Noisy intermediate-scale quantum computers are useful for various tasks such as state preparation and variational quantum algorithms. However, the non-Euclidean quantum geometry of parameterized quantum circuits is detrimental for these applications. Here we introduce the natural parameterized quantum circuit (NPQC) that can be initialized with a Euclidean quantum geometry. The initial training of variational quantum algorithms is substantially sped up as the gradient is equivalent to the quantum natural gradient. Further, we show how to estimate the parameters of the NPQC by sampling the circuit, which could be used for benchmarking or calibrating NISQ hardware. For a general class of quantum circuits, the NPQC has the minimal quantum Cram\'er-Rao bound, which highlights its potential for quantum metrology. Finally, we show how to generate arbitrary superpositions of two states with the NPQCs for state preparation tasks. Our results can be used to enhance currently available quantum processors.
Noisy intermediate-scale quantum computers are useful for various tasks such as state preparation and variational quantum algorithms. However, the non-Euclidean quantum geometry of parameterized quantum circuits is detrimental for these applications. Here we introduce the natural parameterized quantum circuit (NPQC) that can be initialized with a Euclidean quantum geometry. The initial training of variational quantum algorithms is substantially sped up as the gradient is equivalent to the quantum natural gradient. Further, we show how to estimate the parameters of the NPQC by sampling the circuit, which could be used for benchmarking or calibrating NISQ hardware. For a general class of quantum circuits, the NPQC has the minimal quantum Cram'er-Rao bound, which highlights its potential for quantum metrology. Finally, we show how to generate arbitrary superpositions of two states with the NPQCs for state preparation tasks. Our results can be used to enhance currently available quantum processors.
Parameterized quantum circuits (PQC) have emerged as a quantum analogue of deep neural networks and can be trained for discriminative or generative tasks and can be trained with gradient-based optimization on near-term quantum devices [1], [2], [3]. In the current era of quantum computing, known as the noisy intermediate scale quantum (NISQ) era [4], these devices contain a moderate number of qubits (< 100), and algorithmic performance is strongly impacted by hardware noise. Additionally, the training of PQCs are hybrid algorithms, in which the computational workflow is split between quantum and classical computing platforms.
Parameterized quantum circuits (PQCs) are central to variational quantum algorithms (VQAs), yet their performance is hindered by complex loss landscapes that make their trainability challenging. Quantum natural gradient descent, which leverages the geometry of the parameterized space through quantum generalizations of the Fisher information matrix, offers a promising solution but has been largely limited to pure-state scenarios, with only approximate methods available for mixed-state settings. This paper addresses this question, originally posed in [Stokes et al., Quantum 4, 269 (2020)], by providing exact methods to compute three quantum generalizations of the Fisher information matrix-the Fisher-Bures, Wigner-Yanase, and Kubo-Mori information matrices-for PQCs initialized with thermal states. We prove that these matrix elements can be estimated using quantum algorithms combining the Hadamard test, classical random sampling, and Hamiltonian simulation. By broadening the set of quantum generalizations of Fisher information and realizing their unbiased estimation, our results enable the implementation of quantum natural gradient descent algorithms for mixed-state PQCs, thereby enhancing the flexibility of optimization when using VQAs. Another immediate consequence of our findings is to establish fundamental limitations on the ability to estimate the parameters of a state generated by an unknown PQC, when given sample access to such a state.
The public access to noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) computers facilitated by IBM, Rigetti, D - Wave, etc., has propelled the development of quantum applications that may offer quantum supremacy in the future large-scale quantum computers. Parameterized quantum circuits (P QC) have emerged as a major driver for the development of quantum routines that potentially improve the circuit's resilience to the noise. PQC's have been applied in both generative (e.g. generative adversarial network) and discriminative (e.g. quantum classifier) tasks in the field of quantum machine learning. PQC's have been also considered to realize high fidelity quantum gates with the available imperfect native gates of a target quantum hardware. Parameters of a P QC are determined through an iterative training process for a target noisy quantum hardware. However, temporal variations in qubit quality metrics affect the performance of a P QC. Therefore, the circuit that is trained without considering temporal variations exhibits poor fidelity over time. In this paper, we present training methodologies for P QC in a completely classical environment that can improve the fidelity of the trained P QC on a target NISQ hardware by as much as 21.91%.
Parameterized quantum circuits (PQCs) are pivotal components of variational quantum algorithms (VQAs), which represent a promising pathway to quantum advantage in noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) devices. PQCs enable flexible encoding of quantum information through tunable quantum gates and have been successfully applied across domains such as quantum chemistry, combinatorial optimization, and quantum machine learning. Despite their potential, PQC performance on NISQ hardware is hindered by noise, decoherence, and the presence of barren plateaus, which can impede gradient-based optimization. To address these limitations, we propose novel methods for improving gradient-free optimizers Rotosolve, Fraxis, and FQS, incorporating information from previous parameter iterations. Our approach conserves computational resources by reallocating optimization efforts toward poorly optimized gates, leading to improved convergence. The experimental results demonstrate that our techniques consistently improve the performance of various optimizers, contributing to more robust and efficient PQC optimization.
Parameterized quantum circuits (PQCs) play an essential role in the application of variational quantum algorithms (VQAs) in noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) devices. The PQCs are a leading candidate to achieve a quantum advantage in NISQ devices and have already been applied in various domains such as quantum chemistry, quantum machine learning, combinatorial optimization, and many others. There is no single definitive way to optimize PQCs. The most commonly used methods are based on computing the gradient via the parameter-shift rule to use classical gradient descent (GD) optimizers like Adam, stochastic GD, and others. In addition, sequential single-qubit optimizers have been proposed, such as Rotosolve, Free-Axis Selection (Fraxis), Free-Quaternion Selection (FQS), and hybrid algorithms from the aforementioned optimizers. We further develop hybrid algorithms than those represented in the previous work by drawing inspiration from the early stopping method used in classical machine learning. The switch between the optimizers depends on the previous cost function values compared to the previous ones. We introduce two new hybrid algorithms that are more robust and scalable, and they outperform previous hybrid methods in terms of convergence towards the global minima across various cost functions. In addition, we find that they are feasible for NISQ devices with different noise profiles.
Parameterized quantum circuits (PQCs) have been widely used as a machine learning model to explore the potential of achieving quantum advantages for various tasks. However, training PQCs is notoriously challenging owing to the phenomenon of plateaus and/or the existence of (exponentially) many spurious local minima. To enhance trainability, in this work we propose an efficient parameter initialization strategy with theoretical guarantees. We prove that, by reducing the initial domain of each parameter inversely proportional to the square root of the circuit depth, the magnitude of the cost gradient decays at most polynomially with respect to the qubit count and circuit depth. Our theoretical results are substantiated through numerical simulations of variational quantum eigensolver tasks. Moreover, we demonstrate that the reduced-domain initialization strategy can protect specific quantum neural networks from exponentially many spurious local minima. Our results highlight the significance of an appropriate parameter initialization strategy, offering insights to enhance the trainability and convergence of variational quantum algorithms.