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arXiv:2210.00231 · Quantum Information and Computation

Unbiased quantum phase estimation

Xi Lu, Hongwei Lin

Published Jan 1, 2023• 2 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Quantum phase estimation algorithm (PEA) is one of the most important algorithms in early studies of quantum computation. However, we find that the PEA is not an unbiased estimation, which prevents the estimation error from achieving an arbitrarily small level. In this paper, we propose an unbiased phase estimation algorithm (UPEA) based on the original PEA. We also show that a maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) post-processing step applied on UPEA has a smaller mean absolute error than MLE applied on PEA. In the end, we apply UPEA to quantum counting, and use an additional correction step to make the quantum counting algorithm unbiased.

DOI
10.26421/qic23.1-2-2

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Quantum phase estimation algorithm (PEA) is one of the most important algorithms in early studies of quantum computation. However, we find that the PEA is not an unbiased estimation, which prevents the estimation error from achieving an arbitrarily small level. In this paper, we propose an unbiased phase estimation algorithm (UPEA) based on the original PEA. We also show that a maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) post-processing step applied on UPEA has a smaller mean absolute error than MLE applied on PEA. In the end, we apply UPEA to quantum counting, and use an additional correction step to make the quantum counting algorithm unbiased.
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Quantum-phase-estimation algorithms are critical subroutines in many applications for quantum computers and in quantum-metrology protocols. These algorithms estimate the unknown strength of a unitary evolution. By using coherence or entanglement to sample the unitary NtotN_{\mathrm{tot}}Ntot​ times, the variance of the estimates can scale as O(1/Ntot2)O(1/{N^2_{\mathrm{tot}}})O(1/Ntot2​), compared to the best ``classical'' strategy with O(1/Ntot)O(1/{N_{\mathrm{tot}}})O(1/Ntot​). The original algorithm for quantum phase estimation cannot be implemented on near-term hardware as it requires large-scale entangled probes and fault-tolerant quantum computing. Therefore, alternative algorithms have been introduced that rely on coherence and statistical inference. These algorithms produce quantum-boosted phase estimates without inter-probe entanglement. This family of phase-estimation algorithms have, until now, never exhibited the possibility of achieving optimal scaling O(1/Ntot2)O(1/{N^2_{\mathrm{tot}}})O(1/Ntot2​). Moreover, previous works have not considered the effect of noise on these algorithms. Here, we present a coherence-based phase-estimation algorithm which can achieve the optimal quadratic scaling in the mean absolute error and the mean squared error. In the presence of noise, our algorithm produces errors that approach the theoretical lower bound. The optimality of our algorithm stems from its adaptive nature: Each step is determined, iteratively, using a Bayesian protocol that analyses the results of previous steps.
Abstract We introduce a new statistical and variational approach to the phase estimation algorithm (PEA). Unlike the traditional and iterative PEAs which return only an eigenphase estimate, the proposed method can determine any unknown eigenstate–eigenphase pair from a given unitary matrix utilizing a simplified version of the hardware intended for the iterative PEA (IPEA). This is achieved by treating the probabilistic output of an IPEA-like circuit as an eigenstate–eigenphase proximity metric, using this metric to estimate the proximity of the input state and input phase to the nearest eigenstate–eigenphase pair and approaching this pair via a variational process on the input state and phase. This method may search over the entire computational space, or can efficiently search for eigenphases (eigenstates) within some specified range (directions), allowing those with some prior knowledge of their system to search for particular solutions. We show the simulation results of the method with the Qiskit package on the IBM Q platform and on a local computer.
Quantum computing is the field that studies computation using quantum mechanical systems, exploiting properties such as superposition or entanglement. The focus of this project will be on quantum phase estimation algorithms. The formalism commonly used to represent quantum algorithms as quantum circuits composed by qubits and quantum gates will be presented. Then, we will be able to explain the quantum Fourier transform (that is exponentially faster than its classical analogue) and three quantum phase estimation algorithms: Kitaev’s phase estimation (KPEA), the phase estimation algorithm based on QFT (PEA) and the iterative quantum phase estimation algorithm based on a semiclassical Fourier transform (IPEA). We will use the Qiskit framework in order to run simulations of such algorithms, and even run them in real IBM Q Experience quantum computers (specifically, we will use the 5 qubit computer ibmq_essex). Statistical post-processing techniques will be essential in order to extract a phase estimation from the results obtained. We will use two post-processing techniques: the majority and the average rule. The performance of these methods applied to the results of several simulations and executions in ibmq_essex will be studied. At last, we will talk about the possible applications of phase estimation algorithms. Phase estimation is used as a subroutine in the field of quantum simulation, allowing us to obtain several magnitudes of a quantum system such as the energy levels. We will present an efficient quantum algorithm for factoring called Shor’s algorithm. The cost of factorization with a classical computer increases exponentially with the size of the input, so this is a example of a task that cannot be solved efficiently on a classical computer, but can be solved efficiently by a quantum computer. Phase estimation is also used in the field of quantum metrology. Specifically, an N-V center can be used to measure magnetic fields with high sensitivity and spatial resolution operating at room temperature thanks to a measuring protocol based on phase estimation.
Quantum phase estimation algorithm (PEA) has been successfully adapted as a sub frame of many other algorithms applied to a wide variety of applications in different fields. However, the requirement of a good approximate eigenvector given as an input to the algorithm hinders the application of the algorithm to the problems where we do not have any prior knowledge about the eigenvector. In this paper, we show that the principal eigenvalue of an irreducible non-negative operator can be determined by using an equal superposition initial state in the PEA. This removes the necessity of the existence of an initial good approximate eigenvector. Moreover, we show that the success probability of the algorithm is related to the closeness of the operator to a stochastic matrix. Therefore, we draw an estimate for the success probability by using the variance of the column sums of the operator. This provides a priori information which can be used to know the success probability of the algorithm beforehand for the non-negative matrices and apply the algorithm only in cases when the estimated probability is reasonably high. Finally, we discuss the possible applications and show the results for random symmetric matrices and 3-local Hamiltonians with non-negative off-diagonal elements.
As fully fault-tolerant quantum computers capable of solving useful problems remain a distant goal, we anticipate an era of during which limited error correction is available. We propose a framework for designing early fault-tolerant algorithms by trading between error-correction overhead and residual logical noise, and apply it to quantum phase estimation (QPE). We develop a quantum-Fourier-transform- (QFT) based QPE technique that is robust to global depolarizing noise and outperforms the previous state of the art at low and moderate noise rates. We further introduce the explicitly unbiased maximum-likelihood estimator (EUMLE), a data-processing technique that mitigates errors in QFT-based QPE schemes. EUMLE provides consistent asymptotically normal error-mitigated estimates, addressing the open problem of extending error mitigation beyond expectation-value estimation. Applying this scheme to the ground-state problem of the two-dimensional Hubbard model and various molecular Hamiltonians, we find that we can roughly halve the number of physical qubits with a ∼ 10 times wall-clock time overhead, but that further reduction causes a steep run-time increase. This work provides an end-to-end analysis of early fault-tolerance cost reductions and space-time trade-offs, and identifies which areas can be improved in the future.