Super-Resolution (SR) is a technique that has been exhaustively exploited and incorporates strategic aspects to image processing. As quantum computers gradually evolve and provide unconditional proof of computational advantage at solving intractable problems over their classical counterparts, quantum computing emerges with the compelling prospect to offer exponential speedup to process computationally expensive operations, such as the ones verified in SR imaging. Envisioning the design of a quantum-ready method for near-term noisy devices and igniting Rapid and Accurate Image Super Resolution (RAISR), an implementation using Variational Quantum Eigensolver (VQE) is demonstrated. This study proposes an approach that combines the benefits of RAISR, a non hallucinating and computationally efficient method, and VQE, a hybrid classical-quantum algorithm, to conduct SR with the support of quantum computation, preserving quantitative performance in terms of Image Quality Assessment (IQA).
Super-Resolution (SR) is a technique that has been exhaustively exploited and incorporates strategic aspects to image processing. As quantum computers gradually evolve and provide unconditional proof of computational advantage at solving intractable problems over their classical counterparts, quantum computing emerges with the compelling prospect to offer exponential speedup to process computationally expensive operations, such as the ones verified in SR imaging. Envisioning the design of a quantum-ready method for near-term noisy devices and igniting Rapid and Accurate Image Super Resolution (RAISR), an implementation using Variational Quantum Eigensolver (VQE) is demonstrated. This study proposes an approach that combines the benefits of RAISR, a non hallucinating and computationally efficient method, and VQE, a hybrid classical-quantum algorithm, to conduct SR with the support of quantum computation, preserving quantitative performance in terms of Image Quality Assessment (IQA).
Super-Resolution (SR) is a technique that has been exhaustively exploited and incorporates strategic aspects to image processing. As quantum computers gradually evolve and provide unconditional proof of a computational advantage at solving intractable problems over their classical counterparts, quantum computing emerges with the compelling argument of offering exponential speed-up to process computationally expensive operations. Envisioning the design of parallel, quantum-ready algorithms for near-term noisy devices and igniting Rapid and Accurate Image Super Resolution (RAISR), an implementation applying variational quantum computation is demonstrated for enhancing degraded imagery. This study proposes an approach that combines the benefits of RAISR, a non hallucinating and computationally efficient method, and Variational Quantum Eigensolver (VQE), a hybrid classical-quantum algorithm, to conduct SR with the support of a quantum computer, while preserving quantitative performance in terms of Image Quality Assessment (IQA). It covers the generation of additional hash-based filters learned with the classical implementation of the SR technique, in order to further explore performance improvements, produce images that are significantly sharper, and induce the learning of more powerful upscaling filters with integrated enhancement effects. As a result, it extends the potential of applying RAISR to improve low quality assets generated by low cost cameras, as well as fosters the eventual implementation of robust image enhancement methods powered by the use of quantum computation.
Recent advancements in Single-Image Super-Resolution (SISR) using deep learning have significantly improved image restoration quality. However, the high computational cost of processing high-resolution images due to the large number of parameters in classical models, along with the scalability challenges of quantum algorithms for image processing, remains a major obstacle. In this paper, we propose the Quantum Image Enhancement Transformer for Super-Resolution (QUIET-SR), a hybrid framework that extends the Swin transformer architecture with a novel shifted quantum window attention mechanism, built upon variational quantum neural networks. QUIET-SR effectively captures complex residual mappings between low-resolution and high-resolution images, leveraging quantum attention mechanisms to enhance feature extraction and image restoration while requiring a minimal number of qubits, making it suitable for the Noisy Intermediate-Scale Quantum (NISQ) era. We evaluate our framework in MNIST (30.24 PSNR, 0.989 SSIM), FashionMNIST (29.76 PSNR, 0.976 SSIM) and the MedMNIST dataset collection, demonstrating that QUIET-SR achieves PSNR and SSIM scores comparable to state-of-the-art methods while using fewer parameters. Our efficient batching strategy directly enables massive parallelization on multiple QPU's paving the way for practical quantum-enhanced image super-resolution through coordinated QPU-GPU quantum supercomputing.
The variational quantum eigensolver (VQE) is a hybrid quantum-classical algorithm designed for current and near-term quantum devices. Despite its initial success, there is a lack of understanding involving several of its key aspects. There are problems with VQE that forbid a favourable scaling towards quantum advantage. In order to alleviate the problems, we propose and extensively test a quantum annealing inspired heuristic that supplements VQE. The improved VQE enables an efficient initial state preparation mechanism, in a recursive manner, for a quasi-dynamical unitary evolution. We conduct an in-depth scaling analysis of finding the ground state energies with increasing lattice sizes of the Heisenberg model, employing simulations of up to 40 qubits that manipulate the complete state vector. For the current devices, we further propose a benchmarking toolkit using a mean-field model and test it on IBM Q devices. The improved VQE avoids barren plateaus, exits local minima, and works with low-depth circuits. Realistic gate execution times estimate a longer computational time to complete the same computation on a fully functional error-free quantum computer than on a quantum computer emulator implemented on a classical computer. However, our proposal can be expected to help accurate estimations of the ground state energies beyond 50 qubits when the complete state vector can no longer be stored on a classical computer, thus enabling quantum advantage.
Super-Resolução (SR) é uma técnica exaustivamente explorada e incorpora aspectos estratégicos ao processamento de imagens. À medida que os computadores quânticos gradualmente evoluem e fornecem provas incondicionais de uma vantagem computacional na solução de problemas intratáveis com relação aos homólogos clássicos, a computação quântica emerge com o argumento convincente de oferecer aceleração exponencial para processar operações computacionalmente dispendiosas. Vislumbrando o design de algoritmos paralelos, quantum-ready, para dispositivos ruidosos de curto prazo e iniciando com a Super-Resolução Rápida e Acurada de Imagem (Rapid and Accurate Image Super Resolution – RAISR), uma implementação aplicando computação quântica variacional é demonstrada para aprimorar imagens degradadas. Este estudo propõe uma abordagem que combina os benefícios de RAISR, um método não alucinante e computacionalmente eficiente, e o Eigensolver Variacional Quântico (Variational Quantum Eigensolver – VQE), um algoritmo híbrido clássico-quântico, para conduzir SR com o suporte de um computador quântico, preservando o desempenho quantitativo em termos de Avaliação da Qualidade de Imagem (Image Quality Assessment – IQA). Ele abrange a geração de filtros adicionais baseados em hash, aprendidos com a implementação clássica da técnica de SR, para explorar mais melhorias de desempenho, produzir imagens que são significativamente mais nítidas e induzir o aprendizado de filtros de ampliação mais poderosos com efeitos de aprimoramento integrados. Como resultado, amplia o potencial de aplicação de RAISR para melhorar os ativos de baixa qualidade gerados por câmeras de baixo custo, bem como promove a eventual implementação de métodos robustos de aprimoramento de imagens impulsionados através do uso de computação quântica.
The variational quantum eigensolver (VQE) is a hybrid algorithm that has the potential to provide a quantum advantage in practical chemistry problems that are currently intractable on classical computers. VQE trains parameterized quantum circuits using a classical optimizer to approximate the eigenvalues and eigenstates of a given Hamiltonian. However, VQE faces challenges in task-specific design and machine-specific architecture, particularly when running on noisy quantum devices. This can have a negative impact on its trainability, accuracy, and efficiency, resulting in noisy quantum data. We propose variational denoising, an unsupervised learning method that employs a parameterized quantum neural network to improve the solution of VQE by learning from noisy VQE outputs. Our approach can significantly decrease energy estimation errors and increase fidelities with ground states compared to noisy input data for the H2 , LiH, and BeH2 molecular Hamiltonians and the transverse field Ising model. Surprisingly, it only requires noisy data for training. Variational denoising can be integrated into quantum hardware, increasing its versatility as an end-to-end quantum processing for quantum data. Published by the American Physical Society 2024
This paper presents a qualitative analysis of hybrid quantum-classical computing approaches aimed at solving complex optimization problems using near-term quantum processors. Hybrid algorithms leverage the strengths of quantum and classical computing to tackle computationally intensive tasks often constrained by current quantum hardware limitations. Through an extensive literature review and synthesis of recent empirical studies, we benchmark various hybrid algorithms, such as the Quantum Approximate Optimization Algorithm (QAOA) and Variational Quantum Eigensolver (VQE), focusing on their performance, scalability, and practical applicability on noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) devices. The study highlights the advantages, challenges, and future prospects of integrating hybrid quantum-classical computation in optimization domains, providing a comprehensive framework and qualitative insights into benchmarking methodologies and critical performance metrics.