Abstract Mitigating measurement errors in quantum systems without relying on quantum error correction is of critical importance for the practical development of quantum technology. Deep learning-based quantum measurement error mitigation (QMEM) has exhibited advantages over the linear inversion method due to its capability to correct non-linear noise. However, scalability remains a challenge for both methods. In this study, we propose a scalable QMEM method that leverages the conditional independence (CI) of distant qubits and incorporates transfer learning (TL) techniques. By leveraging the CI assumption, we achieve an exponential reduction in the size of neural networks used for error mitigation. This enhancement also offers the benefit of reducing the number of training data needed for the machine learning model to successfully converge. Additionally, incorporating TL provides a constant speedup. We validate the effectiveness of our approach through experiments conducted on IBM quantum devices with 7 and 13 qubits, demonstrating excellent error mitigation performance and highlighting the efficiency of our method.
Abstract Mitigating measurement errors in quantum systems without relying on quantum error correction is of critical importance for the practical development of quantum technology. Deep learning-based quantum measurement error mitigation (QMEM) has exhibited advantages over the linear inversion method due to its capability to correct non-linear noise. However, scalability remains a challenge for both methods. In this study, we propose a scalable QMEM method that leverages the conditional independence (CI) of distant qubits and incorporates transfer learning (TL) techniques. By leveraging the CI assumption, we achieve an exponential reduction in the size of neural networks used for error mitigation. This enhancement also offers the benefit of reducing the number of training data needed for the machine learning model to successfully converge. Additionally, incorporating TL provides a constant speedup. We validate the effectiveness of our approach through experiments conducted on IBM quantum devices with 7 and 13 qubits, demonstrating excellent error mitigation performance and highlighting the efficiency of our method.
Quantum computers, while offering exponential computational advantages, are highly vulnerable to noise-induced errors, particularly during the measurement process. This paper investigates machine learning-based error mitigation strategies with a focus on transfer learning. By initially training a base model on a specific quantum device, we leverage transfer learning to adapt the model for use on different quantum computers. This approach not only achieves superior performance with reduced dataset size and training time but also maintains hardware agnosticism, as demonstrated through tests on various IBM quantum backends. Our method provides a practical solution for enhancing the accuracy and efficiency of noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) algorithms by improving machine learning-based error mitigation.
Abstract Quantum computing devices are inevitably subject to errors. To leverage quantum technologies for computational benefits in practical applications, quantum algorithms and protocols must be implemented reliably under noise and imperfections. Since noise and imperfections limit the size of quantum circuits that can be realized on a quantum device, developing quantum error mitigation techniques that do not require extra qubits and gates is of critical importance. In this work, we present a deep learning-based protocol for reducing readout errors on quantum hardware. Our technique is based on training an artificial neural network (NN) with the measurement results obtained from experiments with simple quantum circuits consisting of singe-qubit gates only. With the NN and deep learning, non-linear noise can be corrected, which is not possible with the existing linear inversion methods. The advantage of our method against the existing methods is demonstrated through quantum readout error mitigation experiments performed on IBM five-qubit quantum devices.
A quantum error mitigation technique based on machine learning is proposed, which learns how to adjust the probabilities estimated by measurement in the computational basis. Neural networks in two different designs are trained with random quantum circuits consisting of a set of one- and two-qubit unitary gates whose measurement statistics in the ideal (noiseless) and real (noisy) cases are known. Once the neural networks are trained, they infer the amount of probability adjustment to be made on the measurement obtained from executing an unseen quantum circuit to reduce the error. The proposed schemes are tested with two-, three-, five-, and seven-qubit quantum circuits of depth up to 20 by computer simulations with realistic error models and experiments using the IBM quantum cloud platform. In all test cases, the proposed mitigation technique reduces the error effectively. Our method can be used to improve the accuracy of noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) algorithms without relying on extensive error characterization or quantum error correction.
The pursuit of practical quantum utility on near-term quantum processors is critically challenged by their inherent noise. Quantum error mitigation (QEM) techniques are leading solutions to improve computation fidelity with relatively low qubit-overhead, while full-scale quantum error correction remains a distant goal. However, QEM techniques incur substantial measurement overheads, especially when applied to families of quantum circuits parameterized by classical inputs. Focusing on zero-noise extrapolation (ZNE), a widely adopted QEM technique, here we devise the surrogate-enabled ZNE (S-ZNE), which leverages classical learning surrogates to perform ZNE entirely on the classical side. Unlike conventional ZNE, whose measurement cost scales linearly with the number of circuits, S-ZNE requires only constant measurement overhead for an entire family of quantum circuits, offering superior scalability. Theoretical analysis indicates that S-ZNE achieves accuracy comparable to conventional ZNE in many practical scenarios, and numerical experiments on up to 100-qubit ground-state energy and quantum metrology tasks confirm its effectiveness. Our approach provides a template that can be effectively extended to other quantum error mitigation protocols, opening a promising path toward scalable error mitigation.
Abstract Quantum computing holds transformative promise, but its realization is hindered by the inherent susceptibility of quantum computers to errors. Quantum error mitigation has proved to be an enabling way to reduce computational error in present noisy intermediate scale quantum computers. This research introduces an innovative approach to quantum error mitigation by leveraging machine learning, specifically employing adaptive neural networks. With experiment and simulations done on 127-qubit IBM superconducting quantum computer, we were able to develop and train a neural network architecture to dynamically adjust output expectation values based on error characteristics. The model leverages a prior classifier module outcome on simulated quantum circuits with errors, and the antecedent neural network regression module adapts its parameters and response to each error characteristics. Results demonstrate the adaptive neural network’s efficacy in mitigating errors across diverse quantum circuits and noise models, showcasing its potential to surpass traditional error mitigation techniques with an accuracy of 99% using the fully adaptive neural network for quantum error mitigation. This work presents a significant application of classical machine learning methods towards enhancing the robustness and reliability of quantum computations, providing a pathway for the practical realization of quantum computing technologies.
Quantum computing has gained significant attention in recent years, with numerous algorithms and applications under active development. Limited by the current quantum technology, quantum noise and readout error have become critical issues. Various methods have been proposed to address readout error through error mitigation techniques, typically involving post-processing of measurement data. However, most of these methods increase the quantum hardware overhead, leading to higher computational costs. In this work, we present a machine-learning-based approach that minimizes hardware overhead while improving accuracy of the measurement probability distributions. We employed a convolutional neural network (CNN) autoencoder, commonly used for image denoising, as our baseline model. The datasets were derived from 4-qubit random circuits with depths ranging from 1 to 18, generated using Qiskit backends for target and noisy measurement data. The model was trained using mean squared error (MSE) as the loss function and Adam optimizer over 500 epochs, achieving an average noise reduction by 95% across the validation set, with no signs of overfitting. To validate the model's effectiveness across diverse quantum states, we conducted extensive tests on both typical quantum circuits and algorithms, including Grover's search algorithm, Quantum Fourier Transform, Haar random circuits and Trivial Paramagnet. The results demonstrated consistent and robust denoising in noisy measurement data, indicating that the autoencoder model is well-suited for efficient quantum error mitigation for current noisy quantum computers. This work contributes to the advancement of quantum error mitigation techniques using machine learning.