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Measurement-based quantum computation with qubit and continuous-variable systems

Rafael N. Alexander

Published Sep 21, 2016• 0 citations
OpenAlex

Abstract

Quantum computers offer impressive computational speed-ups over their present-day (classical) counterparts. In the measurement-based model, quantum computation is driven by single-site measurements on a large entangled quantum state known as a cluster state. This thesis explores extensions of the measurement-based model for quantum computation in qubit and continuous-variable systems. Within the qubit setting, we consider the task of characterizing how well a small-scale measurement-based quantum device can perform logic gates. We adapt a pre-existing scheme known as randomized benchmarking into the setting of measurement-based quantum computation on a one-dimensional cluster state. A key feature of randomized benchmarking is that it uses random sequences of gates. We show how the intrinsic randomness of measurement-based quantum computation can be harnessed when implementing them. Within the continuous-variable setting, we consider optical cluster states that can be generated with current technology. We propose a compact method for generating universal cluster states based on optical-parametric-oscillator technology. We consider how finite squeezing effects manifest in computation and show that pre-existing measurement-based protocols are suboptimal. We propose new measurement-based protocols that have better noise properties, compactness, and circuit flexibility. As an application, we introduce a measurement-based method for implementing interferometry. In this model, the finite squeezing noise can be dealt with as a photon-loss process. Building further on this work, we investigate the resource requirements of a measurement-based boson-sampling device, proving simultaneous efficiency in time, space, and squeezing (energy) resources. These results offer new insights into how to build, use, and characterize a measurement-based quantum computer.

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Quantum computers offer impressive computational speed-ups over their present-day (classical) counterparts. In the measurement-based model, quantum computation is driven by single-site measurements on a large entangled quantum state known as a cluster state. This thesis explores extensions of the measurement-based model for quantum computation in qubit and continuous-variable systems. Within the qubit setting, we consider the task of characterizing how well a small-scale measurement-based quantum device can perform logic gates. We adapt a pre-existing scheme known as randomized benchmarking into the setting of measurement-based quantum computation on a one-dimensional cluster state. A key feature of randomized benchmarking is that it uses random sequences of gates. We show how the intrinsic randomness of measurement-based quantum computation can be harnessed when implementing them. Within the continuous-variable setting, we consider optical cluster states that can be generated with current technology. We propose a compact method for generating universal cluster states based on optical-parametric-oscillator technology. We consider how finite squeezing effects manifest in computation and show that pre-existing measurement-based protocols are suboptimal. We propose new measurement-based protocols that have better noise properties, compactness, and circuit flexibility. As an application, we introduce a measurement-based method for implementing interferometry. In this model, the finite squeezing noise can be dealt with as a photon-loss process. Building further on this work, we investigate the resource requirements of a measurement-based boson-sampling device, proving simultaneous efficiency in time, space, and squeezing (energy) resources. These results offer new insights into how to build, use, and characterize a measurement-based quantum computer.
Randomized benchmarking is routinely used as an efficient method for characterizing the performance of sets of elementary logic gates in small quantum devices. In the measurement-based model of quantum computation, logic gates are implemented via single-site measurements on a fixed universal resource state. Here we adapt the randomized benchmarking protocol for a single qubit to a linear cluster state computation, which provides partial, yet efficient characterization of the noise associated with the target gate set. Applying randomized benchmarking to measurement-based quantum computation exhibits an interesting interplay between the inherent randomness associated with logic gates in the measurement-based model and the random gate sequences used in benchmarking. We consider two different approaches: the first makes use of the standard single-qubit Clifford group, while the second uses recently introduced (non-Clifford) measurement-based 2-designs, which harness inherent randomness to implement gate sequences.
Continuous-variable (CV) cluster states offer a promising platform for large-scale measurement-based quantum computations (MBQC). However, finite squeezing inevitably introduces Gaussian noise during MBQC. While fault-tolerant MBQC schemes exist in principle, they require the scalable incorporation of non-Gaussian resources, such as GKP states, which remain experimentally challenging. Consequently, a central question at this stage is how finite squeezing fundamentally constrains the intrinsic computational power of CV cluster states themselves. In this work, we address this question by analyzing the classical complexity of measurement-based linear optics (MBLO) implemented with such states, motivated by its near-term feasibility and recent experimental progress. We develop an explicit MBLO framework and examine how the squeezing level governs the complexity of the classical simulation of the resulting output states. Specifically, we identify squeezing-level thresholds that delineate classically tractable and intractable regimes, thereby revealing a squeezing-driven complexity phase transition. These findings advance our understanding of the squeezing resources necessary for meaningful quantum computation in current experimental regimes. Furthermore, they underscore the critical need to either scale the squeezing level or integrate error-correction schemes to achieve reliable, large-scale quantum computation with CV cluster states.
Quantum computers, leveraging the principles of quantum mechanics, hold the potential to surpass classical computers in numerous applications, with implications across various domains. Besides the well-known gate model, Measurement-based Quantum Computation (MBQC) is another promising computational approach to achieve universal quantum computation. In MBQC, large ensembles of qubits are prepared in a highly entangled cluster state, forming the basis for executing quantum computations through sequential measurements. Cluster states are realized using both continuous variables (CV) and discrete variables (DV) techniques. In the CV-based methods, Frequency Domain Multiplexing (FDM), Time Domain Multiplexing (TDM), Spatial Domain Multiplexing (SDM), and hybrid schemes are employed. This paper thoroughly discusses and compares these approaches, elucidating their strengths and limitations. Additionally, the generation of photonic cluster states in DV is explored and some recent results are reported. Some recent state-of-the-art advancements in photonic and superconducting qubits entanglement, which can potentially serve as cluster states, are also presented. Finally, we highlight the approach that exhibits the most promising characteristics for achieving efficient cluster state realization in the context of MBQC.
The Measurement Based Quantum Computation (MBQC) model achieves universal quantum computation by employing projective single qubit measurements with classical feedforward on a highly entangled multipartite cluster state. Rapid advances in improving scalability of quantum computing systems have enabled the generation of large cluster states for implementing MBQC on various platforms. This review focuses on three such efforts, each utilizing a different quantum computing technology viz., superconducting qubits, trapped ion qubits and squeezed photon states. MBQC is being increasingly employed on optical platforms which can generate large entangled resource states but lack the ability to perform deterministic entangling gates.
We consider measurement-based quantum computation that uses scalable continuous-variable cluster states with a one-dimensional topology. The physical resource, known here as the dual-rail quantum wire, can be generated using temporally multiplexed offline squeezing and linear optics or by using a single optical parametric oscillator. We focus on an important class of quantum gates, specifically Gaussian unitaries that act on single quantum modes (qumodes), which gives universal quantum computation when supplemented with multi-qumode operations and photon-counting measurements. The dual-rail wire supports two routes for applying single-qumode Gaussian unitaries: The first is to use traditional one-dimensional quantum-wire cluster-state measurement protocols. The second takes advantage of the dual-rail quantum wire in order to apply unitaries by measuring pairs of qumodes called macronodes. We analyze and compare these methods in terms of the suitability for implementing single-qumode Gaussian measurement-based quantum computation.
Due to its unique scalability potential, continuous-variable quantum optics is a promising platform for large-scale quantum computing. In particular, very large cluster states with a two-dimensional topology that are suitable for universal quantum computing and quantum simulation can be readily generated in a deterministic manner, and routes towards fault tolerance via bosonic quantum error correction are known. In this article we propose a complete measurement-based quantum computing architecture for the implementation of a universal set of gates on the recently generated two-dimensional cluster states [M. V. Larsen et al., Science 366, 369 (2019); W. Asavanant et al., Science 366, 373 (2019)]. We analyze the performance of the various quantum gates that are executed in these cluster states as well as in other two-dimensional cluster states (the bilayer-square lattice and quad-rail lattice cluster states [R. N. Alexander et al., Phys. Rev. A 94, 032327 (2016); N. C. Menicucci, Phys. Rev. A 83, 062314 (2011)]) by estimating and minimizing the associated stochastic noise addition as well as the resulting gate error probability. We compare the four different states and find that, although they all allow for universal computation, the quad-rail lattice cluster state performs better than the other three states, which all exhibit similar performance.