Variational quantum algorithm (VQA), which is comprised of a classical optimizer and a parameterized quantum circuit, emerges as one of the most promising approaches for harvesting the power of quantum computers in the noisy intermediate scale quantum (NISQ) era. However, the deployment of VQAs on contemporary NISQ devices often faces considerable system and time-dependant noise and prohibitively slow training speeds. On the other hand, the expensive supporting resources and infrastructure make quantum computers extremely keen on high utilization.
Variational quantum algorithm (VQA), which is comprised of a classical optimizer and a parameterized quantum circuit, emerges as one of the most promising approaches for harvesting the power of quantum computers in the noisy intermediate scale quantum (NISQ) era. However, the deployment of VQAs on contemporary NISQ devices often faces considerable system and time-dependant noise and prohibitively slow training speeds. On the other hand, the expensive supporting resources and infrastructure make quantum computers extremely keen on high utilization.
Parameterized quantum circuits (PQC) have emerged as a quantum analogue of deep neural networks and can be trained for discriminative or generative tasks and can be trained with gradient-based optimization on near-term quantum devices [1], [2], [3]. In the current era of quantum computing, known as the noisy intermediate scale quantum (NISQ) era [4], these devices contain a moderate number of qubits (< 100), and algorithmic performance is strongly impacted by hardware noise. Additionally, the training of PQCs are hybrid algorithms, in which the computational workflow is split between quantum and classical computing platforms.
Variational quantum algorithms (VQAs) have established themselves as a central computational paradigm in the Noisy Intermediate-Scale Quantum (NISQ) era. By coupling parameterized quantum circuits (PQCs) with classical optimization, they operate effectively under strict hardware limitations. However, as quantum architectures transition toward early fault-tolerant (EFT) and ultimate fault-tolerant (FT) regimes, the foundational principles and long-term viability of VQAs require systematic reassessment. This review offers an insightful analysis of VQAs and their progression toward the fault-tolerant regime. We deconstruct the core algorithmic framework by examining ansatz design and classical optimization strategies, including cost function formulation, gradient computation, and optimizer selection. Concurrently, we evaluate critical training bottlenecks, notably barren plateaus (BPs), alongside established mitigation strategies. The discussion then explores the EFT phase, detailing how the integration of quantum error mitigation and partial error correction can sustain algorithmic performance. Addressing the FT phase, we analyze the inherent challenges confronting current hybrid VQA models. Furthermore, we synthesize recent VQA applications across diverse domains, including many-body physics, quantum chemistry, machine learning, and mathematical optimization. Ultimately, this review outlines a theoretical roadmap for adapting quantum algorithms to future hardware generations, elucidating how variational principles can be systematically refined to maintain their relevance and efficiency within an error-corrected computational environment.
Variational quantum algorithms (VQAs) can potentially solve practical problems using contemporary Noisy Intermediate Scale Quantum (NISQ) computers. VQAs find near-optimal solutions in the presence of qubit errors by classically optimizing a loss function computed by parameterized quantum circuits. However, developing and testing VQAs is challenging due to the limited availability of quantum hardware, their high error rates, and the significant overhead of classical simulations. Furthermore, VQA researchers must pick the right initialization for circuit parameters, utilize suitable classical optimizer configurations, and deploy appropriate error mitigation methods. Unfortunately, these tasks are done in an ad-hoc manner today, as there are no software tools to configure and tune the VQA hyperparameters.
Leveraging the principles of quantum mechanics—specifically superposition and parallelism— quantum computation holds the potential to surpass the computational power limitations of classical computers. However, due to constraints such as the limited number of available qubits and the presence of decoherence noise in quantum hardware, designing efficient quantum algorithms capable of running on Noisy Intermediate-Scale Quantum (NISQ) devices has become a pivotal research focus. The Variational Quantum Algorithm (VQA) represents a hybrid quantum-classical computational paradigm that is executable on NISQ devices and can potentially demonstrate quantum advantage. In VQAs, the loss function is evaluated on a quantum computer, optimized by a classical computer, and the updated parameters are subsequently fed back to the quantum circuit for the next iteration. The Quantum Convolutional Neural Network (QCNN) is a prominent implementation within the VQA framework. It performs convolutional and pooling operations via Parameterized Quantum Circuits (PQCs) , endowing it with potentially superior feature extraction capabilities compared to its classical convolutional neural network counterparts. This paper begins with the foundational theories of quantum computing, provides a detailed exposition of the VQA workflow and QCNN architecture, and summarizes VQAs based on PQCs. It then reviews recent research progress on QCNNs from a practical application standpoint and concludes by outlining current challenges and future research directions.
Variational Quantum Algorithms are a major method of harnessing Noisy Intermediate-Scale Quantum devices to solve classically intractable problems in physics, chemistry, optimization, and machine learning. The current review offers a critical overview of VQAs, with special emphasis on their theoretical backgrounds, algorithmic structures, and application performance within realistic models of noise. Several key variants, such as the Variational Quantum Eigensolver, Quantum Approximate Optimization Algorithm, and Quantum Neural Networks, are compared in terms of noise robustness, ansatz archi- tecture, and hybrid quantum-classical methods of optimization. Benchmarks in fields such as quantum chemistry, finance modeling, and particles and nuclei physics reveal the poten- tial of VQAs in achieving practical quantum advantage. Fundamentally limiting factors 1such as barren plateaus, optimization overhead, and hardware constraints are considered in addition to mitigation strategies, including adaptive construction of ansatz, informed training in the presence of noise, and quantum error correction using QVECTOR. The paper is concluded with an overview of the scalability and future of VQAs in the direction of transitioning toward fault-tolerant quantum computing.