Achieving near-term quantum observables despite significant hardware noise. For this purpose, we propose a novel, scalable error-mitigation method that applies to gate-based quantum computers. The method generates training data {Xinoisy,Xiexact} via quantum circuits composed largely of Clifford gates, which can be efficiently simulated classically, where Xinoisy and Xiexact are noisy and noiseless observables respectively. Fitting a linear ansatz to this data then allows for the prediction of noise-free observables for arbitrary circuits. We analyze the performance of our method versus the number of qubits, circuit depth, and number of non-Clifford gates. Here, we obtain an order-of-magnitude error reduction for a ground-state energy problem on 16 qubits in an IBMQ quantum computer and on a 64-qubit noisy simulator.
Achieving near-term quantum observables despite significant hardware noise. For this purpose, we propose a novel, scalable error-mitigation method that applies to gate-based quantum computers. The method generates training data {Xinoisy,Xiexact} via quantum circuits composed largely of Clifford gates, which can be efficiently simulated classically, where Xinoisy and Xiexact are noisy and noiseless observables respectively. Fitting a linear ansatz to this data then allows for the prediction of noise-free observables for arbitrary circuits. We analyze the performance of our method versus the number of qubits, circuit depth, and number of non-Clifford gates. Here, we obtain an order-of-magnitude error reduction for a ground-state energy problem on 16 qubits in an IBMQ quantum computer and on a 64-qubit noisy simulator.
Achieving near-term quantum advantage will require accurate estimation of quantum observables despite significant hardware noise. For this purpose, we propose a novel, scalable error-mitigation method that applies to gate-based quantum computers. The method generates training data { X i noisy , X i exact } via quantum circuits composed largely of Clifford gates, which can be efficiently simulated classically, where X i noisy and X i exact are noisy and noiseless observables respectively. Fitting a linear ansatz to this data then allows for the prediction of noise-free observables for arbitrary circuits. We analyze the performance of our method versus the number of qubits, circuit depth, and number of non-Clifford gates. We obtain an order-of-magnitude error reduction for a ground-state energy problem on 16 qubits in an IBMQ quantum computer and on a 64-qubit noisy simulator.
Quantum error mitigation (QEM) is critical for harnessing the potential of near-term quantum devices. Particularly, QEM protocols can be designed based on machine learning, where the mapping between noisy computational outputs and ideal ones can be learned on a training set consisting of Clifford circuits or near-Clifford circuits that contain only a limited number of non-Clifford gates. This learned mapping is then applied to noisy target circuits to estimate the ideal computational output. In this work, we propose a learning-based error mitigation framework called Clifford Perturbation Data Regression (CPDR), which constructs training sets by Clifford circuits with small perturbations. Specifically, these circuits are parameterized quantum circuits, where the rotation angles of the gates are restricted to a narrow range, ensuring that the gates remain close to Clifford gates. This design enables the efficient simulation of the training circuits using the Sparse Pauli Dynamics method. As a result, CPDR is able to utilize training sets with a better diversity to train the model, compared with previous learning-based QEM models that construct training sets with only Clifford or near-Clifford circuits. Numerical simulations on small-scale Ising model circuits demonstrate that the performance of CPDR dramatically outperforms that of existing methods such as Zero-Noise Extrapolation and learning-based Probabilistic Error Cancellation. Furthermore, using the experimental data from IBM's 127-qubit Eagle processor, our findings suggest that CPDR demonstrates improved accuracy compared to the original mitigation results reported in [Nature 618, 500 (2023)].
Accurately estimating observables on noisy quantum devices remains a central challenge for near-term quantum algorithms. While quantum error mitigation techniques can reduce noise-induced bias, they often rely on unverifiable assumptions about the circuit noise, and cannot guarantee the magnitude of residual bias error. Here, rather than using classical resources to mitigate a noisy quantum circuit execution, we propose a hybrid algorithm that uses quantum resources to improve the accuracy of approximate classical Pauli-path simulation. Our protocol, Quantum Enhanced Pauli Propagation (QuEPP), uses Clifford perturbation theory (CPT) to construct a classically simulable ensemble of Clifford circuits from the low-order terms in CPT, which directly provide the approximate classical Pauli-path simulation of the target circuit. Noisy quantum expectation values of this ensemble are then used to infer a global rescaling factor that corrects quantum execution of the target circuit, providing higher-order contributions absent from the truncated low-order classical simulation. This approach requires no noise characterization, applies to arbitrary circuits, and provides a provable route to asymptotically unbiased estimates. Using IBM Heron hardware, we demonstrate QuEPP on 2D random mirror circuits of up to 49 qubits and circuit depth 80, as well as Trotterized Hamiltonian evolution, showing consistent improvements beyond classical CPT and unmitigated quantum results. QuEPP offers a simple, scalable, and model-free framework for enabling accurate quantum computation in the pre-fault-tolerant era.
Achieving near-term quantum advantage will require effective methods for mitigating hardware noise. Data-driven approaches to error mitigation are promising, with popular examples including zero-noise extrapolation (ZNE) and Clifford data regression (CDR). Here, we propose a scalable error mitigation method that conceptually unifies ZNE and CDR. Our approach, called variable-noise Clifford data regression (vnCDR), significantly outperforms these individual methods in numerical benchmarks. vnCDR generates training data first via near-Clifford circuits (which are classically simulable) and second by varying the noise levels in these circuits. We employ a noise model obtained from IBM's Ourense quantum computer to benchmark our method. For the problem of estimating the energy of an 8-qubit Ising model system, vnCDR improves the absolute energy error by a factor of 33 over the unmitigated results and by factors of 20 and 1.8 over ZNE and CDR, respectively. For the problem of correcting observables from random quantum circuits with 64 qubits, vnCDR improves the error by factors of 2.7 and 1.5 over ZNE and CDR, respectively.
Noise in quantum hardware is the primary obstacle to realizing the transformative potential of quantum computing. Quantum error mitigation (QEM) offers a promising pathway to enhance computational accuracy on near-term devices, yet existing methods face a difficult trade-off between performance, resource overhead, and theoretical guarantees. In this work, we introduce neighbor-informed learning (NIL), a versatile and scalable QEM framework that unifies and strengthens existing methods such as zero-noise extrapolation (ZNE) and probabilistic error cancellation (PEC), while offering improved flexibility, accuracy, efficiency, and robustness.
NIL learns to predict the ideal output of a target quantum circuit from the noisy outputs of its structurally related ``neighbor'' circuits. A key innovation is our 2-design training method, which generates training data for our machine learning model. In contrast to conventional learning-based QEM protocols that create training circuits by replacing non-Clifford gates with uniformly random Clifford gates, our approach achieves higher accuracy and efficiency, as demonstrated by both theoretical analysis and numerical simulation. Furthermore, we prove that the required size of the training set scales only \emph{logarithmically} with the total number of neighbor circuits, enabling NIL to be applied to problems involving large-scale quantum circuits. Our work establishes a theoretically grounded and practically efficient framework for QEM, paving a viable path toward achieving quantum advantage on noisy hardware.
Machine Learning-based quantum error mitigation (ML-QEM) has emerged as a promising approach for improving the performance of noisy quantum algorithms. However, existing ML-QEM methods often have restricted applicability to variational circuits and rely on inaccessible noiseless training data. In this work, we propose a practical ML-QEM protocol tailored to variational quantum algorithms, which generates training data by simulating (near-)Clifford circuits. This data is used for model selection and training, producing a mitigation model that can correct variational circuits with arbitrary parameters and transfer across different target Hamiltonians of similar structure. We benchmark the proposed method on the Variational Quantum Eigensolver (VQE) task for the Sherrington-Kirkpatrick Hamiltonian of up to n=12 qubits under various noise models, analyzing its effect on trainability and comparing its performance against standard Zero-Noise Extrapolation (ZNE). The results demonstrate consistent several-fold error suppression across all tested settings and superior performance over ZNE in the high-noise regime, providing evidence for the applicability of the proposed protocol to present-day NISQ processors.