Despite the profound influence of computational resources across various scientific domains, the simula- tion of quantum systems on classical devices remains an elusive challenge. The efficient simulation of quantum systems often proves computationally intractable as result of the exponential scaling in com- plexity with system size. Therefore, uncovering the ability of Noisy Intermediate-Scale Quantum (NISQ) devices to accurately simulate the dynamics of large-scale systems attracts significant interest. To explore the potential of NISQ devices, this work investigates the ground-state energy estimation of many-body systems prominent in condensed-matter physics and quantum chemistry. Notably, we present ground-state energy estimations of a quantum magnetic system under a Hamiltonian moments-based approach. Em- ploying approximations based on the higher-order derivatives of the time-evolution operator, this work utilises quantum devices to provide an efficient moments-based adaptation to the conventional Variational Quantum Eigensolver (VQE).
Despite the profound influence of computational resources across various scientific domains, the simula- tion of quantum systems on classical devices remains an elusive challenge. The efficient simulation of quantum systems often proves computationally intractable as result of the exponential scaling in com- plexity with system size. Therefore, uncovering the ability of Noisy Intermediate-Scale Quantum (NISQ) devices to accurately simulate the dynamics of large-scale systems attracts significant interest. To explore the potential of NISQ devices, this work investigates the ground-state energy estimation of many-body systems prominent in condensed-matter physics and quantum chemistry. Notably, we present ground-state energy estimations of a quantum magnetic system under a Hamiltonian moments-based approach. Em- ploying approximations based on the higher-order derivatives of the time-evolution operator, this work utilises quantum devices to provide an efficient moments-based adaptation to the conventional Variational Quantum Eigensolver (VQE).
Quantum systems have historically been formidable to simulate using classical computational methods, particularly as the system size grows. In recent years, advancements in quantum computing technology have offered new opportunities for tackling complex quantum systems, potentially enabling the study and preparation of quantum states directly on quantum processors themselves. The Variational Quantum Eigensolver (VQE) algorithm is a system composed of a quantum circuit as well as a classical optimizer that can be used to efficiently prepare interesting many-body states on the current noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) devices. We assess the efficacy and scalability of VQE by preparing the ground states of the 1D generalized Heisenberg model, a pivotal model in understanding magnetic materials. We present an ansatz capable of preparing the ground states for all possible values of the coupling, including the critical states for the anisotropic XXZ model. This paper also aims to provide insights into the precision and time consumption involved in classical and optimized sampling approaches in the calculation of expectation values. In preparing the ground state for the Heisenberg models, this paper paves the way for more efficient quantum algorithms and contributes to the broader field of condensed matter physics.
Variational quantum eigensolvers (VQEs) are among the most promising quantum algorithms for solving electronic structure problems in quantum chemistry, particularly during the noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) era. In this study, we investigate the capabilities and limitations of VQE algorithms implemented on current quantum hardware for determining molecular ground-state energies, focusing on the adaptive derivative-assembled pseudo-Trotter ansatz VQE (ADAPT-VQE). To address the significant computational challenges posed by molecular Hamiltonians, we explore various well known strategies to simplify the Hamiltonian, optimize the ansatz, and improve classical parameter optimization through modifications of the COBYLA optimizer. These enhancements are integrated into a tailored quantum computing implementation designed to minimize the circuit depth and computational cost. Using benzene as a benchmark system, we demonstrate the application of these optimizations on an IBM quantum computer. Despite these improvements, our results highlight the limitations imposed by current quantum hardware, particularly the impact of quantum noise on state preparation and energy measurement. The noise levels in today's devices prevent meaningful evaluations of molecular Hamiltonians with sufficient accuracy to produce reliable quantum chemical insights. Finally, we extrapolate the requirements for future quantum hardware to enable practical and scalable quantum chemistry calculations using VQE algorithms. This work provides an assessment of current quantum algorithms for molecular modeling on real quantum hardware, highlighting the impact of noise and hardware limitations on the achievable accuracy.
Quantum computers have the potential to deliver speed-ups for solving certain important problems that are intractable for classical counterparts, making them a promising avenue for advancing modern computation. However, many quantum algorithms require deep quantum circuits, which are challenging to implement on current noisy devices. To address this limitation, variational quantum algorithms (VQAs) have been actively developed, enabling practical quantum computing in the noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) era. Among them, the variational quantum eigensolver (VQE) stands out as a leading approach for solving problems in quantum chemistry, many-body physics, and even integer factorization. The VQE algorithm can be implemented on various quantum hardware platforms, including photonic systems, quantum dots, trapped ions, neutral atoms, and superconducting circuits. In particular, photonic platforms offer several advantages: they operate at room temperature, exhibit low decoherence, and support multiple degrees of freedom, making them suitable for scalable, high-dimensional quantum computation. Here we present methodologies for realizing VQE on photonic systems, highlighting their potential for practical quantum computing. We first provide a theoretical overview of the VQE framework, focusing on the procedure for variationally estimating ground state energies. We then explore how photonic systems can implement these processes, showing that a wide variety of problems can be addressed using either multiple qubit states or a single qudit state.
Abstract Quantum algorithms on noisy intermediate‐scale quantum (NISQ) devices are expected to soon simulate quantum systems that are classically intractable. However, the non‐negligible gate error present on NISQ devices impedes the implementation of many purely quantum algorithms, necessitating the use of hybrid quantum‐classical algorithms. One such hybrid quantum‐classical algorithm, is based upon quantum computed Hamiltonian moments , with respect to quantum state . In this tutorial review, we will give a brief review of these quantum algorithms with focuses on the typical ways of computing Hamiltonian moments using quantum hardware and improving the accuracy of the estimated state energies based on the quantum computed moments. We also present a computation of the Hamiltonian moments of a four‐site Heisenberg model and compute the energy and magnetization of the model utilizing the imaginary time evolution on current IBM‐Q hardware. Finally, we discuss some possible developments and applications of Hamiltonian moment methods.
Approximating the ground states of strongly interacting electron systems in quantum chemistry and condensed matter physics is expected to be one of the earliest applications of quantum computers. In this paper, we prepare highly accurate ground states of the Fermi-Hubbard model for small grids up to 6 sites (12 qubits) by using an interpretable, adaptive variational quantum eigensolver(VQE) called ADAPT-VQE. In contrast with non-adaptive VQE, this algorithm builds a system-specific ansatz by adding an optimal gate built from one-body or two-body fermionic operators at each step. We show this adaptive method outperforms the non-adaptive counterpart in terms of fewer variational parameters, short gate depth, and scaling with the system size. The fidelity and energy of the prepared state appear to improve asymptotically with ansatz depth. We also demonstrate the application of adaptive variational methods by preparing excited states and Green functions using a proposed ADAPT-SSVQE algorithm. Lower depth, asymptotic convergence, noise tolerance of a variational approach, and a highly controllable, system-specific ansatz make the adaptive variational methods particularly well-suited for NISQ devices.
The variational quantum eigensolver (VQE) is a hybrid quantum-classical algorithm designed for current and near-term quantum devices. Despite its initial success, there is a lack of understanding involving several of its key aspects. There are problems with VQE that forbid a favourable scaling towards quantum advantage. In order to alleviate the problems, we propose and extensively test a quantum annealing inspired heuristic that supplements VQE. The improved VQE enables an efficient initial state preparation mechanism, in a recursive manner, for a quasi-dynamical unitary evolution. We conduct an in-depth scaling analysis of finding the ground state energies with increasing lattice sizes of the Heisenberg model, employing simulations of up to 40 qubits that manipulate the complete state vector. For the current devices, we further propose a benchmarking toolkit using a mean-field model and test it on IBM Q devices. The improved VQE avoids barren plateaus, exits local minima, and works with low-depth circuits. Realistic gate execution times estimate a longer computational time to complete the same computation on a fully functional error-free quantum computer than on a quantum computer emulator implemented on a classical computer. However, our proposal can be expected to help accurate estimations of the ground state energies beyond 50 qubits when the complete state vector can no longer be stored on a classical computer, thus enabling quantum advantage.