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Proceedings of meetings on acoustics

A quantum computing framework for finite-difference time domain and parabolic equation models in ocean acoustics

Noriyuki Kushida, Ying-Tsong Lin

Published Jan 1, 2025• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Numerical models are essential for investigating and understanding the physics and sound propagation and scattering, given the ocean’s complexity and the limitations of real-world field experiments. High-performance computing has become a primary tool for researchers to simulate long-range sound propagation. Quantum computing is an emerging technique that offers potential speedups over conventional binary computers. However, classical algorithms cannot be directly implemented in quantum systems due to fundamental differences in computing principles. This necessitates the development of quantum ocean acoustic models that remain interpretable within the same context as classical algorithms. This paper presents a quantum formulation for a finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) solver and a parabolic equation (PE) method. The results demonstrate that these quantum algorithms implemented on a simulator reproduce results identical to their classical counterparts, providing a foundation for further developments in quantum-centric ocean acoustics.

DOI
10.1121/2.0002281

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Abstract Physics systems are becoming increasingly complex and require more and more computing time. Quantum computing, which has shown its efficiency on some problems, such as the factorisation of a number with Shor's algorithm, may be the solution to reduce these computation times. Here, the authors propose two quantum numerical schemes for the simulation of physics phenomena, based on the finite difference method. The aim is to see if quantum versions of standard numerical schemes offer an advantage over their classical counterparts, either in accuracy, stability or computation time. First, the authors will present the different phenomena studied as well as the classical solution methods chosen. The authors will then describe the implementation of the quantum numerical schemes and present some results obtained on the different physics phenomena beforehand and then compare both approaches, classical and quantum.
Quantum computing has the potential to solve certain compute-intensive problems faster than classical computing by leveraging the quantum mechanical properties of superposition and entanglement. This capability can be particularly useful for solving Partial Differential Equations (PDEs), which are challenging to solve even for High-Performance Computing (HPC) systems, especially for multidimensional PDEs. This led researchers to investigate the usage of Quantum-Centric High-Performance Computing (QC-HPC) to solve multidimensional PDEs for various applications. However, the current quantum computing-based PDE-solvers, especially those based on Variational Quantum Algorithms (VQAs) suffer from limitations, such as low accuracy, long execution times, and limited scalability. In this work, we propose an innovative algorithm to solve multidimensional PDEs with two variants. The first variant uses Finite Difference Method (FDM), Classical-to-Quantum (C2Q) encoding, and numerical instantiation, whereas the second variant utilizes FDM, C2Q encoding, and Column-by-Column Decomposition (CCD). We evaluated the proposed algorithm using the Poisson equation as a case study and validated it through experiments conducted on noise-free and noisy simulators, as well as hardware emulators and real quantum hardware from IBM. Our results show higher accuracy, improved scalability, and faster execution times in comparison to variational-based PDE-solvers, demonstrating the advantage of our approach for solving multidimensional PDEs.
We present a quantum algorithmic framework for simulating linear, anti-Hermitian (lossless) wave equations in heterogeneous, anisotropic, and time-independent media. This framework encompasses a broad class of wave equations, including the acoustic wave equation, Maxwell’s equations, and the elastic wave equation. Our formulation is compatible with standard numerical discretization schemes and allows for the efficient implementation of multiple practically relevant time- and space-dependent sources. Furthermore, we demonstrate that subspace energies can be extracted and wave fields compared through an l 2 loss function, achieving optimal precision scaling with the number of samples taken. Additionally, we introduce techniques for incorporating boundary conditions and linear constraints that preserve the anti-Hermitian nature of the equations. Leveraging the Hamiltonian simulation algorithm, our framework achieves a quartic speedup over classical solvers in three-dimensional simulations, under conditions of sufficiently global measurements and compactly supported sources and initial conditions. This quartic speedup is optimal for time-domain solutions, as the Hamiltonian of the discretized wave equations has local couplings. In summary, our framework provides a versatile approach for simulating wave equations on quantum computers, offering substantial speedups over state-of-the-art classical methods.