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Non-unitary probabilistic quantum computing

Robert M. Gingrich, Colin P. Williams

Published Jan 5, 2004• 5 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We present a method for designing quantum circuits that perform non-unitary quantum computations on n-quhit states prohabilistically, and give analytic expressions for the suc-cess probability and fidelity. Our scheme works by embedding the desired non-unitaiy op-erator within an anti-block-diagonal (n+l)-qubit Hamiltonian, H, which induces a unitary operator!J = exp(iEH), with E a constant. By using $2 acting on the original state aug-mented with an ancilla prepared in the 11) state, we can obtain the desired nowunitary transformation whenever the ancilla is found to be IO). Our scheme has the advantage that a "failure " result, i.e., fmding the ancilla to be 11) rather than 10) , perturbs the remaining n-qubit state very little. As a result we can repeatedly re-evolve and measure the sequence of "failed " states until we fmd the ancilla in the 10) state, i.e., detect the "success " condi-tion. We describe an application of our scheme to probabilistic state synthesis, I.

DOI
10.5555/984720.984757

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We present a method for designing quantum circuits that perform non-unitary quantum computations on n-quhit states prohabilistically, and give analytic expressions for the suc-cess probability and fidelity. Our scheme works by embedding the desired non-unitaiy op-erator within an anti-block-diagonal (n+l)-qubit Hamiltonian, H, which induces a unitary operator!J = exp(iEH), with E a constant. By using $2 acting on the original state aug-mented with an ancilla prepared in the 11) state, we can obtain the desired nowunitary transformation whenever the ancilla is found to be IO). Our scheme has the advantage that a "failure " result, i.e., fmding the ancilla to be 11) rather than 10) , perturbs the remaining n-qubit state very little. As a result we can repeatedly re-evolve and measure the sequence of "failed " states until we fmd the ancilla in the 10) state, i.e., detect the "success " condi-tion. We describe an application of our scheme to probabilistic state synthesis, I.
In [1] Gingrich and Williams extended the standard quantum circuit model of quantum computation to include gates that perform arbitrary linear, yet non-unitary, transformations of their input state. In this paper we use this theory to construct quantum circuits that perform desired non-unitary state transformations of the sort arising in lattice-based quantum search. Such n-qubit non-unitary gates cannot be achieved deterministically, but they can be achieved probabilistically using a single ancilla. Our approach is to use the n-qubit non-unitary gate to design an (n+1)-qubit Hamiltonian that can be seen to induce a suitable conditional dynamics such that whenever the output value of the ancilla qubit is measured and found to be |O>, then the remaining (unmeasured) n qubits will contain the desired non-unitary transform of the n-qubit input state. The scheme is necessarily probabilistic because we cannot force the measurement on the ancilla qubit to return the value we want. Fortunately, however, failed attempts are found to disturb the n-qubit input state very little. This allows us to re-use the result of successive “failed” attempts until the success condition is finally attained, and we give analytic expressions for the success probability and net fidelity in this case. By using our previous method for designing a quantum circuit for an arbitrary n-qubit gate in conjunction with our new probabilistic non-unitary procedure we are able to compute an explicit quantum circuit sufficient to implement an arbitrary linear, yet non-unitary, transformation of an input pure or mixed n-qubit state, using only a single copy of the input state. This allows us to extend the repertoire of computations that may be performed on a quantum computer, and in particular, gives the first explicit construction of the quantum circuits needed to perform some of the key operations arising in quantum lattice search.
In quantum computing, every operation must be unitary to ensure reversibility and preserve probability amplitudes, which is a fundamental requirement for any quantum process. However, many real-world computations in areas such as machine learning, signal processing, and dynamical modeling inherently involve non-unitary matrices. Since these cannot be directly implemented on quantum hardware, a practical workaround is required. One promising solution is block-encoding, a framework that embeds a non-unitary matrix A in C^{n x n} into a larger unitary matrix U_A in C^{2n x 2n}, enabling the simulation of non-unitary actions within quantum circuits through ancilla preparation and post-selection. This thesis presents a novel and efficient method for block-encoding based on Gram-Schmidt orthogonalization. The algorithm constructs a unitary U_A with A embedded as the top-left block and remaining components filled to ensure global unitarity. Compared to traditional Singular Value Decomposition (SVD)-based approaches, the proposed method achieves at least 20% improvement in execution time, without compromising output fidelity or numerical stability. A corresponding quantum circuit is developed to extract A|psi> (that is, the transformed version of the input quantum state |psi> after applying the linear operator A) using post-selection on ancilla qubits, with the success probability determined by
Diagonal unitary operators are commonly found in many quantum algorithms. They find application as analytical potential operators for quantum simulation, as well as for complex oracles used in quantum searches. However, in order to implement a quantum algorithm on a given quantum device, each operator must be decomposed into a sequence of fault-tolerant, device-level instructions. In general, to implement an nnn-qubit diagonal unitary {\\em exactly} on a quantum computer generally requires 2n+1−32^{n+1}-32n+1−3 one- and two-qubit gates. However, for most practical implementations of diagonal unitaries, some degree of approximation will be necessary if the circuit is to be efficient. In this thesis we develop two complementary methods for the approximate synthesis of quantum circuits for diagonal unitaries. We show how to apply these techniques to real-space quantum simulation and show how efficient high fidelity quantum simulations can be implemented with low-depth quantum circuits.
The rapid advancement of quantum computing has created new opportunities for solving computationally intensive problems across diverse fields such as optimization, physical system simulation, and machine learning. However, practical implementation on Noisy Intermediate-Scale Quantum (NISQ) devices remains challenging due to hardware limitations including noise, decoherence, and restricted qubit connectivity. A fundamental constraint further complicating this effort is that all quantum operations must be unitary, while many real-world problems are naturally expressed in non-unitary forms. This discrepancy necessitates novel techniques for transforming non-unitary mathematical structures into unitary or Hamiltonian representations compatible with quantum hardware.This thesis proposes a unified framework for converting structured, sparse, or otherwise non-unitary classical matrices into unitary forms that can be executed efficiently on NISQ devices. The methodology introduces general transformation strategies such as linear combinations of unitaries, structured embeddings, and resource-aware circuit construction, enabling the deployment of quantum algorithms without incurring prohibitive overhead. Each technique is developed with an emphasis on preserving problem structure, minimizing circuit depth, and ensuring compatibility with IBM’s NISQ hardware. The proposed frameworks are validated through theoretical analysis and quantum simulations, with performance benchmarks based on gate count, circuit fidelity, convergence behavior, and scalability. This work demonstrates how non-unitary formulations arising in various computational contexts can be systematically adapted for quantum execution, advancing the practical utility of NISQ-era devices.
Imaginary time evolution is a powerful tool applied in quantum physics, while existing classical algorithms for simulating imaginary time evolution suffer high computational complexity as the quantum systems become larger and more complex. In this work, we propose a probabilistic algorithm for implementing imaginary time evolution based on non-unitary quantum circuit. We demonstrate the feasibility of this method by solving the ground state energy of several quantum many-body systems, including H2, LiH molecules and the quantum Ising chain. Moreover, we perform experiments on superconducting and trapped ion cloud platforms respectively to find the ground state energy of H2 and its most stable molecular structure. We also analyze the successful probability of the algorithm, which is a polynomial of the output error and introduce an approach to increase the success probability by rearranging the terms of Hamiltonian.
This paper addresses the problem of designing universal quantum circuits to transform kkk uses of a ddd-dimensional unitary input operation into a unitary output operation in a probabilistic heralded manner. Three classes of protocols are considered, parallel circuits, where the input operations can be performed simultaneously, adaptive circuits, where sequential uses of the input operations are allowed, and general protocols, where the use of the input operations may be performed without a definite causal order. For these three classes, we develop a systematic semidefinite programming approach that finds a circuit which obtains the desired transformation with the maximal success probability. We then analyze in detail three particular transformations: unitary transposition, unitary complex conjugation, and unitary inversion. For unitary transposition and unitary inverse, we prove that for any fixed dimension ddd, adaptive circuits have an exponential improvement in terms of uses kkk when compared to parallel ones. For unitary complex conjugation and unitary inversion we prove that if the number of uses kkk is strictly smaller than $d\ensuremath{-}1$, the probability of success is necessarily zero. We also discuss the advantage of indefinite causal order protocols over causal ones and introduce the concept of delayed input-state quantum circuits.