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arXiv:2412.18979

Quantum memristors for neuromorphic quantum machine learning

Lucas Lamata

Published Dec 25, 2024• 0 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Quantum machine learning may permit to realize more efficient machine learning calculations with near-term quantum devices. Among the diverse quantum machine learning paradigms which are currently being considered, quantum memristors are promising as a way of combining, in the same quantum hardware, a unitary evolution with the nonlinearity provided by the measurement and feedforward. Thus, an efficient way of deploying neuromorphic quantum computing for quantum machine learning may be enabled.

DOI
10.48550/arxiv.2412.18979

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Quantum machine learning may permit to realize more efficient machine learning calculations with near-term quantum devices. Among the diverse quantum machine learning paradigms which are currently being considered, quantum memristors are promising as a way of combining, in the same quantum hardware, a unitary evolution with the nonlinearity provided by the measurement and feedforward. Thus, an efficient way of deploying neuromorphic quantum computing for quantum machine learning may be enabled.
One of the most promising approaches to using quantum computing to tackle challenging artificial intelligence issues is quantum machine learning (QML). The majority of QML architectures, however, are constrained by the absence of explicit methods for managing temporal and memory dependencies, which are essential for tasks like signal processing, sequential decision-making and forecasting. By embedding memory through devices like memristors, neuromorphic computing which draws inspiration from the brain's synaptic plasticity-offers a natural solution. In this paper, we propose a conceptual framework for using quantum memristors to incorporate neuromorphic memory into quantum machine learning. We compare the potential benefits over current QML models, suggest a simulation-based experimental design, and assets the extent to which systems could handle sequential data challenges. Our approach contributes towards shaping the emerging paradigm of neuromorphic quantum intelligence.
Quantum computer technology harnesses the features of quantum physics for revolutionizing information processing and computing. As such, quantum computers use physical quantum gates that process information unitarily, even though the final computing steps might be measurement-based or non-unitary. The applications of quantum computers cover diverse areas, reaching from well-known quantum algorithms to quantum machine learning and quantum neural networks. The last of these is of particular interest by belonging to the promising field of artificial intelligence. However, quantum neural networks are technologically challenging as the underlying computation requires non-unitary operations for mimicking the behavior of neurons. A landmark development for classical neural networks was the realization of memory-resistors, or "memristors". These are passive circuit elements that keep a memory of their past states in the form of a resistive hysteresis and thus provide access to nonlinear gate operations. The quest for realising a quantum memristor led to a few proposals, all of which face limited technological practicality. Here we introduce and experimentally demonstrate a novel quantum-optical memristor that is based on integrated photonics and acts on single photons. We characterize its memristive behavior and underline the practical potential of our device by numerically simulating instances of quantum reservoir computing, where we predict an advantage in the use of our quantum memristor over classical architectures. Given recent progress in the realization of photonic circuits for neural networks applications, our device could become a building block of immediate and near-term quantum neuromorphic architectures.
Machine learning has recently developed novel approaches, mimicking the synapses of the human brain to achieve similarly efficient learning strategies. Such a method retains the universality of standard ones, while attempting to circumvent their excessive requirements, which hinder their scalability. In this landscape, quantum (or quantum inspired) algorithms may bring enhancement. However, high-performing neural networks invariably display nonlinear behaviors, which poses a challenge to quantum platforms, given the intrinsically linear evolution of closed systems. We propose a strategy to enhance the nonlinearity achievable in this context, without resorting to entangling gates and report the first neuromorphic architecture based on a photonic quantum memristor. In detail, we show how the memristive feedback loop enhances the nonlinearity and hence the performance of the tested algorithms. We test our model on several tasks, widely recognized to benchmark the performance of (quantum) neuromorphic models. We highlight the essential role of the quantum memristive element and demonstrate the possibility of using it as a building block in more sophisticated networks.
Abstract Quantum machine learning has emerged as an exciting and promising paradigm inside quantum technologies. It may permit, on the one hand, to carry out more efficient machine learning calculations by means of quantum devices, while, on the other hand, to employ machine learning techniques to better control quantum systems. Inside quantum machine learning, quantum reinforcement learning aims at developing ‘intelligent’ quantum agents that may interact with the outer world and adapt to it, with the strategy of achieving some final goal. Another paradigm inside quantum machine learning is that of quantum autoencoders, which may allow one for employing fewer resources in a quantum device via a training process. Moreover, the field of quantum biomimetics aims at establishing analogies between biological and quantum systems, to look for previously inadvertent connections that may enable useful applications. Two recent examples are the concepts of quantum artificial life, as well as of quantum memristors. In this Perspective, we give an overview of these topics, describing the related research carried out by the scientific community.
Over the last decades, the combination of quantum computing and machine learning has opened many possibilities, for example enhancing machine learning algorithms through quantum platforms. However, one of the current challenges consists in combining the linear unitary evolution of closed quantum systems with the nonlinearity required by neural networks, which are currently the most widely used and versatile machine learning algorithms. This issue can now be addressed by a novel photonic tool, the quantum memristor,1 which displays a nonlinear behavior, while preserving quantum coherence, through a weak controlled interaction of its input state with the environment. Here, we show how its operation can be extended to deal with higher frequency modulations of the input and, possibly, with a simplification in its scheme. This method can prove useful for the future implementation of memristor-based quantum neural networks.