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Neural Computing and Applications

Quantum-inspired learning vector quantizers for prototype-based classification

Thomas Villmann, Alexander Engelsberger, Jensun Ravichandran, Andrea Villmann, Marika Kaden

Published Nov 24, 2020• 17 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Abstract Prototype-based models like the Generalized Learning Vector Quantization (GLVQ) belong to the class of interpretable classifiers. Moreover, quantum-inspired methods get more and more into focus in machine learning due to its potential efficient computing. Further, its interesting mathematical perspectives offer new ideas for alternative learning scenarios. This paper proposes a quantum computing-inspired variant of the prototype-based GLVQ for classification learning. We start considering kernelized GLVQ with real- and complex-valued kernels and their respective feature mapping. Thereafter, we explain how quantum space ideas could be integrated into a GLVQ using quantum bit vector space in the quantum state space $${\mathcal {H}}^{n}$$ H n and show the relations to kernelized GLVQ. In particular, we explain the related feature mapping of data into the quantum state space $${\mathcal {H}}^{n}$$ H n . A key feature for this approach is that $${\mathcal {H}}^{n}$$ H n is an Hilbert space with particular inner product properties, which finally restrict the prototype adaptations to be unitary transformations. The resulting approach is denoted as Qu-GLVQ. We provide the mathematical framework and give exemplary numerical results.

DOI
10.1007/s00521-020-05517-y

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Abstract Prototype-based models like the Generalized Learning Vector Quantization (GLVQ) belong to the class of interpretable classifiers. Moreover, quantum-inspired methods get more and more into focus in machine learning due to its potential efficient computing. Further, its interesting mathematical perspectives offer new ideas for alternative learning scenarios. This paper proposes a quantum computing-inspired variant of the prototype-based GLVQ for classification learning. We start considering kernelized GLVQ with real- and complex-valued kernels and their respective feature mapping. Thereafter, we explain how quantum space ideas could be integrated into a GLVQ using quantum bit vector space in the quantum state space Hn{\mathcal {H}}^{n}Hn H n and show the relations to kernelized GLVQ. In particular, we explain the related feature mapping of data into the quantum state space Hn{\mathcal {H}}^{n}Hn H n . A key feature for this approach is that Hn{\mathcal {H}}^{n}Hn H n is an Hilbert space with particular inner product properties, which finally restrict the prototype adaptations to be unitary transformations. The resulting approach is denoted as Qu-GLVQ. We provide the mathematical framework and give exemplary numerical results.
In the field of machine learning, vector quantization is a category of low-complexity approaches that are nonetheless powerful for data representation and clustering or classification tasks. Vector quantization is based on the idea of representing a data or a class distribution using a small set of prototypes, and hence, it belongs to interpretable models in machine learning. Further, the low complexity of vector quantizers makes them interesting for the application of quantum concepts for their implementation. This is especially true for current and upcoming generations of quantum devices, which only allow the execution of simple and restricted algorithms. Motivated by different adaptation and optimization paradigms for vector quantizers, we provide an overview of respective existing quantum algorithms and routines to realize vector quantization concepts, maybe only partially, on quantum devices. Thus, the reader can infer the current state-of-the-art when considering quantum computing approaches for vector quantization.
A basic idea of quantum computing is surprisingly similar to that of kernel methods in machine learning, namely, to efficiently perform computations in an intractably large Hilbert space. In this Letter we explore some theoretical foundations of this link and show how it opens up a new avenue for the design of quantum machine learning algorithms. We interpret the process of encoding inputs in a quantum state as a nonlinear feature map that maps data to quantum Hilbert space. A quantum computer can now analyze the input data in this feature space. Based on this link, we discuss two approaches for building a quantum model for classification. In the first approach, the quantum device estimates inner products of quantum states to compute a classically intractable kernel. The kernel can be fed into any classical kernel method such as a support vector machine. In the second approach, we use a variational quantum circuit as a linear model that classifies data explicitly in Hilbert space. We illustrate these ideas with a feature map based on squeezing in a continuous-variable system, and visualize the working principle with two-dimensional minibenchmark datasets.
Quantum computing has inspired new ways to represent and process data, offering perspectives that can also benefit classical machine learning. In this work, we investigate how quantum-inspired data representations can be integrated into classical machine learning classifiers such as Logistic Regression, Support Vector Machines, and Naive Bayes for binary classification tasks. The proposed approach utilizes a simple amplitude-based encoding that normalizes feature vectors and incorporates phase-like transformations, assisting classical models to capture complex interactions and patterns in the data similar to quantum information processing. We evaluate this approach on both synthetic and three other benchmark datasets, comparing standard and quantum-inspired data representations. The results highlights that the quantum-inspired data encoding often matches or improves classifier performance in terms of accuracy, F1-Score, and precision. Additionally, the normalized encoding provides a more structured representation of the data, which can help with interpretability and visualization. These results highlight the potential of quantum-inspired transformations as a practical and effective tool for improving classical machine learning pipelines without requirement of quantum hardware.
Quantum probability provides a novel framework for formulating machine-learning (ML) problems in Hilbert space. We introduce a prototype-based learning scheme where class representatives are encoded as generative matrix product states (MPS). Because these prototypes reside in the same Hilbert space as quantum-encoded data samples, various ML tasks such as classification and clustering can be performed through geometric measures of quantum states. This approach lifts prototype learning from classical feature space to quantum Hilbert space. Benchmarks on Fashion-MNIST and a real-world electrocardiogram dataset demonstrate that our method outperforms classical prototype approaches while remaining competitive with standard black-box neural networks. We also identify an ``attraction'' effect induced by the quantum-probabilistic prototypes and introduce a dimensionality-reduction scheme based on prototype distances. Our results establish quantum states as an explainable framework for prototype learning, opening new directions for designing ML algorithms in quantum Hilbert space.
Quantum-inspired machine learning is a new branch of machine learning based on the application of the mathematical formalism of quantum mechanics to devise novel algorithms for classical computers.We implement some quantum-inspired classification algorithms, based on quantum state discrimination, within a local approach in the feature space by taking into account elements close to the element to be classified.This local approach improves the accuracy in classification and motivates the integration with the classifiers.The quantum-inspired classifiers require the encoding of the feature vectors into density operators and methods for estimating the distinguishability of quantum states like the Helstrom state discrimination and the Pretty-Good measurement.We present a comparison of the performances of the local quantum-inspired classifiers against well-known classical algorithms in order to show that the local approach can be a valuable tool for increasing the performances of this kind of classifiers.
The quantum support vector machines (QSVMs) offer a paradigm change that may leverage quantum mechanical processes to outperform traditional support vector machines (SVMs) in high-dimensional and nonlinear classification tasks. These machines are located at the crossroads of supervised machine learning and quantum computing. The purpose of this chapter is to provide a comprehensive technical analysis of QSVMs, with a particular emphasis on the use of variation quantum circuits for implicit feature space transformations and the development of these circuits within the context of quantum kernel estimation. Through the use of quantum state preparation and interference, we provide a comprehensive explanation of the possible fabrication of quantum kernels that are based on inner product evaluations in exponentially huge Hilbert spaces. When it comes to boosting model expressivity beyond classical limits, the importance that entanglement and quantum feature mapping play is specifically stressed. In addition to this, we investigate algorithmic implementations on noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) hardware, focusing on problems associated with quantum decoherence, gate fidelity, and loop depth optimization. Several fields, including quantum-enhanced drug discovery, anomaly detection in quantum sensor networks, fault classification in quantum error correction, and portfolio optimization, are now the focus of research that is being conducted in order to develop real-world applications. This chapter comes to a close with an analysis of the existing theoretical limits, resource needs, and future perspectives for the use of QSVMs in machine learning applications in order to achieve a quantum advantage. In order to facilitate the development of scalable quantum machine learning models that are founded on strong mathematical and computational notions, this synthesis is geared at academics and practitioners.