We present an approach to simulating quantum computation based on a classical model that directly imitates discrete quantum systems. Qubits are represented as harmonic functions in a two-dimensional vector space. Multiplication of qubit representations of different frequencies results in exponential growth of the state space similar to the tensor-product composition of qubit spaces in quantum mechanics. Individual qubits remain accessible in a composite system, which is represented as a complex function of a single variable, though entanglement imposes a demand on resources that scales exponentially with the number of entangled qubits. We carry out a simulation of Shor's algorithm and discuss a simpler implementation in this classical model.
We present an approach to simulating quantum computation based on a classical model that directly imitates discrete quantum systems. Qubits are represented as harmonic functions in a two-dimensional vector space. Multiplication of qubit representations of different frequencies results in exponential growth of the state space similar to the tensor-product composition of qubit spaces in quantum mechanics. Individual qubits remain accessible in a composite system, which is represented as a complex function of a single variable, though entanglement imposes a demand on resources that scales exponentially with the number of entangled qubits. We carry out a simulation of Shor's algorithm and discuss a simpler implementation in this classical model.
Classical computing architectures encode information into discrete binary digits residing in isolated regions of phase space. Quantum computing replaces this paradigm by leveraging complex state vectors defined within continuous, multi-dimensional Hilbert spaces. This paper provides a unified mathematical framework examining finite-dimensional Hilbert spaces in quantum information processing. It traces the structural scaling of quantum state spaces from single-qubit systems up through composite tensor product structures and multi-qubit registers. By detailing computational basis representations, state transformations, probability amplitudes, and multipartite entanglement classes, such as Bell, GHZ, and W states, this paper demonstrates how exponential dimensional scaling enables quantum parallelism while presenting computational barriers to classical simulation.
Quantum mechanics has proven its position as the primary theory for accurately describing microscopic domains. Numerous fields in physics utilize quantum mechanics to great effects, with one prominent application being quantum computing. Quantum computing extends the field of quantum mechanics to information theory, striving to perform computational tasks utilizing quantum phenomena with notably greater efficiency compared to classical alternatives. In this thesis, I will go through the basics required in the field of quantum computing. To understand quantum computing demands adapting a new type of matrix mechanical view. This involves considering Hilbert spaces, which are linear vector space having a well defined inner product. Hilbert spaces contain state vectors describing quantum states, as well as operators for altering and measuring these states. The dynamics of quantum systems are governed by three quantum postulates. These specify Hilbert spaces and state vectors as the fundamental components of quantum systems, Hermitian operators as providing the physical manifestation of these systems, and finally, the Schrödinger's equation to describe the time evolution of such systems. These notions are required in producing quantum computing. Quantum computing uses qubits as the computational basis, analogous to classical bits but with the added capability of quantum superposition. Qubits are represented as two-state vectors, and can be physically realized with any quantum-behaving binary-valued system, like the electron spins. Qubits can be combined into higher dimensional states with the use of tensor products, causing the system's Hilbert space to expand as 2^n with n being the number of qubits, allowing for exponential computational speedup. Computational logic can be constructed by acting on the qubits using unitary operators, known as quantum gates. The combinations of qubits and quantum gates can be visualized as quantum circuits, depicted using specialized circuit diagram notations. An essential part of quantum computing, and the phenomena enabling exponential computational speedup, is quantum entanglement. Entanglement arises in interacting qubits, intertwining them so that the individual states become correlated. Entanglement can be characterized by being unable to reduce a combined state into its pure constituents. The amount of entanglement in a system can be measured using von Neumann entropy, analogous to Shannon entropy in classical information theory. Entanglement serves various purposes in quantum computing and is a defining feature distinguishing it from the classical domain. In this thesis, the entanglement properties of a periodic four-qubit circuit with alternating quantum gates were simulated. The simulation was performed computationally, and measured entanglement entropy as a function of the amount of circuit periods. The results demonstrated different characteristics of entanglement depending on the parameters used for the quantum gates, with the entanglement either being periodic, non-occurring or chaotic in nature.
We discuss a new approach to simulate quantum algorithms using classical probabilistic bits and circuits. Each qubit (a two-level quantum system) is initially mapped to a vector in an eight dimensional probability space (equivalently, to a classical random variable with eight probabilistic outcomes). The key idea in this mapping is to store both the amplitude and phase information of the complex coefficients that describe the qubit state in the probabilities. Due to the identical tensor product structure of combining multiple quantum systems as well as multiple probability spaces, n qubits are then mapped to a tensor product of n 8-dimensional probabilistic vectors (i.e., the Hilbert space of dimension 2n is mapped to a probability space of dimension 8n). After this initial mapping, we show how to implement the analogs of single-qubit and two-qubit gates in the probability space using correlation-inducing operations on these classical random variables. The key defining feature of both the mapping to the probability space and the transformations in this space (i.e., operations on the random variables) is that they are not linear, but instead affine. Using this architecture, the evolution of the 2n complex coefficients of the quantum system can be tracked in the joint fully-correlated probabilities of the polynomial number of random variables. We then give specific procedures for implementing (1) the Deutsch-Jozsa algorithm, and (2) the Quantum Fourier Transform in the probability space. Identical to the Quantum case, simulating the Quantum Fourier Transform in the probability space requires O(n) probabilistic bits and O(n2) (i.e., quadratic in the number of quantum bits) operations.
Hilbert spaces provide the fundamental mathematical framework for describing quantum mechanical systems. Their structure, characterized by an inner product and completeness, allows for the representation of quantum states as vectors and physical observables as self-adjoint operators. Key quantum phenomena such as superposition and entanglement find natural expression within this formalism. Superposition, where a quantum system can exist in multiple states simultaneously, is represented by linear combinations of basis vectors in the Hilbert space. Entanglement, a non-classical correlation between quantum systems, is described by non-separable state vectors in a tensor product of Hilbert spaces. These concepts are pivotal in quantum computing, where the unit of information, the qubit, is a two-level quantum system whose state is a vector in a two-dimensional complex Hilbert space (ℂ²). Quantum gates, which perform operations on qubits, are represented by unitary operators acting on these state vectors. The power of quantum computation, particularly in algorithms like Shor's or Grover's, stems from the ability to exploit superposition and entanglement, processes intrinsically described within the Hilbert space framework. Thus, a thorough understanding of Hilbert spaces is indispensable for grasping the principles of quantum mechanics and for advancing the field of quantum information and computation [1, 7]. The transition from classical bits to quantum qubits, and from classical logic gates to quantum unitary operations, is entirely predicated on the mathematical properties endowed by Hilbert spaces.
Quantum computers provide a fundamentally new computing paradigm that promises to revolutionize our ability to solve broad classes of problems. Surprisingly, the basic mathematical structures of gate-based quantum computing, such as unitary operations on a finite-dimensional Hilbert space, are not unique to quantum systems but may be found in certain classical systems as well. Previously, it has been shown that one can represent an arbitrary multi-qubit quantum state in terms of classical analog signals using nested quadrature amplitude modulated signals. Furthermore, using digitally controlled analog electronics one may manipulate these signals to perform quantum gate operations and thereby execute quantum algorithms. The computational capacity of a single signal is, however, limited by the required bandwidth, which scales exponentially with the number of qubits when represented using frequency-based encoding. To overcome this limitation, we introduce a method to extend this approach to multiple parallel signals. Doing so allows a larger quantum state to be emulated with the same gate time required for processing frequency-encoded signals. In the proposed representation, each doubling of the number of signals corresponds to an additional qubit in the spatial domain. Single quit gate operations are similarly extended so as to operate on qubits represented using either frequency-based or spatial encoding schemes. Furthermore, we describe a method to perform gate operations between pairs of qubits represented using frequency or spatial encoding or between frequency-based and spatially encoded qubits. Finally, we describe how this approach may be extended to represent qubits in the time domain as well.
An ultimate goal of quantum computing is to perform calculations beyond the reach of any classical computer.It is therefore imperative that useful quantum computers be very difficult to simulate classically, otherwise classical computers could be used for the applications envisioned for the quantum ones.Perfect quantum computers are unarguably exponentially difficult to simulate: the classical resources required grow exponentially with the number of qubits N or the depth D of the circuit.This difficulty has triggered recent experiments on deep, random circuits that aim to demonstrate that quantum devices may already perform tasks beyond the reach of classical computing.These real quantum computing devices, however, suffer from many sources of decoherence and imprecision which limit the degree of entanglement that can actually be reached to a fraction of its theoretical maximum.They are characterized by an exponentially decaying fidelity F ∼ ð1 -ϵÞ ND with an error rate ϵ per operation as small as ≈1% for current devices with several dozen qubits or even smaller for smaller devices.In this work, we provide new insight on the computing capabilities of real quantum computers by demonstrating that they can be simulated at a tiny fraction of the cost that would be needed for a perfect quantum computer.Our algorithms compress the representations of quantum wave functions using matrix product states, which are able to capture states with low to moderate entanglement very accurately.This compression introduces a finite error rate ϵ so that the algorithms closely mimic the behavior of real quantum computing devices.The computing time of our algorithm increases only linearly with N and D in sharp contrast with exact simulation algorithms.We illustrate our algorithms with simulations of random circuits for qubits connected in both one-and twodimensional lattices.We find that ϵ can be decreased at a polynomial cost in computing power down to a minimum error ϵ ∞ .Getting below ϵ ∞ requires computing resources that increase exponentially with ϵ ∞ =ϵ.For a two-dimensional array of N ¼ 54 qubits and a circuit with control-Z gates, error rates better than state-of-the-art devices can be obtained on a laptop in a few hours.For more complex gates such as a SWAP gate followed by a controlled rotation, the error rate increases by a factor 3 for similar computing time.Our results suggest that, despite the high fidelity reached by quantum devices, only a tiny fraction ð∼10 -8 Þ of the system Hilbert space is actually being exploited.