We present a framework that utilizes quantum algorithms, an architecture aware quantum noise model and an ideal simulator to benchmark quantum computers. The benchmark metrics highlight the difference between the quantum computer evolution and the simulated noisy and ideal quantum evolutions. We utilize our framework for benchmarking three IBMQ systems. The use of multiple algorithms, including continuous-time ones, as benchmarks stresses the computers in different ways highlighting their behaviour for a diverse set of circuits. The complexity of each quantum circuit affects the efficiency of each quantum computer, with increasing circuit size resulting in more noisy behaviour. Furthermore, the use of both a continuous-time quantum algorithm and the decomposition of its Hamiltonian also allows extracting valuable comparisons regarding the efficiency of the two methods on quantum systems. The results show that our benchmarks provide sufficient and well-rounded information regarding the performance of each quantum computer.
We present a framework that utilizes quantum algorithms, an architecture aware quantum noise model and an ideal simulator to benchmark quantum computers. The benchmark metrics highlight the difference between the quantum computer evolution and the simulated noisy and ideal quantum evolutions. We utilize our framework for benchmarking three IBMQ systems. The use of multiple algorithms, including continuous-time ones, as benchmarks stresses the computers in different ways highlighting their behaviour for a diverse set of circuits. The complexity of each quantum circuit affects the efficiency of each quantum computer, with increasing circuit size resulting in more noisy behaviour. Furthermore, the use of both a continuous-time quantum algorithm and the decomposition of its Hamiltonian also allows extracting valuable comparisons regarding the efficiency of the two methods on quantum systems. The results show that our benchmarks provide sufficient and well-rounded information regarding the performance of each quantum computer.
Benchmarking is how the performance of a computing system is determined. Surprisingly, even for classical computers this is not a straightforward process. One must choose the appropriate benchmark and metrics to extract meaningful results. Different benchmarks test the system in different ways, and each individual metric may or may not be of interest. Choosing the appropriate approach is tricky. The situation is even more open ended for quantum computers, where there is a wider range of hardware, fewer established guidelines, and additional complicating factors. Notably, quantum noise significantly impacts performance and is difficult to model accurately. Here, we discuss benchmarking of quantum computers from a computer architecture perspective and provide numerical simulations highlighting challenges that suggest caution.
Context: The main obstacle of quantum computing on its way to scalability is the noisy nature of current hardware. Various types of errors lead to incorrect computational results,and measures such as quantum error mitigation are needed to counteract these errors. Many error mitigation techniques require a thorough understanding of the noise and its impact on computations. Therefore, accurate noise models are indispensable to facilitate meaningful quantum computing in the near future. They also enable realistic simulations of quantum devices. Since these devices are currently limited and quantum computing is expensive, researchers typically rely on simulations for testing their algorithms.Objective: In this thesis, we aim to construct a realistic noise model for quantum computing and optimise its model parameters. The model construction should build on the underlying physical processes, and the number of parameters should scale well with the system size. We also address the evaluation and comparison of different noise models by benchmarks using quantum circuits specific to real-world applications. Finally, we aim to develop useful graphical representations of noise models based on the existing quantum circuit model.Method: We present a benchmarking framework for quantum computing noise models and evaluate it based on benchmarking quality attributes from the literature. Moreover, we construct a quantum computing noise model and develop a training procedure for its parameters. We analyse the parameters of the trained noise model and the impact ofdifferent types of errors on computations. We benchmark the noise model with the above approach and compare it to a noise model provided by IBM’s software development kit Qiskit. Finally, we develop an extension of the quantum circuit model to represent noise channels.Result: The benchmarks performed in this thesis show that our noise model predicts noisy hardware behaviour of IBM’s ibmq_manila quantum device equally well as the Qiskit model, if not better, based on quantum circuits commonly used for variational quantum algorithms. Within the trained noise model, readout error has the most detrimental impact on computations. Our benchmarking approach satisfies relevant quality criteria by choosing suitable quantum circuits and objective functions to compare model predictionsto hardware data. Moreover, the quantum circuit model can be extended meaningfully by noise channels.Conclusion: Our benchmarking approach is suitable for evaluating and comparing quantum computing noise models. In future work, volumetric benchmarks should be performed for various noise models and application contexts. The parameter optimisation based on learning with training circuits yields accurate noise models and shows the importance of mitigating measurement error. Different optimisation algorithms and quantum circuits should be explored, and more types of noise should be incorporated into the noise model.
Quantum AI is a new way to think about the future of Artificial Intelligence through the merging of two technologies: quantum computing and advanced machine learning. Quantum AI has the potential to provide solutions to computationally difficult problems that traditional systems cannot solve. Quantum AI's continued success will rely on advancements in hybrid quantum-classical solutions, as well as the expansion of quantum hardware; hence, research remains necessary to conduct systematic benchmarks as well as performance analysis in order to determine both how well quantum AI algorithms perform practically, and where their limitations lie. In this chapter, detailed examinations of benchmarks that have been developed specifically for quantum AI are presented alongside evaluative metrics across various key areas of performance including algorithmic efficiency, scalability, noise immunity, and resource use for various types of quantum architectures. The chapter integrates dialogue between theory and practice to demonstrate ways in which performance metrics (i.e., quantum circuit depth, fidelity, convergence behaviour and computational complexity) can effectively compare Quantum AI algorithms to classical algorithms. Particular attention is given to hybrid variational algorithms, quantum-enhanced optimization algorithms, and quantum machine learning. Using benchmark datasets, simulation frameworks and new evaluation methods, there are several challenges in terms of reproducibility, hardware variability and algorithm/hardware co-design that emerge through analysis of the above metrics as well. Aside from focusing on a more broad view of how Performance Evaluation relates to developing more effective Quantum AI Solutions. In addition to viewing Benchmarking as a technical exercise solely, this chapter provides a more holistic view in relation to a human perspective of the situation. This paper outlines how performance evaluation practices can be used as a considerable and well-designed means of bridging the gap between the promise of Quantum Technology at an abstract level, and the ability of Quantum Technology to produce tangible outcomes in the real world by adopting a more comprehensive Governance-oriented approach to Benchmarking Quantum AI Systems. The purpose of this chapter is to assist the growing community of researchers, practitioners, and Strategic Technology Professionals by providing them with a clear and structured framework for Evaluation of Quantum AI Algorithms. There is a significant focus of the chapter on establishing important reference points that organizations can use to determine when an intelligent system has successfully achieved a true and validated quantum advantage. The ultimate goal is to assist in guiding the responsible development and implementation of Quantum AI to enable the Potential Benefits of Quantum AI to be realized, in ways that are meaningful and impactful.
Quantum Hamiltonian simulation is one of the most promising applications of quantum computing and forms the basis for many quantum algorithms. Benchmarking them is an important gauge of progress in quantum computing technology. We present a methodology and software framework to evaluate various facets of the performance of gate-based quantum computers on Trotterized quantum Hamiltonian evolution. We propose three distinct modes for benchmarking: (i) comparing simulation on a real device to that on a noiseless classical simulator, (ii) comparing simulation on a real device with exact diagonalization results, and (iii) using scalable mirror circuit techniques to assess hardware performance in scenarios beyond classical simulation methods. We demonstrate this framework on five Hamiltonian models from the HamLib library: the Fermi and Bose-Hubbard models, the transverse field Ising model, the Heisenberg model, and the Max3SAT problem. Experiments were conducted using Qiskit's Aer simulator, BlueQubit's CPU cluster and GPU simulators, and IBM's quantum hardware. Our framework, extendable to other Hamiltonians, provides comprehensive performance profiles that reveal hardware and algorithmic limitations and measure both fidelity and execution times, identifying crossover points where quantum hardware outperforms CPU/GPU simulators.
Quantum computing has emerged as a promising paradigm for addressing computational challenges in physics that remain intractable for classical methods. This study presents a quantitative benchmarking analysis of prominent quantum algorithms applied to representative physics problem classes, with the objective of evaluating their computational performance relative to state-of-the-art classical algorithms. Using standardized performance metrics—including execution time, algorithmic complexity, resource utilization, accuracy, scalability, and quantum advantage ratios—the study systematically compares quantum and classical approaches across multiple experimental configurations. The results demonstrate that quantum algorithms exhibit measurable performance gains for specific problem types, particularly in terms of runtime efficiency and scaling behavior, while also highlighting practical constraints related to qubit requirements and circuit depth. Visual and tabulated analyses further reveal that quantum advantage is highly problem-dependent and influenced by algorithmic structure and system size. Overall, the findings provide empirical evidence that quantum algorithms can offer substantial computational benefits for selected physics applications, while underscoring the importance of quantitative benchmarking in distinguishing theoretical promise from practical performance. This work contributes to ongoing efforts to objectively assess quantum advantage and informs future research directions in quantum algorithm development and physics-based applications.
Quantum computing not only holds the potential to solve long-standing problems in quantum physics, but also to offer speed-ups across a broad spectrum of other fields. Access to a computational space that incorporates quantum effects, such as superposition and entanglement, enables the derivation of promising quantum algorithms for important tasks, including preparing the ground state of a quantum system or predicting its evolution over time. Successfully tackling these tasks promises insights into significant theoretical and technological questions, such as superconductivity and the design of new materials. The aim of quantum algorithms is to use a series of quantum operations in a quantum circuit to solve a problem beyond the reach of classical computers. However, the noise and limited scale of current quantum computers restricts these circuits to moderate sizes and depths. As a result, many prominent algorithms are currently infeasible to run for problem sizes of practical interest. In response, recent research focused on variational quantum algorithms, which allow the selection of circuits that act within a quantum device's capabilities. Yet, these algorithms can require the execution of a large number of circuits, leading to prohibitively long computation times. This doctoral thesis develops two main techniques to reduce these quantum computational resource requirements, with the goal of scaling up application sizes on current quantum processors. The first approach is based on stochastic approximations of computationally costly quantities, such as quantum circuit gradients or the quantum geometric tensor (QGT). The second method takes a different perspective on the QGT, leading to a potentially more efficient description of time evolution on current quantum computers. Both techniques rely on maintaining available information and only computing necessary corrections, instead of re-computing possibly redundant data. The main focus of application for our algorithms is the simulation of quantum systems, broadly defined as including the preparation of ground and thermal states, and the real- and imaginary-time propagation of a system. The developed subroutines, however, can further be utilized in the fields of optimization or machine learning. Our algorithms are benchmarked on a range of representative models, such as Ising or Heisenberg spin models, both in numerical simulations and experiments on the hardware. In combination with error mitigation techniques, the latter is scaled up to 27 qubits; into a regime that variational quantum algorithms are challenging to scale to on noisy quantum computers without our algorithms.