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International Conference on Trends in Quantum Computing and Emerging Business Technologies (TQCEBT)

Implementation of Quantum Deep Reinforcement Learning Using Variational Quantum Circuits

S Lokes, C. Sakthi Jay Mahenthar, S Parvatha Kumaran, Palaniyappan Sathyaprakash, Jayakumar Vaithiyashankar

Published Oct 13, 2022• 19 citations
Publisher

Abstract

With the evolution of technology, the need to solve complex computational problems like machine learning and deep learning has shot up. However, even the most powerful classical supercomputers find it difficult to execute these tasks. Advancements in quantum computing are leading researchers and tech-giants who strive for better quantum circuits to do machine learning tasks. Current works on Quantum Machine Learning (QML) ensure less memory consumption and reduced model parameters. However, it is strenuous to simulate the classical deep learning approach on existing quantum computing devices due to the inflexibility of Deep quantum circuits. Consequently, designing viable quantum algorithms for QML for noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) devices is essential. The proposed work aims to explore Variational Quantum Circuits (VQC) for Deep Q network-based Reinforcement Learning by remodeling the target network and experience replay into a representation of VQC. In addition, to the reduction in model parameters, quantum information encoding schemes are used to achieve better results than classical neural networks. VQCs are employed for policyselection and decision-making reinforcement learning by approximating the deep Q-value function with target network and experience replay.

DOI
10.1109/tqcebt54229.2022.10041479

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With the evolution of technology, the need to solve complex computational problems like machine learning and deep learning has shot up. However, even the most powerful classical supercomputers find it difficult to execute these tasks. Advancements in quantum computing are leading researchers and tech-giants who strive for better quantum circuits to do machine learning tasks. Current works on Quantum Machine Learning (QML) ensure less memory consumption and reduced model parameters. However, it is strenuous to simulate the classical deep learning approach on existing quantum computing devices due to the inflexibility of Deep quantum circuits. Consequently, designing viable quantum algorithms for QML for noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) devices is essential. The proposed work aims to explore Variational Quantum Circuits (VQC) for Deep Q network-based Reinforcement Learning by remodeling the target network and experience replay into a representation of VQC. In addition, to the reduction in model parameters, quantum information encoding schemes are used to achieve better results than classical neural networks. VQCs are employed for policyselection and decision-making reinforcement learning by approximating the deep Q-value function with target network and experience replay.
The state-of-the-art machine learning approaches are based on classical von Neumann computing architectures and have been widely used in many industrial and academic domains. With the recent development of quantum computing, researchers and tech-giants have attempted new quantum circuits for machine learning tasks. However, the existing quantum computing platforms are hard to simulate classical deep learning models or problems because of the intractability of deep quantum circuits. Thus, it is necessary to design feasible quantum algorithms for quantum machine learning for noisy intermediate scale quantum (NISQ) devices. This work explores variational quantum circuits for deep reinforcement learning. Specifically, we reshape classical deep reinforcement learning algorithms like experience replay and target network into a representation of variational quantum circuits. Moreover, we use a quantum information encoding scheme to reduce the number of model parameters compared to classical neural networks. To the best of our knowledge, this work is the first proof-of-principle demonstration of variational quantum circuits to approximate the deep Q-value function for decision-making and policy-selection reinforcement learning with experience replay and target network. Besides, our variational quantum circuits can be deployed in many near-term NISQ machines.
The rapid advancement of quantum computing (QC) and machine learning (ML) has given rise to the burgeoning field of quantum machine learning (QML), aiming to capitalize on the strengths of quantum computing to propel ML forward. Despite its promise, crafting effective QML models necessitates profound expertise to strike a delicate balance between model intricacy and feasibility on Noisy Intermediate-Scale Quantum (NISQ) devices. While complex models offer robust representation capabilities, their extensive circuit depth may impede seamless execution on extant noisy quantum platforms. In this paper, we address this quandary of QML model design by employing deep reinforcement learning to explore proficient QML model architectures tailored for designated supervised learning tasks. Specifically, our methodology involves training an RL agent to devise policies that facilitate the discovery of QML models without predetermined ansatz. Furthermore, we integrate an adaptive mechanism to dynamically adjust the learning objectives, fostering continuous improvement in the agent's learning process. Through extensive numerical simulations, we illustrate the efficacy of our approach within the realm of classification tasks. Our proposed method successfully identifies VQC architectures capable of achieving high classification accuracy while minimizing gate depth. This pioneering approach not only advances the study of AI-driven quantum circuit design but also holds significant promise for enhancing performance in the NISQ era.
Abstract Quantum compiling aims to construct a quantum circuitVby quantum gates drawn from a native gate alphabet, which is functionally equivalent to the target unitaryU. It is a crucial stage for the running of quantum algorithms on noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) devices. However, the space for structure exploration of quantum circuit is enormous, resulting in the requirement of human expertise, hundreds of experimentations or modifications from existing quantum circuits. In this paper, we propose a variational quantum compiling (VQC) algorithm based on reinforcement learning, in order to automatically design the structure of quantum circuit for VQC with no human intervention. An agent is trained to sequentially select quantum gates from the native gate alphabet and the qubits they act on by doubleQ-learning withϵ-greedy exploration strategy and experience replay. At first, the agent randomly explores a number of quantum circuits with different structures, and then iteratively discovers structures with higher performance on the learning task. Simulation results show that the proposed method can make exact compilations with less quantum gates compared to previous VQC algorithms. It can reduce the errors of quantum algorithms due to decoherence process and gate noise in NISQ devices, and enable quantum algorithms especially for complex algorithms to be executed within coherence time.
Abstract Quantum computing holds great potential for advancing the limitations of machine learning algorithms to handle higher dimensions of data and reduce overall training parameters in deep learning (DL) models. This study uses a trainable variational quantum circuit (VQC) on a gate-based quantum computing model to investigate the potential for quantum benefit in a model-free reinforcement learning problem. Through a comprehensive investigation and evaluation of the current model and capabilities of quantum computers, we designed and trained a novel hybrid quantum neural network based on the latest Qiskit and PyTorch framework. We compared its performance with a full-classical CNN with and without an incorporated VQC. Our research provides insights into the potential of deep quantum learning to solve a maze problem and, potentially, other reinforcement learning problems. We conclude that reinforcement learning problems can be practical with reasonable training epochs. Moreover, a comparative study of full-classical and hybrid quantum neural networks is discussed to understand these two approaches’ performance, advantages, and disadvantages to deep Q-learning problems, especially on larger-scale maze problems larger than 4 ×\times × × 4.
Quantum computing promises significant computational advantages over classical methods in certain applications but is currently too unstable for executing complex tasks. High-fidelity quantum circuits are critical to overcoming this challenge, yet they are computationally challenging to design. On current noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) hardware, shallower circuits with fewer two-qubit gates generally run with higher fidelity. Increased fidelity can be sought by sequentially rewriting the circuit, which involves a vast search space. This costly search space exploration could be circumvented by using reinforcement learning (RL) to teach an agent to rewrite the circuit in a sequential decision-making process. This thesis aims to implement a Deep Q-Network (DQN) algorithm to optimize BernsteinVazirani (BVZ) circuits. The DQN algorithm interacts with a Cirq-based environment. The environment provides valid rewrite actions to the DQN algorithm, which gains a scalar reward emphasizing depth and gate reduction. In the thesis we compare two different state encodings as input for the neural network: a compact state summarizing vector representation with three features, and an image-like encoding that maps circuit state topology with tokens through a fixed embedding. Both input encodings use the same action rewrite set and reward design. The network is implemented in PyTorch and trained with Adam optimizer, and runs on GPU via CUDA. Empirically, the agent shows promising initial optimizing performance. On several BVZ circuits with varying qubit count and topology, the agent drives the depth toward the theoretical optimum of three. The simplistic vector encoding already reaches reasonable circuit depth plateaus, with the image-like encoding together with hyperparameter tuning improving reliability, showing avenues for continued improvement. We conclude that DQN is a viable foundation for automated circuit optimization on BVZ circuits. To achieve reliable circuit optimization at scale, future research should investigate even richer encoding methods and reward function shaping. Finally, the results support applying the DQN to be applied to circuit families beyond BVZ.
The development of quantum computational techniques has advanced greatly in recent years, parallel to the advancements in techniques for deep reinforcement learning. This work explores the potential for quantum computing to facilitate reinforcement learning problems. Quantum computing approaches offer important potential improvements in time and space complexity over traditional algorithms because of its ability to exploit the quantum phenomena of superposition and entanglement. Specifically, we investigate the use of quantum variational circuits, a form of quantum machine learning. We present our techniques for encoding classical data for a quantum variational circuit, we further explore pure and hybrid quantum algorithms for DQN and Double DQN. Our results indicate both hybrid and pure quantum variational circuit have the ability to solve reinforcement learning tasks with a smaller parameter space. These comparison are conducted with two OpenAI Gym environments: CartPole and Blackjack, The success of this work is indicative of a strong future relationship between quantum machine learning and deep reinforcement learning.