We present experimental results on running 4-qubit unstructured search on IBM quantum processors. Our best attempt attained probability of success around 24.5%. We try several algorithms and use the most recent developments in quantum search to reduce the number of entangling gates that are currently considered the main source of errors in quantum computations. Comparing theoretical expectations of an algorithm performance with the actual data, we explore the hardware limits, showing sharp, phase-transition-like degradation of performance on quantum processors. We conclude that it is extremely important to design hardware-aware algorithms and to include any other low level optimizations on NISQ devices.
We present experimental results on running 4-qubit unstructured search on IBM quantum processors. Our best attempt attained probability of success around 24.5%. We try several algorithms and use the most recent developments in quantum search to reduce the number of entangling gates that are currently considered the main source of errors in quantum computations. Comparing theoretical expectations of an algorithm performance with the actual data, we explore the hardware limits, showing sharp, phase-transition-like degradation of performance on quantum processors. We conclude that it is extremely important to design hardware-aware algorithms and to include any other low level optimizations on NISQ devices.
We present experimental results on running 4-qubit unstructured search on IBM quantum processors. Our best attempt attained probability of success around 24.5%. We try several algorithms and use the most recent developments in quantum search to reduce the number of entangling gates that are currently considered the main source of errors in quantum computations. Comparing theoretical expectations of an algorithm performance with the actual data, we explore the hardware limits, showing sharp, phase-transition-like degradation of performance on quantum processors. We conclude that it is extremely important to design hardware-aware algorithms and to include any other low level optimizations on NISQ devices.
Despite the advent of Grover's algorithm for the unstructured search, its successful implementation on near-term quantum devices is still limited. We apply three strategies to reduce the errors associated with implementing quantum search algorithms. Our improved search algorithms have been implemented on the IBM quantum processors. Using them, we demonstrate three- and four-qubit search algorithm with higher success probabilities compared to previous works. We present the successful execution of the five-qubit search on the IBM quantum processor for the first time. The results have been benchmarked using the degraded ratio, which is the ratio between the experimental and the theoretical success probabilities. The fast decay of the degraded ratio supports our divide-and-conquer strategy. Our proposed strategies are also useful for implementation of quantum search algorithms in the post-NISQ era.
So far, only the results on 3 qubit spaces (both on superconducting and ion-trap realisations of quantum processors) have beaten the classical unstructured search in the expected number of oracle calls using optimal protocols in both settings. We present experimental results on running unstructured search in spaces defined by 4, 5 and 6 qubits on ion-trapped quantum processor. Our best circuits obtained respectively 66\%, 26\% and 6\% average probability of measuring the marked element. In the case of 4 and 5 qubit spaces we obtained fewer expected number of oracle calls required to find a marked element than any classical approach. Viability of the theoretical result by Grover at these qubit counts is, to authors' knowledge demonstrated experimentally for the first time. Also at 6 qubits, a circuit using a single oracle call returned a measured probability of success exceeding any possible classical approach. These results were achieved using a variety of unstructured search algorithms in conjunction with recent developments in reducing the number of entangling gates. The latter are currently considered to be a dominating source of errors in quantum computations. Some of these improvements have been made possible by using mid-circuit measurements. To our knowledge the latter feature is currently available only on the H0 quantum processor we run on.
Unstructured searching, which is to find the marked element from a given unstructured data set, is a widely studied problem in computer science. It is well known that Grover algorithm provides a quadratic speedup to solve unstructured search problem compared with the classical algorithm. This algorithm has received a lot of attention due to the strong versatility. In this manuscript, we report experimental results of searching a unique target from 16 elements on five different quantum devices of IBM quantum Experience (IBMQ). We first implement the original Grover algorithm on these devices. However, the experiment probability of success of finding the correct target is almost the same as random choice. We then optimize the quantum circuit size of the search algorithm. The oracle operator and diffusion operator are two of the most costly operators in Grover algorithm. For the 16-element quantum search algorithm, both the oracle operator and diffusion operator consist of a triple controlled [Formula: see text] gate ([Formula: see text]) and some single-qubit gates. So we optimize the implementation of the [Formula: see text] gate according to the qubits layout of different quantum devices. On the ibmq_santiago, the experimental success rate of the 16-element quantum search algorithm is increased to [Formula: see text] by the optimization, which is better than all the published experiments implemented on IBMQ devices. For other IBMQ devices, the experimental success rate of 16-element quantum search also has been significantly improved. We then try to further reduce the size of the quantum circuit by modifying the Grover algorithm, with a tolerable loss of the theoretical success probability. On ibmq_quito, the experimental success rate is further improved from 25.23% to 27.56% after optimization. These experimental results show the importance of circuit optimization and algorithm optimization in the Noisy-Intermediate-Scale Quantum (NISQ) era.
Cloud-accessible quantum processors enable direct execution of quantum algorithms on heterogeneous hardware platforms. Unlike classical systems, however, identical quantum circuits may exhibit substantially different behavior across devices due to architectural variations in qubit connectivity, gate fidelity, and coherence times.
In this work, we systematically benchmark five representative quantum algorithms - Bell state preparation, GHZ state generation, Quantum Fourier Transform (QFT), Grover's Search, and the Quantum Approximate Optimization Algorithm (QAOA) - across trapped-ion, superconducting, and simulator backends using Amazon Braket. Performance metrics including fidelity, CHSH violation, success probability, circuit depth, and gate counts are evaluated.
Our results demonstrate a strong dependence of algorithmic performance on hardware topology and noise characteristics. For example, 10-qubit GHZ states achieved fidelities above 0.8 on trapped-ion hardware, while superconducting platforms dropped below 0.15 due to routing overhead and accumulated two-qubit gate errors. These findings highlight the importance of hardware-aware algorithm selection and provide practical guidance for benchmarking in the NISQ era.
Grover's quantum search algorithm provides a proven quadratic speedup over classical linear search for unstructured databases. While its theoretical advantage is well established, experimental validation on real noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) hardware remains limited by noise, decoherence, and hardware constraints. In this work, we present an experimental comparison between classical linear search and Grover's quantum search algorithm executed on IBM Quantum real superconducting hardware using Qiskit Runtime. A four-qubit implementation corresponding to a 16-element search space is evaluated across multiple experimental runs. The results demonstrate consistent amplitude amplification, achieving an average success probability of 54.25% and an amplification factor of 8.68× over random guessing. Although classical execution remains faster in wall-clock time due to quantum hardware overhead, the experiment empirically validates the algorithmic advantage of Grover's search and quantifies the performance gap between ideal and real quantum processors in the NISQ era.