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arXiv:2007.10894

Optimizing Quantum Search with a Binomial Version of Grover's Algorithm

Austin Gilliam, Marco Pistoia, Constantin Gonciulea

Published Jul 21, 2020• 1 citation
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Amplitude Amplification -- a key component of Grover's Search algorithm -- uses an iterative approach to systematically increase the probability of one or multiple target states. We present novel strategies to enhance the amplification procedure by partitioning the states into classes, whose probabilities are increased at different levels before or during amplification. The partitioning process is based on the binomial distribution. If the classes to which the search target states belong are known in advance, the number of iterations in the Amplitude Amplification algorithm can be drastically reduced compared to the standard version. In the more likely case in which the relevant classes are not known in advance, their selection can be configured at run time, or a random approach can be employed, similar to classical algorithms such as binary search. In particular, we apply this method in the context of our previously introduced Quantum Dictionary pattern, where keys and values are encoded in two separate registers, and the value-encoding method is independent of the type of superposition used in the key register. We consider this type of structure to be the natural setup for search. We confirm the validity of our new approach through experimental results obtained on real quantum hardware, the Honeywell System Model H0 trapped-ion quantum computer.

DOI
10.48550/arxiv.2007.10894

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Amplitude Amplification -- a key component of Grover's Search algorithm -- uses an iterative approach to systematically increase the probability of one or multiple target states. We present novel strategies to enhance the amplification procedure by partitioning the states into classes, whose probabilities are increased at different levels before or during amplification. The partitioning process is based on the binomial distribution. If the classes to which the search target states belong are known in advance, the number of iterations in the Amplitude Amplification algorithm can be drastically reduced compared to the standard version. In the more likely case in which the relevant classes are not known in advance, their selection can be configured at run time, or a random approach can be employed, similar to classical algorithms such as binary search. In particular, we apply this method in the context of our previously introduced Quantum Dictionary pattern, where keys and values are encoded in two separate registers, and the value-encoding method is independent of the type of superposition used in the key register. We consider this type of structure to be the natural setup for search. We confirm the validity of our new approach through experimental results obtained on real quantum hardware, the Honeywell System Model H0 trapped-ion quantum computer.
Grover's Search algorithm was a breakthrough at the time it was introduced, and its underlying procedure of amplitude amplification has been a building block of many other algorithms and patterns for extracting information encoded in quantum states. In this paper, we introduce an optimization of the inversion-by-the-mean step of the algorithm. This optimization serves two purposes: from a practical perspective, it can lead to a performance improvement; from a theoretical one, it leads to a novel interpretation of the actual nature of this step. This step is a reflection, which is realized by (a) cancelling the superposition of a general state to revert to the original all-zeros state, (b) flipping the sign of the amplitude of the all-zeros state, and finally (c) reverting back to the superposition state. Rather than canceling the superposition, our approach allows for going forward to another state that makes the reflection easier. We validate our approach on set and array search, and confirm our results experimentally on real quantum hardware.
Grover’s algorithm harnesses the power of quantum computing to swiftly locate specific elements in an unstructured database, outperforming classical computers in tasks like database searching. This algorithm capitalizes on the unique ability of qubits to be in both 0 and 1 states simultaneously (superposition), allowing it to scan the entire search space at once. It then boosts the probability of the target element, making it more prominent. While the foundational concepts of Grover’s algorithm are well-documented, practical implementation using quantum operators, especially for large search spaces, remains less explored beyond basic examples with a small number of qubits. Existing general synthesis techniques often involve numerous operators or are time-consuming. Our proposed methods specifically address the amplitude-amplification component of Grover’s algorithm for any size of search space. These methods detail the required types and quantities of qubits and operators, emphasizing minimal usage and efficient assembly. Developed and evaluated in Python, our methods consistently identified target elements with over 95% accuracy and achieved configurations comparably compact as those in the existing literature but at a faster pace. We anticipate that these methods facilitate practical implementations of Grover’s algorithm across various domains.
The K-SAT problem is a fundamental challenge in computational theory, widely used in artificial intelligence, cryptography, and optimization. Classical algorithms struggle with exponential time complexity, making them inefficient for large-scale instances. In this research, we propose an efficient quantum computing approach based on Grover’s algorithm to enhance the search process for satisfiable solutions in K-SAT problems. Our implementation leverages quantum superposition and amplitude amplification to explore multiple possible solutions simultaneously, reducing the search complexity from O (2ⁿ) in classical methods to O(√2ⁿ) in quantum computing. We design a quantum oracle that encodes the K-SAT clauses and integrates it into Grover’s iterative search framework. The performance is evaluated through Qiskit simulations, demonstrating a significant improvement in search efficiency compared to classical brute-force techniques. The results highlight the potential of quantum algorithms in solving complex combinatorial problems with enhanced speed and accuracy. This study contributes to the development of quantum-accelerated optimization methods, paving the way for real-world applications in machine learning, cryptanalysis, and large-scale data processing.
Quantum Amplitude Amplification (QAA), the generalization of Grover's algorithm, is well-positioned for combinatorial optimization and is particularly promising for Quadratic Unconstrained Binary Optimization (QUBO) problems. QAA is appealing due to its ability to drive the quantum system to a target state, yielding the globally optimal solution with probability over 909090+%. However, realizing QAA for application-scale optimization currently exceeds quantum hardware capacity, which is further compounded by unresolved algorithmic challenges regarding the choice of free parameters. In this study, we address these issues by utilizing a realistic traffic flow QUBO problem to investigate the implementation of QAA as a heuristic solver. Specifically, allowing the diffusion operator parameter to take non-πππ values expands the capabilities of QAA. This unlocks a new multiple-shot, low-iteration strategy that aims for a high cumulative probability rather than maximizing the probability of a single basis state. Using 252525-qubit simulations, our results demonstrate that heuristic QAA addresses two of the main challenges cited in previous studies. Firstly, heuristic QAA works even at a single iteration, reducing circuit depth by orders of magnitude compared to standard QAA. And secondly, we show that the problem-dependent parameters necessary for reaching optimal algorithmic performance can be reliably approximated with minimal upfront classical computing overhead.
Search-base algorithms have widespread applications in different scenarios. Grover's quantum search algorithms and its generalization, amplitude amplification, provide a quadratic speedup over classical search algorithms for unstructured search. We consider the problem of searching with prior knowledge. More preciously, search for the solution among N items with a prior probability distribution. This letter proposes a new generalization of Grover's search algorithm which performs better than the standard Grover algorithm in average under this setting. We prove that our new algorithm achieves the optimal expected success probability of finding the solution if the number of queries is fixed.
A quantum computer encodes information in quantum states and runs quantum algorithms to surpass the classical counterparts by exploiting quantum superposition and quantum correlation. Grover's quantum search algorithm is a typical quantum algorithm that proves the superiority of quantum computing over classical computing. It has a quadratic reduction in the query complexity of a database search and is known to be optimal when no a priori information about the elements of the database is provided. In this work we consider a probabilistic Grover search algorithm allowing nonzero probability of failure for a database with a general a priori probability distribution of the elements and minimize the number of oracle calls by optimizing the initial state of the quantum system and the reflection axis of the diffusion operator. The initial state and the reflection axis are allowed to not coincide and thus the quantum search algorithm rotates the quantum system in a three-dimensional subspace spanned by the initial state, the reflection axis, and the search target state in general. The number of oracle calls is minimized by a variational method, and formal results are obtained with the assumption of low failure probability. The results show that for a nonuniform a priori distribution of the database elements, the number of oracle calls can be significantly reduced given a small decrease in the success probability of the quantum search algorithm, leading to a lower average query complexity to find the solution of the search problem. The results are applied to a simple but nontrivial database model with two-value a priori probabilities to show the power of the optimized quantum search algorithm. The paper concludes with a discussion about the generalization to higher-order results that allows for a larger failure probability for the quantum search algorithm.