Differential equations can be encoded as ground-state problems by constructing a positive-semidefinite effective Hamiltonian whose minimum-energy state represents the solution. We extend this framework in several directions. First, we show how multiple nonzero initial, boundary, and data conditions can be incorporated into the homogeneous formulation $A | f\rangle=0$ using a known nonzero reference condition. We then analyse an alternative formulation based on $A |f\rangle = | b\rangle$, with Hamiltonian $H_b=A^\dagger(I-|b\rangle\langle b|)A$, which incorporates source terms and nonzero constraints through an augmented system. For nonlinear differential equations, we examine the unphysical ground-state degeneracy introduced by tensor-product representations and consider both Hamiltonian constraints and ansatz-level restrictions for targeting physically valid product states. Finally, we develop grid-value amplitude-encoded versions of both Hamiltonian constructions and compare them with spectral coefficient encoding. Through linear and nonlinear examples, we assess how the choice of Hamiltonian formulation and function representation affects solution recovery, spectral gap, degeneracy, and readout. These results broaden the applicability of ground-state-based quantum differential-equation solvers while clarifying their principal practical trade-offs.
Differential equations can be encoded as ground-state problems by constructing a positive-semidefinite effective Hamiltonian whose minimum-energy state represents the solution. We extend this framework in several directions. First, we show how multiple nonzero initial, boundary, and data conditions can be incorporated into the homogeneous formulation A∣f⟩=0 using a known nonzero reference condition. We then analyse an alternative formulation based on A∣f⟩=∣b⟩, with Hamiltonian Hb=A†(I−∣b⟩⟨b∣)A, which incorporates source terms and nonzero constraints through an augmented system. For nonlinear differential equations, we examine the unphysical ground-state degeneracy introduced by tensor-product representations and consider both Hamiltonian constraints and ansatz-level restrictions for targeting physically valid product states. Finally, we develop grid-value amplitude-encoded versions of both Hamiltonian constructions and compare them with spectral coefficient encoding. Through linear and nonlinear examples, we assess how the choice of Hamiltonian formulation and function representation affects solution recovery, spectral gap, degeneracy, and readout. These results broaden the applicability of ground-state-based quantum differential-equation solvers while clarifying their principal practical trade-offs.
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.
We propose a physics-informed quantum algorithm to solve nonlinear and multidimensional differential equations (DEs) in a quantum latent space. We suggest a strategy for building quantum models as state overlaps, where exponentially large sets of independent basis functions are used for implicitly representing solutions. By measuring the overlaps between states which are representations of DE terms, we construct a loss that does not require independent sequential function evaluations on grid points. In this sense, the solver evaluates the loss in an intrinsically parallel way, utilizing a global type of the model. When the loss is trained variationally, our approach can be related to the differentiable quantum circuit protocol, which does not scale with the training grid size. Specifically, using the proposed model definition and feature map encoding, we represent function- and derivative-based terms of a differential equation as corresponding quantum states. Importantly, we propose an efficient way for encoding nonlinearity, for some bases requiring only an additive linear increase of the system size O(N+p) in the degree of nonlinearity p. By utilizing basis mapping, we show how the proposed model can be evaluated explicitly. This allows to implement arbitrary functions of independent variables, treat problems with various initial and boundary conditions, and include data and regularization terms in the physics-informed machine learning setting. On the technical side, we present toolboxes for exponential Chebyshev and Fourier basis sets, developing tools for automatic differentiation and multiplication, implementing nonlinearity, and describing multivariate extensions. The approach is compatible with, and tested on, a range of problems including linear, nonlinear and multidimensional differential equations.
Quantum methods for solving partial differential equations (PDEs) generally fall into a few general categories, each leveraging different quantum mechanisms to achieve potential speedups. One well-known approach is the quantum linear system solver, epitomized by the Harrow-Hassidim-Lloyd (HHL) algorithm, which uses phase estimation and eigenvalue inversion to solve large, sparse linear systems arising from discretized linear PDEs [1]. This method can yield exponential improvements over classical solvers under certain conditions (mostly when the matrix is well-conditioned and sparse). More recent developments, such as Quantum Singular Value Transformation (QSVT), provide a framework for matrix inversion in a more flexible way, often improving on the cost and error dependence of earlier solvers [2]. Time-dependent PDEs can be tackled via Hamiltonian simulations. The Trotter-Suzuki method decomposes the exponential of a Hamiltonian into products of exponentials of simpler sub-Hamiltonians, allowing a piecewise approximation of continuous dynamics [3]. Continuous-time quantum walks, which treat a PDE operator as a Hamiltonian that governs the walk, similarly simulate processes like diffusion or wave propagation on discretized grids or graphs [4]. Beyond direct simulation, variational quantum algorithms have emerged as a promising route in the noisy intermediate-scale quantum era. These approaches encode the PDE solution as a parameterized quantum state and optimize the parameters via classical feedback, thereby minimizing a cost function tied to the PDE residual or energy functional [5]. Quantum annealing or adiabatic methods, meanwhile, can solve optimization problems derived from PDE constraints by adiabatically evolving a simple initial Hamiltonian to the final problem Hamiltonian and staying in the system's ground state [3]. In our study, we implement a new parameterized quantum model, specifically designed to solve large linear systems on quantum hardware. This model is less deep and computationally faster than the proposed one in [5], reducing the complexity and speeding up convergence times. Such improvements are particularly valuable in cases where classical algorithms may fail due to the problem's size or complexity. Ongoing research is focusing on generalized quantum models that can be adapted to practical PDE problems for solving large electromagnetic problems where classical computers can fail.
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.
Differential equations underpin a vast range of scientific and engineering domains, including structural mechanics, fluid dynamics, and financial modelling. Their intricate nature often renders classical numerical methods computationally demanding, requiring fine discretization or large basis expansions, which can lead to prohibitive costs. Quantum computing offers a fundamentally different paradigm, leveraging superposition and entanglement with the promise of computational speedup. However, in the current Noisy Intermediate-Scale Quantum (NISQ) era, fully fault-tolerant quantum computers remain decades away, motivating the development of hybrid strategies such as Variational Quantum Algorithms (VQAs), which train parametrised quantum circuits using classical optimizers. This work investigates spectral VQAs for solving differential equations, extending the Chebyshev-encoded VQA of Kyriienko et al. and introducing a novel quantum spectral approach: the Lagrange-encoded VQA. This approach shifts the paradigm by incorporating entanglement directly within the encoding block while maintaining a shallow variational ansatz. Inspired by the Hadamard test structure, the design enables an efficient representation of the complete set of Lagrange polynomial basis functions using a limited number of gates and facilitates the use of the Hadamard test differentiation method, thereby reducing the computational load. VQA performance is analysed through the accuracy of the result in combination with the gate count and circuit count metrics, which serve as proxies for runtime and noise accumulation on NISQ devices. The proposed VQA is benchmarked on multiple problems: (i) a first-order linear ODEs and (ii) the second-order ODEs damped mass-spring system, both comparing Lagrange- and Chebyshev-encoded VQAs, (iii) the Poisson equation, comparing the Lagrange-encoded VQA with the discretized approach of Sato et al., and (iv) a first-order ODE with nonlinear coefficients addressed with the Lagrange-encoded VQA. Across these cases, the Lagrange-encoded VQA consistently achieves comparable or improved accuracy while significantly reducing circuit depth and computational overload, making it a promising candidate for NISQ devices.
In this work, a novel quantum Fourier ordinary differential equation (ODE) solver is proposed to solve both linear and nonlinear partial differential equations (PDEs). Traditional quantum ODE solvers transform a PDE into an ODE system via spatial discretization and then integrate it, thereby converting the task of solving the PDE into computing the integral for the driving function f(x). These solvers rely on the quantum amplitude estimation algorithm, which requires the driving function f(x) to be within the range of [0, 1] and necessitates the construction of a quantum circuit for the oracle R that encodes f(x). This construction can be highly complex, even for simple functions like f(x) = x. An important exception arises for the specific case of f(x) = sin2(mx + c), which can be encoded more efficiently using a set of Ry rotation gates. To address these challenges, we expand the driving function f(x) as a Fourier series and propose the quantum Fourier ODE Solver. This approach not only simplifies the construction of the oracle R but also removes the restriction that f(x) must lie within [0,1]. The proposed method was evaluated by solving several representative linear and nonlinear PDEs, including the Navier–Stokes (N–S) equations. The results show that the quantum Fourier ODE solver produces results that closely match both analytical and reference solutions.