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arXiv:2205.14225 · Quantum

Characterizing and mitigating coherent errors in a trapped ion quantum processor using hidden inverses

Swarnadeep Majumder, Christopher G. Yale, Titus Morris, Daniel Lobser, Ashlyn D. Burch, Matthew N. H. Chow, Melissa Revelle, Susan Clark, Raphael C. Pooser

Published May 15, 2023• 6 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Quantum computing testbeds exhibit high-fidelity quantum control over small collections of qubits, enabling performance of precise, repeatable operations followed by measurements. Currently, these noisy intermediate-scale devices can support a sufficient number of sequential operations prior to decoherence such that near term algorithms can be performed with proximate accuracy (like chemical accuracy for quantum chemistry problems). While the results of these algorithms are imperfect, these imperfections can help bootstrap quantum computer testbed development. Demonstrations of these algorithms over the past few years, coupled with the idea that imperfect algorithm performance can be caused by several dominant noise sources in the quantum processor, which can be measured and calibrated during algorithm execution or in post-processing, has led to the use of noise mitigation to improve typical computational results. Conversely, benchmark algorithms coupled with noise mitigation can help diagnose the nature of the noise, whether systematic or purely random. Here, we outline the use of coherent noise mitigation techniques as a characterization tool in trapped-ion testbeds. We perform model-fitting of the noisy data to determine the noise source based on realistic physics focused noise models and demonstrate that systematic noise amplification coupled with error mitigation schemes provides useful data for noise model deduction. Further, in order to connect lower level noise model details with application specific performance of near term algorithms, we experimentally construct the loss landscape of a variational algorithm under various injected noise sources coupled with error mitigation techniques. This type of connection enables application-aware hardware codesign, in which the most important noise sources in specific applications, like quantum chemistry, become foci of improvement in subsequent hardware generations.

DOI
10.22331/q-2023-05-15-1006

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Quantum computing testbeds exhibit high-fidelity quantum control over small collections of qubits, enabling performance of precise, repeatable operations followed by measurements. Currently, these noisy intermediate-scale devices can support a sufficient number of sequential operations prior to decoherence such that near term algorithms can be performed with proximate accuracy (like chemical accuracy for quantum chemistry problems). While the results of these algorithms are imperfect, these imperfections can help bootstrap quantum computer testbed development. Demonstrations of these algorithms over the past few years, coupled with the idea that imperfect algorithm performance can be caused by several dominant noise sources in the quantum processor, which can be measured and calibrated during algorithm execution or in post-processing, has led to the use of noise mitigation to improve typical computational results. Conversely, benchmark algorithms coupled with noise mitigation can help diagnose the nature of the noise, whether systematic or purely random. Here, we outline the use of coherent noise mitigation techniques as a characterization tool in trapped-ion testbeds. We perform model-fitting of the noisy data to determine the noise source based on realistic physics focused noise models and demonstrate that systematic noise amplification coupled with error mitigation schemes provides useful data for noise model deduction. Further, in order to connect lower level noise model details with application specific performance of near term algorithms, we experimentally construct the loss landscape of a variational algorithm under various injected noise sources coupled with error mitigation techniques. This type of connection enables application-aware hardware codesign, in which the most important noise sources in specific applications, like quantum chemistry, become foci of improvement in subsequent hardware generations.
Current noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) trapped-ion devices are subject to errors which can significantly impact the accuracy of calculations if left unchecked. A form of error mitigation called zero noise extrapolation (ZNE) can decrease an algorithm's sensitivity to these errors without increasing the number of required qubits. Here we explore different methods for integrating this error mitigation technique into the Variational Quantum Eigensolver (VQE) algorithm for calculating the ground state of the HeH+{\text{HeH}}^{+}HeH+ molecule at 0.8A˚0.8\phantom{\rule{3.33333pt}{0ex}}\text{\AA{}}0.8A˚ in the presence of experimental noise. Using the Quantum Scientific Computing Open User Testbed (QSCOUT) trapped-ion device, we test three methods of scaling noise for extrapolation: time stretching the two-qubit gates, scaling the sideband detuning parameter, and inserting two-qubit gate identity operations into the ansatz circuit. We find that time stretching and sideband detuning scaling fail to scale the noise on our particular hardware in a way that can be extrapolated to zero noise. Scaling our noise with global gate identity insertions and extrapolating after variational optimization, we achieve error suppression of 96.896.8%96.8, resulting in an energy estimate within $\ensuremath{-}0.004\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.04$ hartree of the ground state energy. This is an improvement, but still outside the chemical accuracy threshold of 0.0016 hartree. Our results show that the efficacy of this error mitigation technique depends on choosing the correct implementation for a given device architecture.
Maximizing the computational utility of near-term quantum processors requires predictive noise models that inform robust, noise-aware compilation and error mitigation. Conventional models often fail to capture the complex error dynamics of real hardware or require prohibitive characterization overhead. We introduce a data-efficient framework that first constructs a physically motivated, parameterized noise model, and subsequently employs machine-learning-driven Bayesian optimization to identify its parameters. Our approach circumvents costly characterization protocols by estimating algorithm- and hardware-specific error parameters directly from readily available experimental data derived from existing application and benchmark circuit executions. The generality and robustness of the framework are demonstrated across diverse algorithms and superconducting devices, yielding high-fidelity predictions by estimating an independent parameter set tailored to each specific algorithm-hardware context. Crucially, we show that a model calibrated exclusively on small-scale circuits accurately predicts the behavior of larger validation circuits. Our data-efficient approach achieves up to a 65% improvement in model fidelity quantified by the Hellinger distance between predicted and experimental circuit output distributions, compared to standard noise models derived from device properties. This work establishes a practical paradigm for application-aware noise characterization, enabling compilation and error-mitigation strategies tailored to the specific interplay between quantum algorithms and device-specific noise dynamics.
Despite rapid advances in quantum hardware, noise remains a central obstacle to deploying quantum algorithms on near-term devices. In particular, random coherent errors that accumulate during circuit execution constitute a dominant and fundamentally challenging noise source. We introduce a noise-resilient framework for Quantum Signal Processing (QSP) that mitigates such coherent errors without increasing circuit depth or ancillary qubit requirements. Our approach uses ensembles of noisy QSP circuits combined with measurement-level averaging to suppress random phase errors in Z rotations. Building on this framework, we develop robust QSP algorithms for implementing polynomial functions of Hermitian matrices and for estimating observables, with applications to Hamiltonian simulation, quantum linear systems, and ground-state preparation. We analyze the trade-off between approximation error and hardware noise, which is essential for practical implementation under the stringent depth and coherence constraints of current quantum hardware. Our results establish a practical pathway for integrating error mitigation seamlessly into algorithmic design, advancing the development of robust quantum computing, and enabling the discovery of scientific applications with near- and mid-term quantum devices.
The development of quantum computers requires not only experimental advances, but also theoretical efforts to tackle the bottlenecks and identify potential applications. This thesis addresses some essential elements in each stage of the development of quantum computers, from the currently available hardware to the long-term devices. The critical factor that hinders the quantum hardware from performing perfect operations is the presence of noise, however, it can be overcome by error correction codes. We first consider a large-scale quantum processor with asymmetrical noise and preferably a modular structure. By concatenating the surface code with an error-detecting code, and utilising the information from detection with a customised decoder, we find very high thresholds for the designed devices. The second topic is small error correction codes which are more realistic to be implemented in the near future. A measure `integrity' is introduced to benchmark the performance of quantum memories to demonstrate beneficial error correction, associated with four milestones. We show integrity is closely related with other commonly-used measures and can be easily assessed by experimentalists. This framework is then studied in detail in the context of an ion-trap quantum device implemented with the seven qubit code. We present a protocol based on detailed sequences of crystal-reconfiguration operations and stabiliser mappings to perform a full error correction cycle. Realistic error models and parameters from reported works are also given. While experimental efforts continue to battle against the noise, some hybrid quantum-classical algorithms have been developed to be implemented on the near-term noisy devices. The variational algorithm is one of the hybrid algorithms that have been widely applied to simulations of condensed matter physics and quantum chemistry. In the next chapter, we introduce a variational quantum compiler to automatically search for the encoding circuits of small error correction codes. By tailoring the ansatz to optimise the circuit for particular hardware systems, we show some novel circuits discovered with the compiler. The final chapter applies the variational algorithm to solve linear algebra problems including linear systems of equations and matrix-vector multiplications. We show that the linear algebra problems can be solved with near-term devices, with circuit depth linear to the condition number and super-linear to the number of qubits.
Abstract We present a method to improve the convergence of variational algorithms based on hidden inverses (HIs) to mitigate coherent errors. In the context of error mitigation, this means replacing the hardware implementation of certain Hermitian gates with their inverses. Doing so results in noise cancellation and a more resilient quantum circuit. This approach improves performance in a variety of two-qubit error models where the noise operator also inverts with the gate inversion. We apply the mitigation scheme on superconducting quantum processors running the variational quantum eigensolver (VQE) algorithm to find the H 2 ground-state energy. When implemented on superconducting hardware we find that the mitigation scheme effectively reduces the energy fluctuations in the parameter learning path in VQE, reducing the number of iterations for a converged value. We also provide a detailed numerical simulation of VQE performance under different noise models and explore how HIs and randomized compiling affect the underlying loss landscape of the learning problem. These simulations help explain our experimental hardware outcomes, helping to connect lower-level gate performance to application-specific behavior in contrast to metrics like fidelity which often do not provide an intuitive insight into observed high level performance.
Accurate characterization of coherent and non-Markovian errors remains a central challenge in quantum information processing, as conventional benchmarking techniques typically rely on Markovian and time-independent noise assumptions. In practice, however, quantum devices exhibit both systematic coherent miscalibrations and temporally correlated fluctuations, which complicate error diagnosis and mitigation. Here, we apply a technique based on tangent-space decomposition to characterize such error in single-qubit quantum gates implemented on a trapped ion platform. Small imperfections in a quantum operation are treated as perturbations of the target quantum map, represented as tangent vectors in the space of quantum channels. This formulations enables a natural decomposition of the deviation into three components corresponding to coherent, Markovian and non-Markovian processes.The relative weights of these components provide a quantitative measure of the contribution from each type of error mechanism, directly from a single tomographic snapshot. We experimentally validate this method on a single-qubit gates implemented on a trapped 40^{40}40Ca+^++ ion, where control is achieved through laser-driven optical transitions. By analyzing experimentally reconstructed process matrices, expressed in the Pauli Transfer Matrix and Choi representations, we identify and quantify non-Markovian effects arising from controlled injection of slow fluctuations in the experimental environment. We also characterize deterministic coherent miscalibrations using the same technique. This approach provides a physically transparent and experimentally accessible tool for diagnosing complex error sources in quantum control systems.