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arXiv:1607.07605 · Physical Review Letters

Continuous-Variable Instantaneous Quantum Computing is Hard to Sample

Tom Douce, Damian Markham, Elham Kashefi, Eleni Diamanti, T. Coudreau, P. Milman, Peter van Loock, Giulia Ferrini

Published Feb 17, 2017• 64 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Instantaneous quantum computing is a subuniversal quantum complexity class, whose circuits have proven to be hard to simulate classically in the discrete-variable realm. We extend this proof to the continuous-variable (CV) domain by using squeezed states and homodyne detection, and by exploring the properties of postselected circuits. In order to treat postselection in CVs, we consider finitely resolved homodyne detectors, corresponding to a realistic scheme based on discrete probability distributions of the measurement outcomes. The unavoidable errors stemming from the use of finitely squeezed states are suppressed through a qubit-into-oscillator Gottesman-Kitaev-Preskill encoding of quantum information, which was previously shown to enable fault-tolerant CV quantum computation. Finally, we show that, in order to render postselected computational classes in CVs meaningful, a logarithmic scaling of the squeezing parameter with the circuit size is necessary, translating into a polynomial scaling of the input energy.

DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.118.070503

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Instantaneous quantum computing is a subuniversal quantum complexity class, whose circuits have proven to be hard to simulate classically in the discrete-variable realm. We extend this proof to the continuous-variable (CV) domain by using squeezed states and homodyne detection, and by exploring the properties of postselected circuits. In order to treat postselection in CVs, we consider finitely resolved homodyne detectors, corresponding to a realistic scheme based on discrete probability distributions of the measurement outcomes. The unavoidable errors stemming from the use of finitely squeezed states are suppressed through a qubit-into-oscillator Gottesman-Kitaev-Preskill encoding of quantum information, which was previously shown to enable fault-tolerant CV quantum computation. Finally, we show that, in order to render postselected computational classes in CVs meaningful, a logarithmic scaling of the squeezing parameter with the circuit size is necessary, translating into a polynomial scaling of the input energy.
We introduce a family of quantum circuits in continuous variables and we show that, relying on the widely accepted conjecture that the polynomial hierarchy of complexity classes does not collapse, their output probability distribution cannot be efficiently simulated by a classical computer. These circuits are composed of input photon-subtracted (or photon-added) squeezed states, passive linear optics evolution, and eight-port homodyne detection. We address the proof of hardness for the exact probability distribution of these quantum circuits by exploiting mappings onto different architectures of subuniversal quantum computers. We obtain both a worst-case and an average-case hardness result. Hardness of boson sampling with eight-port homodyne detection is obtained as the zero squeezing limit of our model. We conclude with a discussion on the relevance and interest of the present model in connection to experimental applications and classical simulations.
Continuous-variable (CV) devices are a promising platform for demonstrating large-scale quantum information protocols. In this framework we define a general quantum computational model based on a CV hardware. It consists of vacuum input states, a finite set of gates---including non-Gaussian elements---and homodyne detection. We show that this model incorporates encodings sufficient for probabilistic fault-tolerant universal quantum computing. Furthermore, we show that this model can be adapted to yield sampling problems that cannot be simulated efficiently with a classical computer, unless the polynomial hierarchy collapses. This allows us to provide a simple paradigm for experiments to probe quantum advantage relying on Gaussian states, homodyne detection, and some form of non-Gaussian evolution. We finally address the recently introduced model of instantaneous quantum computing in CV, and prove that the hardness statement is robust with respect to some experimentally relevant simplifications in the definition of that model.
Robust continuous-variable (CV) quantum information processing requires correcting realistic errors in bosonic systems, but all existing schemes rely on auxiliary Gottesman-Kitaev-Preskill (GKP) states which the preparation and operation are demanding in many platforms. In this work, we propose a novel CV quantum error correction (QEC) scheme that utilizes a broadly accessible resource: discrete-variable (DV) ancilla. Our scheme extracts information about CV displacement to the DV ancilla, measuring that allows counteracting the unwanted displacement error. We show that a simple single-qubit ancilla can already suppress CV infidelity by more than 20%. By concatenating with DV QEC codes, our scheme is robust against the physical errors in hybrid CV-DV systems, and yields a new class of oscillator-in-oscillator code that does not involve GKP states. Our work facilitates the implementation of CV QEC on realistic platforms.
We introduce a new family of quantum circuits in Continuous Variables and we show that, relying on the widely accepted conjecture that the polynomial hierarchy of complexity classes does not collapse, their output probability distribution cannot be efficiently simulated by a classical computer. These circuits are composed of input photon-subtracted (or photon-added) squeezed states, passive linear optics evolution, and eight-port homodyne detection. We address the proof of hardness for the exact probability distribution of these quantum circuits by exploiting mappings onto different architectures of sub-universal quantum computers. We obtain both a worst-case and an average-case hardness result. Hardness of Boson Sampling with eight-port homodyne detection is obtained as the zero squeezing limit of our model. We conclude with a discussion on the relevance and interest of the present model in connection to experimental applications and classical simulations.
Quantum technologies commonly operate on finite-dimensional systems, such as qubits, also known as discrete-variable (DV) systems. Continuous-variable (CV) bosonic systems, which occupy an infinite-dimensional Hilbert space, present a promising alternative. That is the focus of this thesis, which has two main goals. Firstly, we look at probing bosonic systems, to gain information about their dynamics and interaction with their environment. We employ linear response theory, which was recently extended to encompass physical situations where an open quantum system evolves toward a non-equilibrium steady-state. We use the framework put forward by Konopik and Lutz to go beyond unitary perturbations of the dynamics. Considering an open system comprised of two coupled quantum harmonic oscillators, we study the system's response to unitary perturbations, as well as non-unitary perturbations, affecting the properties of the environment, e.g., its temperature and squeezing. We show that linear response, combined with a quantum probing approach, can provide valuable quantitative information about the perturbation and characteristics of the environment. Secondly, we investigate bosonic quantum computation, which involves encoding discrete quantum information into continuous-variable quantum systems. CV quantum computation was introduced by Braunstein and Lloyd, who put forward a notion of universality that is independent of the encoding of the CV system. However, a proof that the Braunstein-Lloyd (BL) model allows for fault-tolerant computation is still missing. Here, we provide evidence towards this objective, using the Gottesman-Kitaev-Preskill (GKP) encoding. We show how to generate GKP states from vacua by optimising a circuit comprised of a set of CV gates, deemed universal according to the BL notion. We compute the threshold value of the Glancy-Knill error probability for a fault-tolerant quantum memory from the known squeezing threshold for the concatenated GKP-surface code. We demonstrate that our generated GKP states have error probabilities below this threshold, further corroborating our claim.