Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

arXiv:2507.16995

Qubit-Efficient Quantum Algorithm for Linear Differential Equations

Di Fang, David Lloyd George, Tong, Yu

Published Jul 22, 2025• 0 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

As quantum hardware rapidly advances toward the early fault-tolerant era, a key challenge is to develop quantum algorithms that are not only theoretically sound but also hardware-friendly on near-term devices. In this work, we propose a quantum algorithm for solving linear ordinary differential equations (ODEs) with a provable runtime guarantee. Our algorithm uses only a single ancilla qubit, and is locality preserving, i.e., when the coefficient matrix of the ODE is $k$-local, the algorithm only needs to implement the time evolution of $(k+1)$-local Hamiltonians. We also discuss the connection between our proposed algorithm and Lindbladian simulation. By applying our algorithm to the interacting Hatano-Nelson model, a widely studied non-Hermitian model with rich phenomenology, and numerically simulating it under realistic noise models, we demonstrate its practical feasibility on near-term quantum devices.

DOI
10.48550/arxiv.2507.16995

Related papers

Circuit Depth Reduction of One-Ancilla Quantum Differential Equation Solver via Extrapolation

Di Fang, Justin Park

Solving linear differential equations is a fundamental task in scientific computing and an important primitive for quantum computing. A recent one-ancilla quantum differential equation solver provides a hardware-friendly and locality-preserving approach with provable performance guarantees, making it highly suitable for the early fault-tolerant and near-term regimes. Its simple circuit structure comes with a natural trade-off: the maximum single-run circuit depth scales as $O (1/ε)$ in the target accuracy $ε$. In this work, we reduce this depth by combining the solver with classical step-size postprocessing. By running the one-ancilla solver at a logarithmic number of finite time step sizes and using classical post-processing to cancel leading discretization errors, we reduce the maximum single-run circuit depth to $O(\mathrm{polylog}(1/ε))$ without adding quantum ancillae or sacrificing locality. Technically, extending extrapolation ideas beyond Hamiltonian and Lindbladian dynamics requires regularity estimates for observable maps under nonunitary evolution, which we obtain through a holomorphic extension of the adjoint evolution. Numerical experiments on the Hatano-Nelson model (ODE) and the convection-diffusion equation (PDE) demonstrate the effectiveness of the approach.

quant-pharXiv:2607.07389•Jul 9, 2026•0 citations

QUANTUM ALGORITHMS FOR DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS

Aaron Ostrander

This thesis describes quantum algorithms for Hamiltonian simulation, ordinary differential equations (ODEs), and partial differential equations (PDEs). Product formulas are used to simulate Hamiltonians which can be expressed as a sum of terms which can each be simulated individually. By simulating each of these terms in sequence, the net effect approximately simulates the total Hamiltonian. We find that the error of product formulas can be improved by randomizing over the order in which the Hamiltonian terms are simulated. We prove that this approach is asymptotically better than ordinary product formulas and present numerical comparisons for small numbers of qubits. The ODE algorithm applies to the initial value problem for time-independent first order linear ODEs. We approximate the propagator of the ODE by a truncated Taylor series, and we encode the initial value problem in a large linear system. We solve this linear system with a quantum linear system algorithm (QLSA) whose output we perform a post-selective measurement on. The resulting state encodes the solution to the initial value problem. We prove that our algorithm is asymptotically optimal with respect to several system parameters. The PDE algorithms apply the finite difference method (FDM) to Poisson's equation, the wave equation, and the Klein-Gordon equation. We use high order FDM approximations of the Laplacian operator to develop linear systems for Poisson's equation in cubic volumes under periodic, Neumann, and Dirichlet boundary conditions. Using QLSAs, we output states encoding solutions to Poisson's equation. We prove that our algorithm is exponentially faster with respect to the spatial dimension than analogous classical algorithms. We also consider how high order Laplacian approximations can be used for simulating the wave and Klein-Gordon equations. We consider under what conditions it suffices to use Hamiltonian simulation for time evolution, and we propose an algorithm for these cases that uses QLSAs for state preparation and post-processing.

•Jan 1, 2019•0 citations

Designing a Nearly Optimal Quantum Algorithm for Linear Differential Equations via Lindbladians

Zhong-Xia Shang, Naixu Guo, Dong An +1 more

Solving linear ordinary differential equations (ODEs) is one of the most promising applications for quantum computers to demonstrate exponential advantages. The challenge of designing a quantum ODE algorithm is how to embed nonunitary dynamics into intrinsically unitary quantum circuits. In this Letter, we propose a new quantum algorithm for solving ODEs by harnessing open quantum systems. Specifically, we propose a novel technique called nondiagonal density matrix encoding, which leverages the inherent nonunitary dynamics of Lindbladians to encode general linear ODEs into the nondiagonal blocks of density matrices. This framework enables us to design quantum algorithms with both theoretical simplicity and high performance. Combined with the state-of-the-art quantum Lindbladian simulation algorithms, our algorithm can outperform all existing quantum ODE algorithms and achieve near-optimal dependence on all parameters under a plausible input model. We also give applications of our algorithm including the Gibbs state preparations and the partition function estimations.

arXiv:2410.19628•Physical Review Letters•Aug 26, 2025•9 citations

A Polynomial Time Quantum Algorithm for Exponentially Large Scale Nonlinear Differential Equations via Hamiltonian Simulation

Yu Tanaka, Keisuke Fujii

Quantum computers have the potential to efficiently solve a system of nonlinear ordinary differential equations (ODEs), which play a crucial role in various industries and scientific fields. However, it remains unclear which system of nonlinear ODEs, and under what assumptions, can achieve exponential speedup using quantum computers. In this work, we introduce a class of systems of nonlinear ODEs that can be efficiently solved on quantum computers, where the efficiency is defined as solving the system with computational complexity of $O(T {\rm log}(N) {\rm polylog}(1/ε))$, where $T$ is the evolution time, $ε$ is the allowed error, and $N$ is the number of variables in the system. Specifically, we employ the Koopman-von Neumann linearization to map the system of nonlinear ODEs to Hamiltonian dynamics and find conditions where the norm of the mapped Hamiltonian is preserved and the Hamiltonian is sparse. This allows us to use the optimal Hamiltonian simulation technique for solving the nonlinear ODEs with $O({\rm log}(N))$ overhead. Furthermore, we show that the nonlinear ODEs include a wide range of systems of nonlinear ODEs, such as the nonlinear harmonic oscillators and the short-range Kuramoto model. This is the first concrete example of solving systems of nonlinear ODEs with exponential quantum speedup by the Koopman-von Neumann linearization, although it is noted that this assumes efficient preparation of the initial state and computation of the output. These findings contribute significantly to the application of quantum computers in solving nonlinear problems.

arXiv:2305.00653•May 1, 2023•0 citations

Quantum algorithm for solving nonlinear differential equations based on physics-informed effective Hamiltonians

Hsin‐Yu Wu, Annie E. Paine, Evan Philip +2 more

We propose a distinct approach to solving linear and nonlinear differential equations (DEs) on quantum computers by encoding the problem into ground states of effective Hamiltonian operators. Our algorithm relies on constructing such operators in the Chebyshev space, where an effective Hamiltonian is a sum of global differential and data constraints. Once the effective Hamiltonian is formed, solutions of differential equations can be obtained using the ground state preparation techniques (e.g. imaginary-time evolution and quantum singular value transformation), bypassing variational search. Unlike approaches based on discrete grids, the algorithm enables evaluation of solutions beyond fixed grid points and implements constraints in the physics-informed way. Our proposal inherits the best traits from quantum machine learning-based DE solving (compact basis representation, automatic differentiation, nonlinearity) and quantum linear algebra-based approaches (fine-grid encoding, provable speed-up for state preparation), offering a robust strategy for quantum scientific computing in the early fault-tolerant era.

arXiv:2504.13174•Apr 17, 2025•0 citations

Efficient quantum algorithm for solving differential equations with Fourier nonlinearity via Koopman linearization

Judd Katz, Gopikrishnan Muraleedharan, Abhijeet Alase

Quantum algorithms offer an exponential advantage with respect to the number of dependent variables for solving certain nonlinear ordinary differential equations (ODEs). These algorithms typically begin by transforming the original nonlinear ODE into a higher-dimensional linear ODE using a linearization technique, most commonly Carleman linearization. Existing works restrict their analysis to ODEs where the nonlinearities are polynomial functions of the dependent variables, significantly limiting their applicability. In this work we construct an efficient quantum algorithm for solving ODEs with `Fourier' nonlinear terms expressible as $d{\bf u}/dt = G_0 + G_1 e^{i{\bf u}}$, where ${\bf u}$ denotes a vector of $n$ complex variables evolving with $t$, $G_0$ is an $n$-dimensional complex vector, $G_1$ is an $n \times n$ complex matrix and $e^{i{\bf u}}$ denotes the vector with entries $\{e^{iu_j}\}$. To tackle the Fourier nonlinear term, which is not expressible as a finite sum of polynomials of ${\bf u}$, our algorithm employs a generalization of the Carleman linearization technique known as Koopman linearization. We also make other methodological advances towards relaxing the stringent dissipativity condition required for efficient solution extraction and towards integrated readout of classical quantities from the solution state. Our results open avenues to the development of efficient quantum algorithms for a significantly wider class of high-dimensional nonlinear ODEs, thereby broadening the scope of their applications.

quant-pharXiv:2512.06488•Dec 9, 2025•0 citations
As quantum hardware rapidly advances toward the early fault-tolerant era, a key challenge is to develop quantum algorithms that are not only theoretically sound but also hardware-friendly on near-term devices. In this work, we propose a quantum algorithm for solving linear ordinary differential equations (ODEs) with a provable runtime guarantee. Our algorithm uses only a single ancilla qubit, and is locality preserving, i.e., when the coefficient matrix of the ODE is kkk-local, the algorithm only needs to implement the time evolution of (k+1)(k+1)(k+1)-local Hamiltonians. We also discuss the connection between our proposed algorithm and Lindbladian simulation. By applying our algorithm to the interacting Hatano-Nelson model, a widely studied non-Hermitian model with rich phenomenology, and numerically simulating it under realistic noise models, we demonstrate its practical feasibility on near-term quantum devices.
Solving linear differential equations is a fundamental task in scientific computing and an important primitive for quantum computing. A recent one-ancilla quantum differential equation solver provides a hardware-friendly and locality-preserving approach with provable performance guarantees, making it highly suitable for the early fault-tolerant and near-term regimes. Its simple circuit structure comes with a natural trade-off: the maximum single-run circuit depth scales as O(1/ε)O (1/ε)O(1/ε) in the target accuracy εεε. In this work, we reduce this depth by combining the solver with classical step-size postprocessing. By running the one-ancilla solver at a logarithmic number of finite time step sizes and using classical post-processing to cancel leading discretization errors, we reduce the maximum single-run circuit depth to O(polylog(1/ε))O(\mathrm{polylog}(1/ε))O(polylog(1/ε)) without adding quantum ancillae or sacrificing locality. Technically, extending extrapolation ideas beyond Hamiltonian and Lindbladian dynamics requires regularity estimates for observable maps under nonunitary evolution, which we obtain through a holomorphic extension of the adjoint evolution. Numerical experiments on the Hatano-Nelson model (ODE) and the convection-diffusion equation (PDE) demonstrate the effectiveness of the approach.
This thesis describes quantum algorithms for Hamiltonian simulation, ordinary differential equations (ODEs), and partial differential equations (PDEs). Product formulas are used to simulate Hamiltonians which can be expressed as a sum of terms which can each be simulated individually. By simulating each of these terms in sequence, the net effect approximately simulates the total Hamiltonian. We find that the error of product formulas can be improved by randomizing over the order in which the Hamiltonian terms are simulated. We prove that this approach is asymptotically better than ordinary product formulas and present numerical comparisons for small numbers of qubits. The ODE algorithm applies to the initial value problem for time-independent first order linear ODEs. We approximate the propagator of the ODE by a truncated Taylor series, and we encode the initial value problem in a large linear system. We solve this linear system with a quantum linear system algorithm (QLSA) whose output we perform a post-selective measurement on. The resulting state encodes the solution to the initial value problem. We prove that our algorithm is asymptotically optimal with respect to several system parameters. The PDE algorithms apply the finite difference method (FDM) to Poisson's equation, the wave equation, and the Klein-Gordon equation. We use high order FDM approximations of the Laplacian operator to develop linear systems for Poisson's equation in cubic volumes under periodic, Neumann, and Dirichlet boundary conditions. Using QLSAs, we output states encoding solutions to Poisson's equation. We prove that our algorithm is exponentially faster with respect to the spatial dimension than analogous classical algorithms. We also consider how high order Laplacian approximations can be used for simulating the wave and Klein-Gordon equations. We consider under what conditions it suffices to use Hamiltonian simulation for time evolution, and we propose an algorithm for these cases that uses QLSAs for state preparation and post-processing.
Solving linear ordinary differential equations (ODEs) is one of the most promising applications for quantum computers to demonstrate exponential advantages. The challenge of designing a quantum ODE algorithm is how to embed nonunitary dynamics into intrinsically unitary quantum circuits. In this Letter, we propose a new quantum algorithm for solving ODEs by harnessing open quantum systems. Specifically, we propose a novel technique called nondiagonal density matrix encoding, which leverages the inherent nonunitary dynamics of Lindbladians to encode general linear ODEs into the nondiagonal blocks of density matrices. This framework enables us to design quantum algorithms with both theoretical simplicity and high performance. Combined with the state-of-the-art quantum Lindbladian simulation algorithms, our algorithm can outperform all existing quantum ODE algorithms and achieve near-optimal dependence on all parameters under a plausible input model. We also give applications of our algorithm including the Gibbs state preparations and the partition function estimations.
Quantum computers have the potential to efficiently solve a system of nonlinear ordinary differential equations (ODEs), which play a crucial role in various industries and scientific fields. However, it remains unclear which system of nonlinear ODEs, and under what assumptions, can achieve exponential speedup using quantum computers. In this work, we introduce a class of systems of nonlinear ODEs that can be efficiently solved on quantum computers, where the efficiency is defined as solving the system with computational complexity of O(Tlog(N)polylog(1/ε))O(T {\rm log}(N) {\rm polylog}(1/ε))O(Tlog(N)polylog(1/ε)), where TTT is the evolution time, εεε is the allowed error, and NNN is the number of variables in the system. Specifically, we employ the Koopman-von Neumann linearization to map the system of nonlinear ODEs to Hamiltonian dynamics and find conditions where the norm of the mapped Hamiltonian is preserved and the Hamiltonian is sparse. This allows us to use the optimal Hamiltonian simulation technique for solving the nonlinear ODEs with O(log(N))O({\rm log}(N))O(log(N)) overhead. Furthermore, we show that the nonlinear ODEs include a wide range of systems of nonlinear ODEs, such as the nonlinear harmonic oscillators and the short-range Kuramoto model. This is the first concrete example of solving systems of nonlinear ODEs with exponential quantum speedup by the Koopman-von Neumann linearization, although it is noted that this assumes efficient preparation of the initial state and computation of the output. These findings contribute significantly to the application of quantum computers in solving nonlinear problems.
We propose a distinct approach to solving linear and nonlinear differential equations (DEs) on quantum computers by encoding the problem into ground states of effective Hamiltonian operators. Our algorithm relies on constructing such operators in the Chebyshev space, where an effective Hamiltonian is a sum of global differential and data constraints. Once the effective Hamiltonian is formed, solutions of differential equations can be obtained using the ground state preparation techniques (e.g. imaginary-time evolution and quantum singular value transformation), bypassing variational search. Unlike approaches based on discrete grids, the algorithm enables evaluation of solutions beyond fixed grid points and implements constraints in the physics-informed way. Our proposal inherits the best traits from quantum machine learning-based DE solving (compact basis representation, automatic differentiation, nonlinearity) and quantum linear algebra-based approaches (fine-grid encoding, provable speed-up for state preparation), offering a robust strategy for quantum scientific computing in the early fault-tolerant era.
Quantum algorithms offer an exponential advantage with respect to the number of dependent variables for solving certain nonlinear ordinary differential equations (ODEs). These algorithms typically begin by transforming the original nonlinear ODE into a higher-dimensional linear ODE using a linearization technique, most commonly Carleman linearization. Existing works restrict their analysis to ODEs where the nonlinearities are polynomial functions of the dependent variables, significantly limiting their applicability. In this work we construct an efficient quantum algorithm for solving ODEs with `Fourier' nonlinear terms expressible as du/dt=G0+G1eiud{\bf u}/dt = G_0 + G_1 e^{i{\bf u}}du/dt=G0​+G1​eiu, where u{\bf u}u denotes a vector of nnn complex variables evolving with ttt, G0G_0G0​ is an nnn-dimensional complex vector, G1G_1G1​ is an n×nn \times nn×n complex matrix and eiue^{i{\bf u}}eiu denotes the vector with entries {eiuj}\{e^{iu_j}\}{eiuj​}. To tackle the Fourier nonlinear term, which is not expressible as a finite sum of polynomials of u{\bf u}u, our algorithm employs a generalization of the Carleman linearization technique known as Koopman linearization. We also make other methodological advances towards relaxing the stringent dissipativity condition required for efficient solution extraction and towards integrated readout of classical quantities from the solution state. Our results open avenues to the development of efficient quantum algorithms for a significantly wider class of high-dimensional nonlinear ODEs, thereby broadening the scope of their applications.