Recently, J. M. Arrazola et al. [Phys. Rev. A 100, 032306 (2019)] proposed a quantum algorithm for solving nonhomogeneous linear partial differential equations of the form $A\ensuremath{\psi}(\mathbf{r})=f(\mathbf{r})$. Its nonhomogeneous solution is obtained by inverting the operator $\stackrel{\ifmmode \hat{}\else \^{}\fi{}}{A}$ along with the preparation and measurement of special ancillary modes. In this work we suggest modifications in its structure to reduce the costs of preparing the initial ancillary states and improve the precision of the algorithm for semidefinite operators. These achievements enable easier experimental implementation of the quantum algorithm.
Recently, J. M. Arrazola et al. [Phys. Rev. A 100, 032306 (2019)] proposed a quantum algorithm for solving nonhomogeneous linear partial differential equations of the form A\ensuremathψ(r)=f(r). Its nonhomogeneous solution is obtained by inverting the operator A\ifmmode^\elseˆ\fi along with the preparation and measurement of special ancillary modes. In this work we suggest modifications in its structure to reduce the costs of preparing the initial ancillary states and improve the precision of the algorithm for semidefinite operators. These achievements enable easier experimental implementation of the quantum algorithm.
We describe a quantum algorithm for preparing states that encode solutions of nonhomogeneous linear partial differential equations. The algorithm is a continuous-variable version of matrix inversion: it efficiently inverts differential operators that are polynomials in the variables and their partial derivatives. The output is a quantum state whose wave function is proportional to a specific solution of the nonhomogeneous differential equation, which can be measured to reveal features of the solution. The algorithm consists of three stages: preparing fixed resource states in ancillary systems, performing Hamiltonian simulation, and measuring the ancilla systems. The algorithm can be carried out using standard methods for gate decompositions, but we improve this in two ways. First, we show that for a wide class of differential operators, it is possible to derive exact decompositions for the gates employed in Hamiltonian simulation. This avoids the need for costly commutator approximations, reducing gate counts by orders of magnitude. Additionally, we employ methods from machine learning to find explicit circuits that prepare the required resource states. We conclude by studying two example applications of the algorithm: solving Poisson's equation in electrostatics and performing one-dimensional integration.
Quantum methods for solving partial differential equations (PDEs) generally fall into a few general categories, each leveraging different quantum mechanisms to achieve potential speedups. One well-known approach is the quantum linear system solver, epitomized by the Harrow-Hassidim-Lloyd (HHL) algorithm, which uses phase estimation and eigenvalue inversion to solve large, sparse linear systems arising from discretized linear PDEs [1]. This method can yield exponential improvements over classical solvers under certain conditions (mostly when the matrix is well-conditioned and sparse). More recent developments, such as Quantum Singular Value Transformation (QSVT), provide a framework for matrix inversion in a more flexible way, often improving on the cost and error dependence of earlier solvers [2]. Time-dependent PDEs can be tackled via Hamiltonian simulations. The Trotter-Suzuki method decomposes the exponential of a Hamiltonian into products of exponentials of simpler sub-Hamiltonians, allowing a piecewise approximation of continuous dynamics [3]. Continuous-time quantum walks, which treat a PDE operator as a Hamiltonian that governs the walk, similarly simulate processes like diffusion or wave propagation on discretized grids or graphs [4]. Beyond direct simulation, variational quantum algorithms have emerged as a promising route in the noisy intermediate-scale quantum era. These approaches encode the PDE solution as a parameterized quantum state and optimize the parameters via classical feedback, thereby minimizing a cost function tied to the PDE residual or energy functional [5]. Quantum annealing or adiabatic methods, meanwhile, can solve optimization problems derived from PDE constraints by adiabatically evolving a simple initial Hamiltonian to the final problem Hamiltonian and staying in the system's ground state [3]. In our study, we implement a new parameterized quantum model, specifically designed to solve large linear systems on quantum hardware. This model is less deep and computationally faster than the proposed one in [5], reducing the complexity and speeding up convergence times. Such improvements are particularly valuable in cases where classical algorithms may fail due to the problem's size or complexity. Ongoing research is focusing on generalized quantum models that can be adapted to practical PDE problems for solving large electromagnetic problems where classical computers can fail.
Quantum computers can produce a quantum encoding of the solution of a system of differential equations exponentially faster than a classical algorithm can produce an explicit description. However, while high-precision quantum algorithms for linear ordinary differential equations are well established, the best previous quantum algorithms for linear partial differential equations (PDEs) have complexity p o l y ( 1 / ϵ ) , where ϵ is the error tolerance. By developing quantum algorithms based on adaptive-order finite difference methods and spectral methods, we improve the complexity of quantum algorithms for linear PDEs to be p o l y ( d , log ( 1 / ϵ ) ) , where d is the spatial dimension. Our algorithms apply high-precision quantum linear system algorithms to systems whose condition numbers and approximation errors we bound. We develop a finite difference algorithm for the Poisson equation and a spectral algorithm for more general second-order elliptic equations.
Most problems in uncertainty quantification, despite its ubiquitousness in scientific computing, applied mathematics and data science, remain formidable on a classical computer. For uncertainties that arise in partial differential equations (PDEs), large numbers M>>1 of samples are required to obtain accurate ensemble averages. This usually involves solving the PDE M times. In addition, to characterise the stochasticity in a PDE, the dimension L of the random input variables is high in most cases, and classical algorithms suffer from curse-of-dimensionality. We propose new quantum algorithms for PDEs with uncertain coefficients that are more efficient in M and L in various important regimes, compared to their classical counterparts. We introduce transformations that transfer the original d-dimensional equation (with uncertain coefficients) into d+L (for dissipative equations) or d+2L (for wave type equations) dimensional equations (with certain coefficients) in which the uncertainties appear only in the initial data. These transformations also allow one to superimpose the M different initial data, so the computational cost for the quantum algorithm to obtain the ensemble average from M different samples is then independent of M, while also showing potential advantage in d, L and precision in computing ensemble averaged solutions or physical observables.
Abstract. We introduce a simple and stable computational method for ill-posed partial differential equation (PDE) problems. The method is based on Schrödingerization, introduced in [S. Jin, N. Liu, and Y. Yu, Phys. Rev. Lett., 133 (2024), 230602; S. Jin, N. Liu, and Y. Yu, Phys. Rev. A, 108 (2023), 032603], which maps all linear PDEs into Schrödinger-type equations in one higher dimension, for quantum simulations of these PDEs. Although the original problem is ill-posed, the Schrödingerized equations are Hamiltonian systems and time-reversible, allowing stable computation both forward and backward in time. The original variable can be recovered by data from suitably chosen domain in the extended dimension. We will use the (constant and variable coefficient) backward heat equation and the linear convection equation with imaginary wave speed as examples. Error analysis of these algorithms are conducted and verified numerically. The methods are applicable to both classical and quantum computers, and we also lay out quantum algorithms for these methods. Moreover, we introduce a smooth initialization for the Schrödingerized equation, which will lead to essentially spectral accuracy for the approximation in the extended space, if a spectral method is used. Consequently, the extra qubits needed due to the extra dimension, if a qubit-based quantum algorithm is used, for both well-posed and ill-posed problems, becomes almost [Formula: see text] where [Formula: see text] is the desired precision. This optimizes the complexity of the Schrödingerization based quantum algorithms for any nonunitary dynamical system introduced in [S. Jin, N. Liu, and Y. Yu, Phys. Rev. Lett., 133 (2024), 230602; S. Jin, N. Liu, and Y. Yu, Phys. Rev. A, 108 (2023), 032603].
Abstract. Partial differential equation (PDE) models with multiple temporal/spatial scales are prevalent in several disciplines such as physics, engineering, and many others. These models are of great practical importance but notoriously difficult to solve due to prohibitively small mesh and time step sizes limited by the scaling parameter and CFL condition. Another challenge in scientific computing could come from curse-of-dimensionality. In this paper, we aim to provide a quantum algorithm, based on either direct approximations of the original PDEs or their homogenized models, for prototypical multiscale problems inPDEs, including elliptic, parabolic, and hyperbolic PDEs. To achieve this, we will lift these problems to higher dimensions and leverage the recently developed Schrödingerization based quantum simulation algorithms to efficiently reduce the computational cost of the resulting high-dimensional and multiscale problems. We will examine the error contributions arising from discretization, homogenization, and relaxation, and analyze and compare the complexities of these algorithms in order to identify the best algorithms in terms of complexities for different equations in different regimes.