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arXiv:0706.0872 · Physical Review A

Classical simulability and the significance of modular exponentiation in Shor’s algorithm

Nadav Yoran, Anthony J. Short

Published Dec 12, 2007• 16 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We show that a classical algorithm efficiently simulating the modular exponentiation circuit, for certain product state input and for general product measurements at the output, can efficiently simulate Shor's factoring algorithm. This is done by using the notion of the semiclassical Fourier transform due to Griffith and Niu, and further discussed in the context of Shor's algorithm by Browne.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.76.060302

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We show that a classical algorithm efficiently simulating the modular exponentiation circuit, for certain product state input and for general product measurements at the output, can efficiently simulate Shor's factoring algorithm. This is done by using the notion of the semiclassical Fourier transform due to Griffith and Niu, and further discussed in the context of Shor's algorithm by Browne.
A number of elegant approaches have been developed for the identification of quantum circuits which can be efficiently simulated on a classical computer. Recently, these methods have been employed to demonstrate the classical simulability of the quantum Fourier transform (QFT). Here we show that one can demonstrate a number of simulability results for QFT circuits in a straightforward manner using Griffiths and Niu's semi-classical QFT construction (Griffiths and Niu 1996 Phys. Rev. Lett. 76 3228). We use this to analyse the simulability properties of the QFT with a variety of classes of entangled input states. We then discuss the consequences of these results in the context of Shor's factorization algorithm.
We provide a pedagogical presentation of Shor's factoring algorithm, which is a quantum algorithm for factoring very large numbers (of order of hundreds to thousands of bits) in polynomial time. In contrast, all known classical algorithms for the factoring problem take an exponential time to factor such large numbers. Shor's algorithm therefore has profound implication for public-key encryption such as RSA and Diffie–Hellman key exchange. We assume no prior knowledge of Shor's algorithm beyond a basic familiarity with the circuit model of quantum computing. Shor's algorithm contains a number of moving parts, and can be rather daunting at first. The literature is replete with derivations and expositions of Shor's algorithm, but most of them seem to be lacking in essential details, and none of them provide a pedagogical presentation. They require a thicket of appendices and assume a knowledge of quantum algorithms and classical mathematics with which the reader might not be familiar. We therefore start with first principle derivations of the quantum Fourier transform (QFT) and quantum phase estimation (QPE), which are the essential building blocks of Shor's algorithm. We then go on to develop the theory of modular exponentiation (ME) operators, one of the fundamental components of Shor's algorithm, and the place where most of the quantum resources are deployed. We also delve into the number theory that establishes the link between factorization and the period of the modular exponential function. We then apply the QPE algorithm to obtain Shor's factoring algorithm. We also discuss the post-quantum processing and the method of continued fractions, which is used to extract the exact period of the modular exponential function from the approximately measured phase angles of the ME operator. The manuscript then moves on to a series of examples. We first verify the formalism by factoring N=15, the smallest number accessible to Shor's algorithm. We then proceed to factor larger integers, developing a systematic procedure that will find the ME operators for any semi-prime N=p×q (where q and p are prime). Finally, we factor the composite numbers N=21, 33, 35, 143, 247 using the Qiskit simulator. It is observed that the ME operators are somewhat forgiving, and truncated approximate forms are able to extract factors just as well as the exact operators. This is because the method of continued fractions only requires an approximate phase value for its input, which suggests that implementing Shor's algorithm might not be as difficult as first suspected. Quanta 2023; 12: 41–130.
Factoring large numbers poses a significant chal-lenge in contemporary cryptography and security practices. Shor's algorithm presents a remarkable advancement over clas- sical methods by providing exponential acceleration in factoring large numbers, presenting a possible risk to traditional cryptography methods. The algorithm relies on the Quantum Fourier Transform (QFT) and modular exponentiation principles to efficiently ascertain the period (x) of a given large number (N). Upon determining the period using classical methods, the prime factors of the large number can be easily computed. To eval- uate the algorithm's efficiency and scalability, both simulation- based experiments and theoretical analyses are conducted. The algorithm is simulated utilizing the Qiskit back end to estimate resources, including Clifford gates, T gates, T depth, Full depth, and qubits, across a range of large numbers.
Shor's algorithm for the prime factorization of numbers provides an exponential speedup over the best known classical algorithms. However, nontrivial practical applications have remained out of reach due to experimental limitations. The bottleneck of the experimental realization of the algorithm is the modular exponentiation operation. In this paper, based on a relation between the modular multiplication operator and generalizations of discrete Fourier transforms, we propose a quantum circuit for modular exponentiation. A distinctive feature of our proposal is that our circuit can be entirely implemented in terms of the standard quantum circuit for the discrete Fourier transform and its variants. The gate-complexity of our proposal is O(L3)O(L^3)O(L3) where L is the number of bits required to store the number being factorized. It is possible that such a proposal may provide easier avenues for near-term generic implementations of Shor's algorithm, in contrast to existing realizations which have often explicitly adapted the circuit to the number being factorized.
A fundamental problem in factorization by Shor's algorithm [1] is the implementation of the modular exponentiation function. The period of this function is important for determining the individual factors, so its accurate implementation is for successful factorization critical.The imprecision of current quantum computers requires that any quantum circuits should be as simple as possible. Both in terms of the number of qubits used, the number of quantum gates and the depth of the quantum circuit. Therefore, it is necessary to search for an optimal variant for the implementation of the above-mentioned modular exponentiation function.The standard method is to implement individual arithmetic functions [2] which can be combined to achieve the desired modular exponentiation function. This process, however, creates a very complex quantum circuit, so that its measured result (probability distribution) will be so skewed that it will not be possible to reliably obtain the period of sought.Another way is to create a special quantum circuit for one particular modular exponentiation function [3]. Such a circuit is of course simpler than the circuit created by the above universal implementation, but in practice it only makes sense for testing the functionality of the surrounding quantum circuit for period detection.A very interesting possibility for the implementation of arithmetic functions is to use the direct and inverse quantum Fourier transform [4]. For a quantum computer, these transformations are very easy operations, and this interesting feature can then be used to advantage in these various implementations.This contribution will explore these possible approaches and show their advantages and disadvantages through concrete examples.