Simulating quantum systems with quantum computation

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10984152-B2
Application number	US-201715720088-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 29, 2017
Priority date	Sep 30, 2016
Publication date	Apr 20, 2021
Grant date	Apr 20, 2021

Abstract

In some aspects, a quantum simulation method includes generating a set of models representing a quantum system. The set of models includes subsystem models representing respective fragments of the quantum system. The quantum system is simulated by operating the set of models on a computer system that includes a classical processor unit and multiple unentangled quantum processor units (QPUs), and the unentangled QPUs operate the respective subsystem models. In some examples, density matrix embedding theory (DMET) is used to compute an approximate ground state energy for the quantum system.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A quantum simulation method performed by a computer system comprising at least one classical processor unit and a plurality of unentangled quantum processor units (QPUs), wherein the at least one classical processor unit is communicably coupled to the plurality of unentangled QPUs by respective interfaces, the quantum simulation method comprising:
by operation of the at least one classical processor unit:
identifying fragments of a quantum system; and
generating a set of models representing the quantum system, the set of models comprising subsystem models representing the respective fragments of the quantum system; and

using the plurality of unentangled QPUs to execute the respective subsystem models in a simulation of the quantum system, wherein using the plurality of unentangled QPUs to execute the respective subsystem models comprises delegating sub-processes to the plurality of unentangled QPUs, and delegating the sub-processes comprises:
sending instructions from the at least one classical processor unit to the plurality of unentangled QPUs through the respective interfaces; and
receiving outputs from the plurality of unentangled QPUs through the respective interfaces.

2. The quantum simulation method of claim 1 , wherein executing the subsystem models comprises using two or more of the unentangled QPUs to execute two or more of the subsystem models in parallel.

3. The quantum simulation method of claim 1 , comprising simulating the quantum system by executing the set of models on the computer system, wherein simulating the quantum system comprises using density matrix embedding theory (DMET) to compute an approximate ground state energy for the quantum system.

4. The quantum simulation method of claim 3 , wherein using the unentangled QPUs to execute the respective subsystem models comprises executing a variational quantum eigensolver (VQE) algorithm on each QPU to compute reduced density matrices (RDMs) for the respective fragments.

5. The quantum simulation method of claim 4 , comprising computing the approximate ground state energy from the RDMs.

6. The quantum simulation method of claim 4 , wherein the QPUs execute the VQE algorithm to compute two-particle reduced density matrices (2-RDMs) for the respective fragments.

7. The quantum simulation method of claim 4 , wherein the set of models comprises an approximate Hamiltonian for the quantum system, the approximate Hamiltonian comprises embedding potentials associated with the respective fragments, the subsystem models comprise embedded Hamiltonians for the respective fragments, and the QPUs compute the RDMs based on the embedded Hamiltonians.

8. The quantum simulation method of claim 7 , wherein simulating the quantum system comprises, by operation of the at least one classical processor unit:
computing an approximate ground state of the quantum system based on the approximate Hamiltonian having an initial set of values assigned to the embedding potentials; and
computing an updated set of values for the embedding potentials based on the RDMs computed by the QPUs.

9. The quantum simulation method of claim 7 , wherein simulating the quantum system comprises executing an iterative process, and each iteration of the iterative process comprises:
computing an approximate ground state of the quantum system for the iteration based on the approximate Hamiltonian;
generating subsystem models for the iteration based on the approximate ground state for the iteration;
by operation of the unentangled QPUs, computing updated RDMs for the respective fragments based on the subsystem models for the iteration; and
computing an updated set of values for the embedding potentials based on the updated RDMs.

10. The quantum simulation method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the plurality of unentangled QPUs comprises a superconducting circuit comprising a plurality of qubit devices, each of the qubit devices comprising at least one Josephson junction.

11. The quantum simulation method of claim 1 , wherein the set of models comprises a high-level quantum system model, the subsystem models are low-level quantum system models, and the method comprises:
using the at least one classical processor unit to execute the high-level quantum system model in the simulation of the quantum system; and
using the plurality of unentangled QPUs to execute the low-level quantum system models in the simulation of the quantum system.

12. The quantum simulation method of claim 1 , comprising, by operation of the at least one classical processor unit, identifying the fragments and parameterizing the subsystem models for execution by the unentangled QPUs based on hardware and performance capabilities of the unentangled QPUs.

13. The quantum simulation method of claim 12 , wherein each fragment represents a subspace within a Hilbert space defined by the quantum system, none of the fragments overlaps another fragment in the quantum system, and the fragments collectively constitute the entire quantum system.

14. The quantum simulation method of claim 1 , comprising, by operation of the at least one classical processor unit, integrating the outputs from the plurality of unentangled QPUs in the simulation of the quantum system.

15. The quantum simulation method of claim 1 , comprising, by operation of the at least one classical processor unit, delegating further sub-processes based on the outputs from the plurality of unentangled QPUs.

16. The quantum simulation method of claim 1 , wherein at least a subset of the plurality of unentangled QPUs operate in disparate locations.

17. The quantum simulation method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the interfaces comprises a local area network, and delegating the sub-processes comprises:
sending instructions from the at least one classical processor unit to at least one of the plurality of unentangled QPUs through the local area network; and
receiving outputs from at least one of the plurality of unentangled QPUs through the local area network.

18. The quantum simulation method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the interfaces comprises the Internet, and delegating the sub-processes comprises:
sending instructions from the at least one classical processor unit to at least one of the plurality of unentangled QPUs through the Internet; and
receiving outputs from at least one of the plurality of unentangled QPUs through the Internet.

19. A computer system comprising:
a plurality of unentangled quantum processor units (QPUs);
interfaces communicably connected to the plurality of unentangled QPUs:
one or more classical processor units configured to perform operations comprising:
identifying fragments of a quantum system:
generating a set of models representing the quantum system, the set of models comprising subsystem models representing the respective fragments of the quantum system; and
using the unentangled QPUs to execute the respective subsystem models, wherein using the unentangled QPUs to execute the respective subsystem models comprises delegating sub-processes to the unentangled QPUs, and delegating the sub-processes comprises:
sending instructions from the one or more classical processor units to the plurality of unentangled QPUs through the respective interfaces: and
receiving outputs from the plurality of unentangled QPUs through the respective interfaces.

20. The computer system of claim 19 , wherein using the unentangled QPUs comprises using two or more of the unentangled QPUs concurrently t

Assignees

• Rigetti & Co Inc

Inventors

• Rubin Nicholas Charles

Classifications

• G06N10/20

  Models of quantum computing, e.g. quantum circuits or universal quantum computers · CPC title

• G06N10/60

  Quantum algorithms, e.g. based on quantum optimisation, quantum Fourier or Hadamard transforms · CPC title

• G06F9/455

  Emulation; Interpretation; Software simulation, e.g. virtualisation or emulation of application or operating system execution engines · CPC title

• G16C20/30

  Prediction of properties of chemical compounds, compositions or mixtures · CPC title

• G16C10/00 Primary

  Computational theoretical chemistry, i.e. ICT specially adapted for theoretical aspects of quantum chemistry, molecular mechanics, molecular dynamics or the like · CPC title