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arXiv:1904.10246 · Quantum Information Processing

Amplitude estimation without phase estimation

Yohichi Suzuki, Shumpei Uno, Rudy Raymond, Tomoki Tanaka, Tamiya Onodera, Naoki Yamamoto

Published Jan 9, 2020• 249 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Abstract This paper focuses on the quantum amplitude estimation algorithm, which is a core subroutine in quantum computation for various applications. The conventional approach for amplitude estimation is to use the phase estimation algorithm, which consists of many controlled amplification operations followed by a quantum Fourier transform. However, the whole procedure is hard to implement with current and near-term quantum computers. In this paper, we propose a quantum amplitude estimation algorithm without the use of expensive controlled operations; the key idea is to utilize the maximum likelihood estimation based on the combined measurement data produced from quantum circuits with different numbers of amplitude amplification operations. Numerical simulations we conducted demonstrate that our algorithm asymptotically achieves nearly the optimal quantum speedup with a reasonable circuit length.

DOI
10.1007/s11128-019-2565-2

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Abstract This paper focuses on the quantum amplitude estimation algorithm, which is a core subroutine in quantum computation for various applications. The conventional approach for amplitude estimation is to use the phase estimation algorithm, which consists of many controlled amplification operations followed by a quantum Fourier transform. However, the whole procedure is hard to implement with current and near-term quantum computers. In this paper, we propose a quantum amplitude estimation algorithm without the use of expensive controlled operations; the key idea is to utilize the maximum likelihood estimation based on the combined measurement data produced from quantum circuits with different numbers of amplitude amplification operations. Numerical simulations we conducted demonstrate that our algorithm asymptotically achieves nearly the optimal quantum speedup with a reasonable circuit length.
In this work, we provide the first QFT-free algorithm for Quantum Amplitude Estimation (QAE) that is asymptotically optimal while maintaining the leading numerical performance. QAE algorithms appear as a subroutine in many applications for quantum computers. The optimal query complexity achievable by a quantum algorithm for QAE is log queries, providing a speedup of a factor of 1/ε over any other classical algorithm for the same problem. The original algorithm for QAE utilizes the quantum Fourier transform (QFT) which is expected to be a challenge for near-term quantum hardware. To solve this problem, there has been interest in designing a QAE algorithm that avoids using QFT. Recently, the iterative QAE algorithm (IQAE) [1] was introduced with a near-optimal query complexity and small constant factors. In this work, we combine ideas from the preceding line of work to introduce a QFT-free QAE algorithm that maintains the asymptotically optimal query complexity while retaining small constant factors. We supplement our analysis with numerical experiments comparing our performance with IQAE where we find that our modifications retain the high performance, and in some cases even improve the numerical results.
Abstract This chapter introduces and analyses two of the most important quantum algorithmic primitives that are used in myriad applications, namely quantum phase estimation and quantum amplitude estimation (QAE). Quantum phase estimation (in the presentation covered in this chapter) uses the quantum Fourier transform, itself an extremely important quantum subroutine. In its original presentation, QAE combines quantum amplitude amplification (a generalisation of the circuit used in Grover’s algorithm) and quantum phase estimation to estimate the amplitude of a quantum state. However, more recent approaches achieve amplitude estimation without phase estimation, which is potentially practically advantageous. This chapter covers both, as well as some important applications of QAE such as quantum Monte Carlo integration and quantum counting.
Abstract Recently we find several candidates of quantum algorithms that may be implementable in near-term devices for estimating the amplitude of a given quantum state, which is a core subroutine in various computing tasks such as the Monte Carlo methods. One of those algorithms is based on the maximum likelihood estimate with parallelized quantum circuits. In this paper, we extend this method so that it incorporates the realistic noise effect, and then give an experimental demonstration on a superconducting IBM Quantum device. The maximum likelihood estimator is constructed based on the model assuming the depolarization noise. We then formulate the problem as a two-parameters estimation problem with respect to the target amplitude parameter and the noise parameter. In particular we show that there exist anomalous target values, where the Fisher information matrix becomes degenerate and consequently the estimation error cannot be improved even by increasing the number of amplitude amplifications. The experimental demonstration shows that the proposed maximum likelihood estimator achieves quantum speedup in the number of queries, though the estimation error saturates due to the noise. This saturated value of estimation error is consistent to the theory, which implies the validity of the depolarization noise model and thereby enables us to predict the basic requirement on the hardware components (particularly the gate error) in quantum computers to realize the quantum speedup in the amplitude estimation task.
Quantum amplitude estimation is a key subroutine in a number of powerful quantum algorithms, including quantum-enhanced Monte Carlo simulation and quantum machine learning. Maximum-likelihood quantum amplitude estimation (MLQAE) is one of a number of recent approaches that employ much simpler quantum circuits than the original algorithm based on quantum phase estimation. In this article, we deepen the analysis of MLQAE to put the algorithm in a more prescriptive form, including scenarios where quantum circuit depth is limited. In the process, we observe and explain particular ranges of `exceptional' values of the target amplitude for which the algorithm fails to achieve the desired precision. We then propose and numerically validate a heuristic modification to the algorithm to overcome this problem, bringing the algorithm even closer to being useful as a practical subroutine on near- and mid-term quantum hardware.
Amplitude Estimation (AE) is a critical subroutine in many quantum algorithms, allowing for a quadratic speedup in various applications like those involving estimating statistics of various functions as in financial Monte Carlo simulations. Much work has gone into devising methods to efficiently estimate the amplitude of a quantum state without expensive operations like the Quantum Fourier Transform (QFT), which is especially prohibitive given the constraints of current NISQ devices. Newer methods have reduced the number of operations required on a quantum computer and are the most promising near-term implementations of the AE subroutine. While it remains to be seen the exact circuit requirements for a quantum advantage in applications relying on AE, it is necessary to continue to benchmark the algorithm's performance on current quantum computers and the circuit costs associated with such subroutines. Given these considerations, we expand on results from previous experiments in using Maximum Likelihood Estimation (MLE) to approximate the amplitude of a quantum state and provide empirical upper bounds on the current feasible circuit depths for AE on a superconducting quantum computer. Our results show that MLE using optimally-compiled circuits can currently outperform naive sampling for up to 3 Grover Iterations with a circuit depth of 131, which is higher than reported in other experimental results. This functional benchmark is one of many that will be continually monitored against current quantum hardware to measure the necessary progress towards quantum advantage.
We propose an approach for quantum amplitude estimation (QAE) designed to enhance computational efficiency while minimizing the reliance on quantum resources. Our method leverages quantum computers to generate a sequence of signals, from which the quantum amplitude is inferred through classical post-processing techniques. Unlike traditional methods that use quantum phase estimation (QPE), which requires numerous controlled unitary operations and the quantum Fourier transform, our method avoids these complex and resource-demanding steps. By integrating quantum computing with classical post-processing techniques, our method significantly reduces the need for quantum gates and qubits, thus optimizing the utilization of quantum hardware. We present numerical simulations to validate the effectiveness of our method and provide a comprehensive analysis of its computational complexity and error. This hybrid strategy not only improves the practicality of QAE but also broadens its applicability in quantum computing.