Abstract Quantum reservoir computing and quantum extreme learning machines are two emerging approaches that have demonstrated their potential both in classical and quantum machine learning tasks. They exploit the quantumness of physical systems combined with an easy training strategy, achieving an excellent performance. The increasing interest in these unconventional computing approaches is fueled by the availability of diverse quantum platforms suitable for implementation and the theoretical progresses in the study of complex quantum systems. In this review article, recent proposals and first experiments displaying a broad range of possibilities are reviewed when quantum inputs, quantum physical substrates and quantum tasks are considered. The main focus is the performance of these approaches, on the advantages with respect to classical counterparts and opportunities.
Abstract Quantum reservoir computing and quantum extreme learning machines are two emerging approaches that have demonstrated their potential both in classical and quantum machine learning tasks. They exploit the quantumness of physical systems combined with an easy training strategy, achieving an excellent performance. The increasing interest in these unconventional computing approaches is fueled by the availability of diverse quantum platforms suitable for implementation and the theoretical progresses in the study of complex quantum systems. In this review article, recent proposals and first experiments displaying a broad range of possibilities are reviewed when quantum inputs, quantum physical substrates and quantum tasks are considered. The main focus is the performance of these approaches, on the advantages with respect to classical counterparts and opportunities.
Quantum reservoir computing is an unconventional computing approach that exploits the quantumness of physical systems used as reservoirs to process information, combined with an easy training strategy. An overview is presented about a range of possibilities including quantum inputs, quantum physical substrates and quantum tasks. Recently, the framework of quantum reservoir computing has been proposed using Gaussian quantum states that can be realized e.g. in linear quantum optical systems. The universality and versatility of the system makes it particularly interesting for optical implementations. In particular, full potential of the proposed model can be reached even by encoding into quantum fluctuations, such as squeezed vacuum, instead of classical intense fields or thermal fluctuations. Some examples of the performance of this linear quantum reservoir in temporal tasks are reported.
Quantum reservoir computing has emerged as a promising paradigm within the field of quantum machine learning, harnessing the inherent properties of quantum systems to optimise and enhance information processing capabilities. Here, we explore the potential of quantum-inspired machine learning methodologies by leveraging the complex dynamics of quantum reservoirs to address computationally challenging tasks with enhanced efficiency and accuracy. To this end, we employ an open quantum system model comprising two-level atomic ensembles coupled to Lorentzian photonic cavities to construct a quantum physical reservoir computer layer for a recurrent neural network. We evaluate the effectiveness of this approach by applying it to a standard machine learning image-recognition problem and benchmarking its performance against a conventional neural network of similar architecture, but lacking the quantum physical reservoir computer layer. Remarkably, as the dataset size increases, the quantum physical reservoir computer outperforms the conventional neural network, requiring fewer training epochs and a smaller dataset to achieve comparable accuracy. Furthermore, we employ the quantum physical reservoir computing approach to model the dynamics of open quantum systems, focusing on atomic system ensembles interacting with a structured photonic reservoir associated with a photonic band-gap material. Our results reveal that the quantum reservoir computer provides equally powerful representations for quantum dynamical problems, maintaining effectiveness even under constraints of limited training data.
Interest in quantum machine learning is growing due to its potential to offer more efficient solutions for problems that are difficult to tackle with classical methods. In this context, the research work presented here focuses on the use of quantum machine-learning techniques for image-classification tasks. We exploit a quantum extreme learning machine by taking advantage of its rich feature map provided by the quantum reservoir substrate. We systematically analyze different phases of the quantum extreme learning machine process, from dataset preparation to final image classification. In particular, we test different encodings, together with principal component analysis and the use of autoencoders, and we examine the dynamics of the model through the use of different Hamiltonians for the quantum reservoir. Our results show that the introduction of a quantum reservoir systematically improves the accuracy of the classifier. In addition, our findings indicate that variations in encoding methods can significantly influence performance and that Hamiltonians with distinct structures exhibit the same discrimination rate, depending on how their eigenstates are related to the encoding and measurement basis.
Abstract Quantum Machine Learning has emerged as a promising field at the intersection of Quantum Computing and Artificial Intelligence, offering the potential to achieve computational advantages over classical machine learning approaches. While classical ML has matured into a robust ecosystem with broad applications, QML remains nascent, constrained by hardware limitations, yet fueled by rapid theoretical and algorithmic developments. This paper presents a comprehensive comparative review of QML and classical ML, focusing on their foundations, complexity, and applications across domains. We analyze where QML models have shown advantages, where they lag behind, and try to provide possible explanations for these results. By synthesizing evidence across neural networks, kernel methods, generative models, representation learning, and clustering, we highlight patterns that indicate when quantum models tend to outperform or underperform classical baselines. We also review real-world applications of QML across diverse domains such as materials science, energy forecasting, healthcare and bioinformatics, transportation, and finance. Finally, we identify open challenges including state preparation, scalability, and benchmarking standards, and propose a roadmap for the development of QML into a field with demonstrable advantages.
Quantum Machine Learning (QML) represents a promising frontier of research where the principles of quantum mechanics are combined with machine learning to offer potentially superior performance over classical counterparts. This review article explores the current advancements in QML, specifically focusing on the performance improvement and comparison between standard classical algorithms and their quantum implementations. We initiate with an overview of fundamental quantum algorithms that have found applicability within machine learning contexts, such as quantum principal component analysis and quantum support vector machines. The review then delves into a critical assessment of these quantum approaches, highlighting case studies where quantum implementations have demonstrated computational speedups or improved accuracy. Furthermore, we investigate the inherent challenges and limitations that currently hinder the widespread adoption of QML technologies, including the issues of decoherence, error rates, and quantum resource requirements. In addition, the review provides insights into the current state of quantum hardware and its scalability for machine learning tasks. Throughout, comparisons are made to outline scenarios in which quantum machine learning presents a genuine advantage over classical techniques, supported by performance metrics and benchmark datasets. The article concludes by discussing future directions in QML research, with an emphasis on algorithmic innovation and hardware improvement, to realize the full potential of quantum-enhanced machine learning.
Machine learning holds fundamental computational significance due to the increasing demand for efficient solutions to complex tasks in data analysis, pattern recognition, and optimization, which are essential for addressing the multifaceted challenges of modern society. As the volume of data proliferates at an unprecedented rate, the need for more powerful machine learning strategies becomes increasingly evident. Quantum neural networks (QNNs) represent an emerging and transformative research field that seeks to harness the unique principles of quantum mechanics to enhance the capabilities of machine learning algorithms. This survey examines various QNN approaches, including fully connected QNNs, quantum convolutional neural networks, equivariant QNNs, quantum Hopfield networks, quantum Boltzmann machines, quantum reservoir computing, and composite networks for quantum reinforcement learning, quantum generative learning, and quantum transfer learning. We summarize the relevant investigations on their performance, including learning accuracy, training time, and resource requirements, etc. Each QNN type has unique strengths and weaknesses, offering diverse solutions for different applications.