Abstract Language is not fixed. It is entangled, probabilistic, and observer-dependent. This paper introduces a new paradigm in linguistic theory named "Quantum Linguistics," inspired by the principles of Quantum Physics. Quantum physics and Linguistics have long been regarded as unrelated disciplines,describing nature at the inanimate microlevel on the one hand and language and its scientific study on the other hand. Over the past decades the linguistics has succeeded in providing ever more and refined explanations of generative grammar. Since quantum physics and linguistics deal with the symbolic, rule-governed structure of human language and the non-classical, probabilistic behaviour of subatomic particles, respectively, they have historically been seen as two separate disciplines. This framework allows modeling of polysemy, ambiguity, free word order, and argument structure in a unified, mathematically rigorous manner.To operationalize the model, we implement a Quantum Syntax-Semantics Integration (QSSI) pipeline, which encodes sentences into vector states, applies quantum operations for compositional syntax and semantics, and produces contextually resolved meanings through measurement. Two variants of the pipeline are considered: a classical simulation for experimental validation and a quantum-simulated version for future hardware implementation. The linguistic theory with quantum principles such as superposition, entanglement, and measurement, our model provides a novel probabilistic and context-dependent approach to understand language, explore new insights into human cognitive-linguistic processes, semantic ambiguity observation, and advanced natural language processing applications.
Abstract Language is not fixed. It is entangled, probabilistic, and observer-dependent. This paper introduces a new paradigm in linguistic theory named "Quantum Linguistics," inspired by the principles of Quantum Physics. Quantum physics and Linguistics have long been regarded as unrelated disciplines,describing nature at the inanimate microlevel on the one hand and language and its scientific study on the other hand. Over the past decades the linguistics has succeeded in providing ever more and refined explanations of generative grammar. Since quantum physics and linguistics deal with the symbolic, rule-governed structure of human language and the non-classical, probabilistic behaviour of subatomic particles, respectively, they have historically been seen as two separate disciplines. This framework allows modeling of polysemy, ambiguity, free word order, and argument structure in a unified, mathematically rigorous manner.To operationalize the model, we implement a Quantum Syntax-Semantics Integration (QSSI) pipeline, which encodes sentences into vector states, applies quantum operations for compositional syntax and semantics, and produces contextually resolved meanings through measurement. Two variants of the pipeline are considered: a classical simulation for experimental validation and a quantum-simulated version for future hardware implementation. The linguistic theory with quantum principles such as superposition, entanglement, and measurement, our model provides a novel probabilistic and context-dependent approach to understand language, explore new insights into human cognitive-linguistic processes, semantic ambiguity observation, and advanced natural language processing applications.
Quantum Natural Language Processing (QNLP) is an emerging interdisciplinary field at the intersection of quantum computing, natural language understanding, and formal linguistic theory. As advances in quantum hardware and algorithms accelerate, QNLP promises new paradigms for representation learning, semantic modeling, and efficient computation. However, existing literature remains fragmented, with no unified synthesis across modeling, encoding, and evaluation dimensions.In this work, we present the first systematic and taxonomy driven survey of QNLP that holistically organizes research spanning three core dimensions: computational models, encoding paradigms, and evaluation frameworks. First, we analyze foundational approaches that map linguistic structures into quantum formalism, including categorical compositional models, variational quantum circuits, and hybrid quantum classical architectures. Second, we introduce a unified taxonomy of encoding strategies, ranging from quantum tokenization and state preparation to embedding based encodings, highlighting tradeoffs in scalability, noise resilience, and expressiveness. Third, we provide the first comparative synthesis of evaluation methodologies, benchmark datasets, and performance metrics, while identifying reproducibility and standardization gaps.We further contrast quantum inspired NLP methods with fully quantum implemented systems, offering insights into resource efficiency, hardware feasibility, and real world applicability. Finally, we outline open challenges such as integration with LLMs and unified benchmark design, and propose a research agenda for advancing QNLP as a scalable and reliable discipline.
Quantum Natural Language Processing (QNLP) is an emerging interdisciplinary field at the intersection of quantum computing, natural language understanding, and formal linguistic theory. As advances in quantum hardware and algorithms accelerate, QNLP promises new paradigms for representation learning, semantic modeling, and efficient computation. However, existing literature remains fragmented, with no unified synthesis across modeling, encoding, and evaluation dimensions.In this work, we present the first systematic and taxonomy driven survey of QNLP that holistically organizes research spanning three core dimensions: computational models, encoding paradigms, and evaluation frameworks. First, we analyze foundational approaches that map linguistic structures into quantum formalism, including categorical compositional models, variational quantum circuits, and hybrid quantum classical architectures. Second, we introduce a unified taxonomy of encoding strategies, ranging from quantum tokenization and state preparation to embedding based encodings, highlighting tradeoffs in scalability, noise resilience, and expressiveness. Third, we provide the first comparative synthesis of evaluation methodologies, benchmark datasets, and performance metrics, while identifying reproducibility and standardization gaps.We further contrast quantum inspired NLP methods with fully quantum implemented systems, offering insights into resource efficiency, hardware feasibility, and real world applicability. Finally, we outline open challenges such as integration with LLMs and unified benchmark design, and propose a research agenda for advancing QNLP as a scalable and reliable discipline.
This article explores the pioneering application of principles from quantum mechanics and statistical mechanics to the field of natural language processing (NLP). By drawing analogies between physical phenomena such as quantum entanglement, phase transitions, and statistical ensembles, and linguistic concepts like semantic relationships, language use dynamics, and lexical diversity, we offer a novel perspective on language analysis and processing. Quantum linguistic models, leveraging the intricacies of entanglement and quantum probability, provide a framework for understanding complex semantic networks and enhancing computational efficiency through quantum computing. Meanwhile, statistical mechanics inspires models for capturing lexical diversity and understanding the evolution of language patterns, akin to phase transitions in physical systems. This interdisciplinary approach not only deepens our understanding of linguistic phenomena but also introduces advanced mathematical and computational techniques to improve NLP tasks.
Abstract: Quantum Natural Language Processing (QNLP) represents a pioneering approach to understanding and analyzing natural language by leveraging the principles of quantum computing. This project aims to explore the semantic analysis of autogenerated sentences using QNLP techniques. Traditional Natural Language Processing (NLP) methods have achieved significant milestones in language understanding and generation; however, they often struggle with the intricacies of context, ambiguity, and the vast computational resources required for complex tasks. QNLP offers a novel paradigm by utilizing the superposition and entanglement properties of quantum states, potentially revolutionizing how semantic meaning is extracted and processed. The primary objective of this project is to develop a QNLP framework capable of performing semantic analysis on autogenerated sentences. We will investigate the application of quantum algorithms and quantum machine learning models to decode the semantic structure and context of sentences generated by language models. This involves encoding textual data into quantum states, applying quantum gates and circuits to manipulate these states, and measuring the outcomes to interpret semantic information. By integrating quantum computing with NLP, this project seeks to achieve higher accuracy and efficiency in understanding complex language patterns. The anticipated outcomes include a comprehensive evaluation of QNLP's performance in semantic analysis, a comparison with classical NLP methods, and potential advancements in language processing tasks such as sentiment analysis, language translation, and text summarization. This project will contribute to the growing body of research at the intersection of quantum computing and artificial intelligence, paving the way for innovative solutions in the field of natural language processing.
Formal languages are essential for computer programming and are constructed to be easily processed by computers. In contrast, natural languages are much more challenging and instigated the field of Natural Language Processing (NLP). One major obstacle is the ubiquity of ambiguities. Recent advances in NLP have led to the development of large language models, which can resolve ambiguities with high accuracy. At the same time, quantum computers have gained much attention in recent years as they can solve some computational problems faster than classical computers. This new computing paradigm has reached the fields of machine learning and NLP, where hybrid classical-quantum learning algorithms have emerged. However, more research is needed to identify which NLP tasks could benefit from a genuine quantum advantage. In this thesis, we applied formalisms arising from foundational quantum mechanics, such as contextuality and causality, to study ambiguities arising from linguistics. By doing so, we also reproduced psycholinguistic results relating to the human disambiguation process. These results were subsequently used to predict human behaviour and outperformed current NLP methods.
We provide conceptual and mathematical foundations for near-term quantum natural language processing (QNLP), and do so in quantum computer scientist friendly terms. We opted for an expository presentation style, and provide references for supporting empirical evidence and formal statements concerning mathematical generality. We recall how the quantum model for natural language that we employ canonically combines linguistic meanings with rich linguistic structure, most notably grammar. In particular, the fact that it takes a quantum-like model to combine meaning and structure, establishes QNLP as quantum-native, on par with simulation of quantum systems. Moreover, the now leading Noisy Intermediate-Scale Quantum (NISQ) paradigm for encoding classical data on quantum hardware, variational quantum circuits, makes NISQ exceptionally QNLP-friendly: linguistic structure can be encoded as a free lunch, in contrast to the apparently exponentially expensive classical encoding of grammar. Quantum speed-up for QNLP tasks has already been established in previous work with Will Zeng. Here we provide a broader range of tasks which all enjoy the same advantage. Diagrammatic reasoning is at the heart of QNLP. Firstly, the quantum model interprets language as quantum processes via the diagrammatic formalism of categorical quantum mechanics. Secondly, these diagrams are via ZX-calculus translated into quantum circuits. Parameterisations of meanings then become the circuit variables to be learned. Our encoding of linguistic structure within quantum circuits also embodies a novel approach for establishing word-meanings that goes beyond the current standards in mainstream AI, by placing linguistic structure at the heart of Wittgenstein's meaning-is-context.