We detail techniques to optimise high-level classical simulations of Shors quantum factoring algorithm. Chief among these is to examine the entangling properties of the circuit and to effectively map it across the one-dimensional structure of a matrix product state. Compared to previous approaches whose space requirements depend on $r$, the solution to the underlying order-finding problem of Shors algorithm, our approach depends on its factors. We performed a matrix product state simulation of a 60-qubit instance of Shors algorithm that would otherwise be infeasible to complete without an optimised entanglement mapping.
We show how the execution time of algorithms on quantum computers depends on the architecture of the quantum computer, the choice of algorithms (including subroutines such as arithmetic), and the ``clock speed of the quantum computer. The primary architectural features of interest are the ability to execute multiple gates concurrently, the number of application-level qubits available, and the interconnection network of qubits. We analyze Shors algorithm for factoring large numbers in this context. Our results show that, if arbitrary interconnection of qubits is possible, a machine with an application-level clock speed of as low as one-third of a (possibly encoded) gate per second could factor a 576-bit number in under one month, potentially outperforming a large network of classical computers. For nearest-neighbor-only architectures, a clock speed of around twenty-seven gates per second is required.
We present a matrix product state (MPS) algorithm to approximate ground states of translationally invariant systems with periodic boundary conditions. For a fixed value of the bond dimension D of the MPS, we discuss how to minimize the computational cost to obtain a seemingly optimal MPS approximation to the ground state. In a chain of N sites and correlation length xi, the computational cost formally scales as g(D,xi /N)D^3, where g(D,xi /N) is a nontrivial function. For xi << N, this scaling reduces to D^3, independent of the system size N, making our algorithm N times faster than previous proposals. We apply the method to obtain MPS approximations for the ground states of the critical quantum Ising and Heisenberg spin-1/2 models as well as for the noncritical Heisenberg spin-1 model. In the critical case, for any chain length N, we find a model-dependent bond dimension D(N) above which the polynomial decay of correlations is faithfully reproduced throughout the entire system.
Shors powerful quantum algorithm for factoring represents a major challenge in quantum computation and its full realization will have a large impact on modern cryptography. Here we implement a compiled version of Shors algorithm in a photonic system using single photons and employing the non-linearity induced by measurement. For the first time we demonstrate the core processes, coherent control, and resultant entangled states that are required in a full-scale implementation of Shors algorithm. Demonstration of these processes is a necessary step on the path towards a full implementation of Shors algorithm and scalable quantum computing. Our results highlight that the performance of a quantum algorithm is not the same as performance of the underlying quantum circuit, and stress the importance of developing techniques for characterising quantum algorithms.
In recent years, a close connection between the description of open quantum systems, the input-output formalism of quantum optics, and continuous matrix product states in quantum field theory has been established. So far, however, this connection has not been extended to the condensed-matter context. In this work, we substantially develop further and apply a machinery of continuous matrix product states (cMPS) to perform tomography of transport experiments. We first present an extension of the tomographic possibilities of cMPS by showing that reconstruction schemes do not need to be based on low-order correlation functions only, but also on low-order counting probabilities. We show that fermionic quantum transport settings can be formulated within the cMPS framework. This allows us to present a reconstruction scheme based on the measurement of low-order correlation functions that provides access to quantities that are not directly measurable with present technology. Emblematic examples are high-order correlations functions and waiting times distributions (WTD). The latter are of particular interest since they offer insights into short-time scale physics. We demonstrate the functioning of the method with actual data, opening up the way to accessing WTD within the quantum regime.