and R\'enyi entropy. Optimizing with respect to quantum states rather than classical distributions transfers the hardness into the problem of characterizing classical states, yielding a sound but generally not tight upper bound. We further quantify this hardness explicitly by proposing a dichotomy theorem: if the query satisfies a head absorption rule, then the R\'enyi program value is at most one and $|Q(D)| \leq \mathrm{rmax}(D)$. Otherwise, the program is unbounded.

quant-ph

Left-Deep Join Order Selection with Higher-Order Unconstrained Binary Optimization on Quantum Computers

Join order optimization is among the most crucial query optimization problems, and its central position is also evident in the new research field where quantum computing is applied to database optimization and data management. In the field, join order optimization is the most studied database problem, usually tackled with a quadratic unconstrained binary optimization model, which is solved with various meta-heuristics such as quantum annealing, quantum approximate optimization algorithm, or variational quantum eigensolver. In this work, we continue developing quantum computing techniques for join order optimization by presenting three novel quantum optimization algorithms. These algorithms are based on a higher-order unconstrained binary optimization model, which is a generalization of the quadratic model and has not previously been applied to database problems. Theoretically, these optimization problems naturally map to universal quantum computers and quantum annealers. Compared to previous research, two of our algorithms are the first quantum algorithms to precisely model the join order cost function. We prove theoretical bounds by showing that these two methods encode the same plans as the dynamic programming algorithm without cross-products, which provides the optimal result up to cross-products. The third algorithm reaches at least as good plans as the greedy algorithm without cross-products. These results set an important theoretical connection between the classical and quantum algorithms for join order selection, which has not been studied in the previous research. To demonstrate our algorithms' practical usability, we have conducted an experimental evaluation on thousands of clique, cycle, star, tree, and chain query graphs using quantum and classical solvers.

quant-ph

QCE'24 Tutorial: Quantum Annealing -- Emerging Exploration for Database Optimization

Quantum annealing is a meta-heuristic approach tailored to solve combinatorial optimization problems with quantum annealers. In this tutorial, we provide a fundamental and comprehensive introduction to quantum annealing and modern data management systems and show quantum annealing's potential benefits and applications in the realm of database optimization. We demonstrate how to apply quantum annealing for selected database optimization problems, which are critical challenges in many data management platforms. The demonstrations include solving join order optimization problems in relational databases, optimizing sophisticated transaction scheduling, and allocating virtual machines within cloud-based architectures with respect to sustainability metrics. On the one hand, the demonstrations show how to apply quantum annealing on key problems of database management systems (join order selection, transaction scheduling), and on the other hand, they show how quantum annealing can be integrated as a part of larger and dynamic optimization pipelines (virtual machine allocation). The goal of our tutorial is to provide a centralized and condensed source regarding theories and applications of quantum annealing technology for database researchers, practitioners, and everyone who wants to understand how to potentially optimize data management with quantum computing in practice. Besides, we identify the advantages, limitations, and potentials of quantum computing for future database and data management research.

quant-ph

Tensor Decompositions and Adiabatic Quantum Computing for Discovering Practical Matrix Multiplication Algorithms

Quantum computing and modern tensor-based computing have a strong connection, which is especially demonstrated by simulating quantum computations with tensor networks. The other direction is less studied: quantum computing is not often applied to tensor-based problems. Considering tensor decompositions, we focus on discovering practical matrix multiplication algorithms and develop two algorithms to compute decompositions on quantum computers. The algorithms are expressed as higher-order unconstrained binary optimization (HUBO) problems, which are translated into quadratic unconstrained binary optimization (QUBO) problems. Our first algorithm is decompositional to keep the optimization problem feasible for the current quantum devices. Starting from a suitable initial point, the algorithm discovers tensor decomposition corresponding to the famous Strassen matrix multiplication algorithm, utilizing the current quantum annealers. Since the decompositional algorithm does not guarantee minimal length for found tensor decompositions, we develop a holistic algorithm that can find fixed-length decompositions. Theoretically, by fixing a shorter length than the length for the best-known decomposition, we can ensure that the solution to the holistic optimization problem would yield faster matrix multiplication algorithms.

quant-ph

Gate Teleportation in Noisy Quantum Networks with the SquidASM Simulator

We implement the gate teleportation algorithm for teleporting arbitrary two-qubit Clifford gates and the Toffoli gate within the context of multi-node quantum networks, utilizing the SquidASM quantum network simulator. We show how a gate teleportation scheme can be used to implement gate cutting, which is an important approach to realize large circuits in distributed quantum computing environments. The correction operations in teleportation are automatically constructed for arbitrary two-qubit Clifford gates. We present simulation results for CNOT, DCNOT, CZ, SWAP, and Toffoli gates. For the Toffoli gate, we apply a similar gate teleportation protocol with the difference that the correction operation becomes more complex since the gate is non-Clifford. We perform the simulations under varying conditions of quantum channel and device noise levels. The simulations provide valuable insights into the robustness and efficacy of the implemented algorithms, and they assist in identifying the critical components within quantum networks where noise primarily affects the execution of applications.

quant-ph

A Formal Category Theoretical Framework for Multi-model Data Transformations

Data integration and migration processes in polystores and multi-model database management systems highly benefit from data and schema transformations. Rigorous modeling of transformations is a complex problem. The data and schema transformation field is scattered with multiple different transformation frameworks, tools, and mappings. These are usually domain-specific and lack solid theoretical foundations. Our first goal is to define category theoretical foundations for relational, graph, and hierarchical data models and instances. Each data instance is represented as a category theoretical mapping called a functor. We formalize data and schema transformations as Kan lifts utilizing the functorial representation for the instances. A Kan lift is a category theoretical construction consisting of two mappings satisfying a certain universal property. In this work, the two mappings correspond to schema transformation and data transformation.

cs.DB

MultiCategory: Multi-model Query Processing Meets Category Theory and Functional Programming

The variety of data is one of the important issues in the era of Big Data. The data are naturally organized in different formats and models, including structured data, semi-structured data, and unstructured data. Prior research has envisioned an approach to abstract multi-model data with a schema category and an instance category by using category theory. In this paper, we demonstrate a system, called MultiCategory, which processes multi-model queries based on category theory and functional programming. This demo is centered around four main scenarios to show a tangible system. First, we show how to build a schema category and an instance category by loading different models of data, including relational, XML, key-value, and graph data. Second, we show a few examples of query processing by using the functional programming language Haskell. Third, we demo the flexible outputs with different models of data for the same input query. Fourth, to better understand the category theoretical structure behind the queries, we offer a variety of graphical hooks to explore and visualize queries as graphs with respect to the schema category, as well as the query processing procedure with Haskell.

cs.DB