quantum computing engineers

Abstract: We study the problem of tomography for $k$-sparse quantum states. In contrast to classical distribution learning, where tight sample and time complexity bounds in terms of support size are well understood, no non-trivial bounds were previously shown for this problem. We give the first near optimal algorithm for learning $n$-qubit $k$-sparse pure quantum states, obtaining fidelity at least $1-\varepsilon$ with high probability using $\tilde{O}(k/\varepsilon)$ copies of the state and $\tilde{O}(kn/\varepsilon)$ time. Both bounds are optimal up to polylogarithmic factors. As an implication, we also obtain an algorithm with near optimal $\tilde{O}(kr/\varepsilon)$ sample complexity for learning $k$-sparse rank-$r$ mixed states, via the random purification channel technique. Obtaining time complexity nearly matching the sample complexity, for $r>1$, remains an important open question.

Abstract: Hard symmetry constraints reduce model complexity, but can also erase label information. Statistical symmetry release determines when finite data and quantum measurements justify relaxing such a constraint, which directions to open, and how far to move. We connect global signal detection to local, loss-dependent improvement. A two-copy twirl--swap gate estimates task information in the symmetry-breaking complement with a dimension-independent copy count under paired-state and group-unitary access; reweighting the same records resolves representation sectors. An exact duality distinguishes this Hilbert--Schmidt signal from the larger signal accessible to bounded-outcome readouts. Local improvement is governed by the release gradient and a loss-corrected double-commutator matrix. Simultaneous confidence bounds convert empirical direction selection into certified descent, using either shared Pauli measurements or scalar probes with state-independent truncation bounds. Gaussian testing lower bounds quantify the cost of searching over unknown directions in the calibrated local experiment. Independent validation controls adaptively generated models, and a fast squared-loss bound preserves the approximation--estimation rate of a nested release path. On an eight-qubit Ising model, shared measurements certify release with 6300 times fewer shots than the specified scalar estimator on the tested budget grids. Quotient quantum natural gradient then controls parameter redundancy during training. Together, these results turn symmetry relaxation into a statistically justified model-selection decision.

Abstract: For every fixed $0<\varepsilon\le1$, we give a deterministic strongly polynomial algorithm that, given a nonnegative matrix $A\in\mathbb{R}_{\ge0}^{n\times n}$, returns $Q$ satisfying $\operatorname{per} A\le Q\le(1+\varepsilon)^n\operatorname{per} A$.

Abstract: We determine the optimal sample complexity of low-rank quantum state tomography when each measurement may act jointly on at most $t$ samples. For sufficiently small $\varepsilon$, estimating an unknown state on $\mathbb{C}^d$ of rank at most $r$ to trace norm error $\varepsilon$ with constant success probability requires, and is achievable with, $$ Θ\left( \frac{dr}{\varepsilon^2} \max\left\{1,\frac r{\sqrt t}\right\} \right)$$ samples. The lower bound allows the protocol to choose each joint measurement adaptively using all previous classical outcomes; the matching upper bound is nonadaptive. Thus joint measurements on at most $t$ samples improve the complexity of algorithms making single-sample measurements by at most a factor $\sqrt t$. Further, measuring order $r^2$ samples jointly is necessary and sufficient to attain the unrestricted collective rate. For the lower bound, we vary the support of a state with fixed uniform spectrum and bound the Fisher information trace of every joint measurement on $t$ samples. The adaptive Fisher chain rule and the van Trees inequality then give the trace norm lower bound. For the upper bound, we construct and analyze a nonadaptive tomography protocol based on a Gaussian joint measurement. An explicit second moment identity and a conditional Gaussian law outside the state's support give a rank-dependent error analysis, yielding the matching rate.

Abstract: We study Haar-Bayesian prediction of one unmeasured copy of an unknown finite-dimensional pure quantum state after an arbitrary collective measurement on $n$ observed copies. Performance is evaluated by quantum relative entropy. For a fixed measurement, the Bayes predictive state is the posterior mean and the optimized conditional loss is its entropy. We then optimize the measurement over all POVMs on the symmetric subspace. For every nonzero positive effect $E$, the corresponding posterior predictive state is $μ_E=(I+nρ_E)/(n+d)$, where $ρ_E$ is the normalized one-particle marginal of $E$. Since a pure spectrum majorizes every density-operator spectrum, this identity gives an outcome-wise entropy lower bound. Coherent rank-one effects attain the bound, and their Haar orbit yields the highest-weight covariant POVM. Hence this POVM is globally Bayes optimal over all collective measurements and, by covariance, globally minimax. Its exact risk is $h_d((n+1)/(n+d))$, where $h_d(r)=-r\log r-(1-r)\log((1-r)/(d-1))$. The same arbitrary-effect reduction shows that the highest-weight POVM also maximizes the joint overlap between the latent pure state and its posterior predictive state, equivalently the mean posterior purity, with optimum $((n+1)^2+d-1)/(n+d)^2$.

Abstract: High Performance Computing-Quantum Computing (HPCQC) platforms expose multiple Quantum Processing Units (QPUs) that may differ in size, topology, native gates, and noise characteristics. For current noisy devices, errors compound along the compiled circuits quickly, and minimizing them, that is, maximizing the circuits' execution fidelity, is essential for reliable results. Fidelity depends on the compilation to a specific target device: the same high-level circuit may produce different executables and, therefore, different expected fidelities across QPUs. We present a low-overhead fidelity-aware scheduling framework for multi-QPU systems based on a Graph Neural Network (GNN) that estimates, before compilation, the expected fidelity of each circuit on each available QPU. Then, a tunable scheduler uses these estimates to control the trade-off between execution fidelity and parallelism. Results show that this framework allows for approximating an exhaustive fidelity-based assignment, saving computational resources compared to a brute-force approach that compiles each circuit on every device.

Abstract: For each level of the Clifford hierarchy from the third level onward, we construct explicit asymptotically good binary CSS codes supporting diagonal transversal gates in that level. We achieve this using algebraic geometry codes over binary extension fields and performing an alphabet reduction that translates orthogonality conditions over the extension field to binary overlap conditions. In particular, we obtain the first asymptotically good family of binary triorthogonal codes. We also give a stronger construction with worse parameters for which no subsequent correction is required. Finally, adapting an error-correction-based distillation protocol, our binary $T$-gate families yield constant-overhead $T$-state block distillation under sufficiently weak input noise and ideal stabilizer operations.

Abstract: Foundation models for ground states in spin-1/2 systems are a promising method for problems ranging from quantum chemistry to identifying new phase diagrams. Nearly all such models are currently pure-states that condition on the Hamiltonian's parameters, whose Monte Carlo samples give energy estimates according to the variational principle. In this contribution, we show that this representation is topologically obstructed. For any gapped Hamiltonian family whose ground-state bundle is non-trivial, every continuous normalized state-vector model has zero fidelity with the ground state at some parameter value in the Hamiltonian family. For that value, the energy is at least one spectral gap, $Δ$, with an $O(Δ)$ gap in an open-neighbourhood of that point. We show that this is a sufficient no-go also in the case of degenerate ground-state manifolds, time dynamics, and periodic systems with mixed space-time topology, demonstrating these obstructions on one- and two-qubit systems. We discuss how this causes a spike in the fidelity susceptibility, giving a numerical signature of a phase-transition where there is none. We then show that operator-valued models canonically avoid these obstructions and preserve topological information, implying a structural necessity in representation for foundation neural quantum states.

Abstract: Quantum game theory is an extension of classical game theory that uses quantum principles in game theory. The Eisert-Wilkens-Lewenstein (EWL) quantum game is an early example of the two-player classical Prisoner's Dilemma transformed into a quantum Prisoner's Dilemma. In the EWL game, the players choose pure quantum strategies represented by unitary matrices. This extension can resolve the classical dilemma by enabling cooperative equilibrium with higher payoff. In this paper, we first discuss the Extended EWL (EEWL) for multiplayer quantum games with mixed strategies. In EEWL, each player controls a set of unitary operators as quantum actions and uses a classical mixed strategy over these actions. The payoffs are defined as expectation values of Hermitian reward operators acting on a shared quantum state, which is generated and measured according to the EEWL protocol. We then propose the Unitary Strategy Matrix Exponential Algorithm (USMEA), a geometry-aware sequential algorithm for the EEWL mixed-strategy setting, in which each player jointly learns a trainable set of local unitary actions and the associated classical mixing probabilities. Thereby it acts as a learning-and-control layer for multi-agent quantum decision systems. We analyze the convergence properties of USMEA under standard smoothness and step-size conditions and validate the theory with numerical experiments. These results show how classical optimization methods can be systematically integrated into the design and analysis of engineered quantum strategic interactions.