Designing High-Fidelity Single-Shot Three-Qubit Gates: A Machine Learning Approach

Three-qubit quantum gates are key ingredients for quantum error correction and quantum information processing. We generate quantum-control procedures to design three types of three-qubit gates, namely Toffoli, Controlled-Not-Not and Fredkin gates. The design procedures are applicable to a system comprising three nearest-neighbor-coupled superconducting artificial atoms. For each three-qubit gate, the numerical simulation of the proposed scheme achieves 99.9% fidelity, which is an accepted threshold fidelity for fault-tolerant quantum computing. We test our procedure in the presence of decoherence-induced noise as well as show its robustness against random external noise generated by the control electronics. The three-qubit gates are designed via the machine learning algorithm called Subspace-Selective Self-Adaptive Differential Evolution (SuSSADE).Comment: 18 pages, 13 figures. Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. Applie

Stochastic Subgradient Algorithms for Strongly Convex Optimization over Distributed Networks

We study diffusion and consensus based optimization of a sum of unknown convex objective functions over distributed networks. The only access to these functions is through stochastic gradient oracles, each of which is only available at a different node, and a limited number of gradient oracle calls is allowed at each node. In this framework, we introduce a convex optimization algorithm based on the stochastic gradient descent (SGD) updates. Particularly, we use a carefully designed time-dependent weighted averaging of the SGD iterates, which yields a convergence rate of $O\left(\frac{N\sqrt{N}}{T}\right)$ after $T$ gradient updates for each node on a network of $N$ nodes. We then show that after $T$ gradient oracle calls, the average SGD iterate achieves a mean square deviation (MSD) of $O\left(\frac{\sqrt{N}}{T}\right)$. This rate of convergence is optimal as it matches the performance lower bound up to constant terms. Similar to the SGD algorithm, the computational complexity of the proposed algorithm also scales linearly with the dimensionality of the data. Furthermore, the communication load of the proposed method is the same as the communication load of the SGD algorithm. Thus, the proposed algorithm is highly efficient in terms of complexity and communication load. We illustrate the merits of the algorithm with respect to the state-of-art methods over benchmark real life data sets and widely studied network topologies

Combinatorial optimization and metaheuristics

Today, combinatorial optimization is one of the youngest and most active areas of discrete mathematics. It is a branch of optimization in applied mathematics and computer science, related to operational research, algorithm theory and computational complexity theory. It sits at the intersection of several fields, including artificial intelligence, mathematics and software engineering. Its increasing interest arises for the fact that a large number of scientific and industrial problems can be formulated as abstract combinatorial optimization problems, through graphs and/or (integer) linear programs. Some of these problems have polynomial-time (“efficient”) algorithms, while most of them are NP-hard, i.e. it is not proved that they can be solved in polynomial-time. Mainly, it means that it is not possible to guarantee that an exact solution to the problem can be found and one has to settle for an approximate solution with known performance guarantees. Indeed, the goal of approximate methods is to find “quickly” (reasonable run-times), with “high” probability, provable “good” solutions (low error from the real optimal solution). In the last 20 years, a new kind of algorithm commonly called metaheuristics have emerged in this class, which basically try to combine heuristics in high level frameworks aimed at efficiently and effectively exploring the search space. This report briefly outlines the components, concepts, advantages and disadvantages of different metaheuristic approaches from a conceptual point of view, in order to analyze their similarities and differences. The two very significant forces of intensification and diversification, that mainly determine the behavior of a metaheuristic, will be pointed out. The report concludes by exploring the importance of hybridization and integration methods

Robust Online Hamiltonian Learning

In this work we combine two distinct machine learning methodologies, sequential Monte Carlo and Bayesian experimental design, and apply them to the problem of inferring the dynamical parameters of a quantum system. We design the algorithm with practicality in mind by including parameters that control trade-offs between the requirements on computational and experimental resources. The algorithm can be implemented online (during experimental data collection), avoiding the need for storage and post-processing. Most importantly, our algorithm is capable of learning Hamiltonian parameters even when the parameters change from experiment-to-experiment, and also when additional noise processes are present and unknown. The algorithm also numerically estimates the Cramer-Rao lower bound, certifying its own performance.Comment: 24 pages, 12 figures; to appear in New Journal of Physic

Quantum Generative Adversarial Networks for Learning and Loading Random Distributions

Quantum algorithms have the potential to outperform their classical counterparts in a variety of tasks. The realization of the advantage often requires the ability to load classical data efficiently into quantum states. However, the best known methods require $\mathcal{O}\left(2^n\right)$ gates to load an exact representation of a generic data structure into an $n$-qubit state. This scaling can easily predominate the complexity of a quantum algorithm and, thereby, impair potential quantum advantage. Our work presents a hybrid quantum-classical algorithm for efficient, approximate quantum state loading. More precisely, we use quantum Generative Adversarial Networks (qGANs) to facilitate efficient learning and loading of generic probability distributions -- implicitly given by data samples -- into quantum states. Through the interplay of a quantum channel, such as a variational quantum circuit, and a classical neural network, the qGAN can learn a representation of the probability distribution underlying the data samples and load it into a quantum state. The loading requires $\mathcal{O}\left(poly\left(n\right)\right)$ gates and can, thus, enable the use of potentially advantageous quantum algorithms, such as Quantum Amplitude Estimation. We implement the qGAN distribution learning and loading method with Qiskit and test it using a quantum simulation as well as actual quantum processors provided by the IBM Q Experience. Furthermore, we employ quantum simulation to demonstrate the use of the trained quantum channel in a quantum finance application.Comment: 14 pages, 13 figure

Quantum Model Averaging

Standard tomographic analyses ignore model uncertainty. It is assumed that a given model generated the data and the task is to estimate the quantum state, or a subset of parameters within that model. Here we apply a model averaging technique to mitigate the risk of overconfident estimates of model parameters in two examples: (1) selecting the rank of the state in tomography and (2) selecting the model for the fidelity decay curve in randomized benchmarking.Comment: For a summary, see http://i.imgur.com/nMJxANo.pn

Neuromorphic, Digital and Quantum Computation with Memory Circuit Elements

Memory effects are ubiquitous in nature and the class of memory circuit elements - which includes memristors, memcapacitors and meminductors - shows great potential to understand and simulate the associated fundamental physical processes. Here, we show that such elements can also be used in electronic schemes mimicking biologically-inspired computer architectures, performing digital logic and arithmetic operations, and can expand the capabilities of certain quantum computation schemes. In particular, we will discuss few examples where the concept of memory elements is relevant to the realization of associative memory in neuronal circuits, spike-timing-dependent plasticity of synapses, digital and field-programmable quantum computing