We present a hybrid numerical-quantum method for solving the Poisson equation under homogeneous Dirichlet boundary conditions, leveraging the Quantum Fourier Transform (QFT) to enhance computational efficiency and reduce time and space complexity. This approach bypasses the integration-heavy calculations of classical methods, which have to deal with high computational costs for large number of points. The proposed method estimates the coefficients of the series expansion of the solution directly within the quantum framework. Numerical experiments validate its effectiveness and reveal significant improvements in terms of time and space complexity and solution accuracy, demonstrating the capability of quantum-assisted techniques to contribute in solving partial differential equations (PDEs). Despite the inherent challenges of quantum implementation, the present work serves as a starting point for future researches aimed at refining and expanding quantum numerical methods.
We present a hybrid numerical-quantum method for solving the Poisson equation under homogeneous Dirichlet boundary conditions, leveraging the Quantum Fourier Transform (QFT) to enhance computational efficiency and reduce time and space complexity. This approach bypasses the integration-heavy calculations of classical methods, which have to deal with high computational costs for large number of points. The proposed method estimates the coefficients of the series expansion of the solution directly within the quantum framework. Numerical experiments validate its effectiveness and reveal significant improvements in terms of time and space complexity and solution accuracy, demonstrating the capability of quantum-assisted techniques to contribute in solving partial differential equations (PDEs). Despite the inherent challenges of quantum implementation, the present work serves as a starting point for future researches aimed at refining and expanding quantum numerical methods.
Quantum computing holds the promise of solving computational mechanics problems in polylogarithmic time, meaning computational time scales as O((logN)c), where N is the problem size and c a constant. We propose a quantum spectral method with polylogarithmic complexity for solving non-periodic boundary value problems with arbitrary Dirichlet boundary conditions. Our method extends the recently proposed approach by Liu et al. (2025), in which periodic problems are discretised using truncated Fourier series. In such spectral methods, the discretisation of boundary value problems with constant coefficients leads to a set of algebraic equations in the Fourier space. We implement the respective diagonal solution operator by first approximating it with a polynomial and then quantum encoding the polynomial. The mapping between the physical and Fourier spaces is accomplished using the quantum Fourier transform (QFT). To impose zero Dirichlet boundary conditions, we double the domain size and reflect all physical fields antisymmetrically. The respective reflection matrix defines the quantum sine transform (QST) by pre- and post-multiplying with the QFT. For non-zero Dirichlet boundary conditions, the solution is decomposed into a boundary-conforming and a homogeneous part. The homogenous part is determined by solving a problem with a suitably modified forcing vector. We illustrate the basic approach with a Dirichlet-Poisson problem and demonstrate its generality by applying it to a fractional stochastic PDE for modelling spatial random fields. We discuss the circuit implementation of the proposed approach and provide numerical evidence confirming its polylogarithmic complexity.
Quantum algorithms offer new avenues for solving partial differential equations (PDEs). While the potential for end-to-end quantum advantage is at present not well understood, recent literature presents explicit circuit constructions for solving certain classes of linear PDEs in the frequency domain and thus offers concrete examples to study. In this work, we develop end-to-end implementations of these quantum circuits compiled to machine-level instructions and benchmark them in both numerical simulations and IBMQ hardware experiments. We focus on the advection, wave, and Poisson equations and study quantum circuits that propagate the dynamics in frequency space via the quantum Fourier transform using approximate methods based on a first-order approximation which offer compact representations with uncontrollable approximation error, and polynomial approximation methods based on quantum signal processing (QSP) leading to deeper circuits with tunable algorithmic error. In addition, we experimentally demonstrate that the QSP-augmented algorithm can provide accurate solutions under realistic hardware constraints. Finally, we extend our method to address non-homogeneous Dirichlet boundary conditions and verify it numerically for a Poisson equation with source term obtained from high-fidelity physics simulations of a capacitively coupled plasma.
Contemporary quantum computers open up novel possibilities for tackling intricate problems, encompassing quantum system modeling and solving partial differential equations (PDEs). This paper explores the optimization of quantum algorithms aimed at resolving PDEs, presenting a significant challenge within the realm of computational science. The work delves into the application of the Variational Quantum Eigensolver (VQE) for addressing equations such as Poisson's equation. It employs a Hamiltonian constructed using a modified Feynman-Kitaev formalism for a VQE, which represents a quantum system and encapsulates information pertaining to the classical system. By optimizing the parameters of the quantum circuit that implements this Hamiltonian, it becomes feasible to achieve minimization, which corresponds to the solution of the original classical system. The modification optimizes quantum circuits by minimizing the cost function associated with the VQE. The efficacy of this approach is demonstrated through the illustrative example of solving the Poisson equation. The prospects for its application to the integration of more generalized PDEs are discussed in detail. This study provides an in-depth analysis of the potential advantages of quantum algorithms in the domain of numerical solutions for the Poisson equation and emphasizes the significance of continued research in this direction. By leveraging quantum computing capabilities, the development of more efficient methodologies for solving these equations is possible, which could significantly transform current computational practices. The findings of this work underscore not only the practical advantages but also the transformative potential of quantum computing in addressing complex PDEs. Moreover, the results obtained highlight the critical need for ongoing research to refine these techniques and extend their applicability to a broader class of PDEs, ultimately paving the way for advancements in various scientific and engineering domains.
Abstract We propose an explicit quantum framework for numerically simulating general linear partial differential equations (PDEs), extending previous work (Guseynov et al 2025 Phys. Rev. Res. 7 033100) to incorporate (a) Robin boundary conditions—which include Neumann and Dirichlet conditions as special cases–(b) inhomogeneous terms, and (c) variable coefficients in space and time. Our approach begins with a general finite-difference discretization and applies the Schrödingerisation technique to transform the resulting system into one that admits unitary quantum evolution, enabling quantum simulation. For the Schrödinger equation corresponding to the discretized PDE, we construct an efficient block-encoding of the Hamiltonian H that scales polylogarithmically with the number of grid points N . This encoding is compatible with quantum signal processing and allows for the implementation of the evolution operator e − i H t . The explicit circuit construction in our method permits complexity to be measured in fundamental gate units–namely, CNOT gates and single-qubit rotations–bypassing the inefficiencies of oracle queries. Consequently, the overall algorithm scales polynomially with N and linearly with the spatial dimension d . Under certain input/output assumptions our method achieves a polynomial speedup in N and an exponential advantage in d for a wide class of PDEs, thereby mitigating the classical curse of dimensionality. The validity and efficiency of the proposed approach are further substantiated by numerical simulations. By explicitly defining the quantum operations and quantifying their resource requirements, our approach offers a practical alternative for numerically solving PDEs, distinct from others that rely on oracle queries and purely asymptotic scaling methods.
Quantum computing has the potential to solve certain compute-intensive problems faster than classical computing by leveraging the quantum mechanical properties of superposition and entanglement. This capability can be particularly useful for solving Partial Differential Equations (PDEs), which are challenging to solve even for High-Performance Computing (HPC) systems, especially for multidimensional PDEs. This led researchers to investigate the usage of Quantum-Centric High-Performance Computing (QC-HPC) to solve multidimensional PDEs for various applications. However, the current quantum computing-based PDE-solvers, especially those based on Variational Quantum Algorithms (VQAs) suffer from limitations, such as low accuracy, long execution times, and limited scalability. In this work, we propose an innovative algorithm to solve multidimensional PDEs with two variants. The first variant uses Finite Difference Method (FDM), Classical-to-Quantum (C2Q) encoding, and numerical instantiation, whereas the second variant utilizes FDM, C2Q encoding, and Column-by-Column Decomposition (CCD). We evaluated the proposed algorithm using the Poisson equation as a case study and validated it through experiments conducted on noise-free and noisy simulators, as well as hardware emulators and real quantum hardware from IBM. Our results show higher accuracy, improved scalability, and faster execution times in comparison to variational-based PDE-solvers, demonstrating the advantage of our approach for solving multidimensional PDEs.
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.