This paper presents a deep reinforcement learning approach for synthesizing unitaries into quantum circuits. Unitary synthesis aims to identify a quantum circuit that represents a given unitary while minimizing circuit depth, total gate count, a specific gate count, or a combination of these factors. While past research has focused predominantly on continuous gate sets, synthesizing unitaries from the parameter-free Clifford+T gate set remains a challenge. Although the time complexity of this task will inevitably remain exponential in the number of qubits for general unitaries, reducing the runtime for simple problem instances still poses a significant challenge. In this study, we apply the tree-search method Gumbel AlphaZero to solve the problem for a subset of exactly synthesizable Clifford+T unitaries. Our method effectively synthesizes circuits for up to five qubits generated from randomized circuits with up to 60 gates, outperforming existing tools like QuantumCircuitOpt and MIN-T-SYNTH in terms of synthesis time for larger qubit counts. Furthermore, it surpasses Synthetiq in successfully synthesizing random, exactly synthesizable unitaries. These results establish a strong baseline for future unitary synthesis algorithms.
Unitary $k$-designs are finite ensembles of unitary matrices that approximate the Haar distribution over unitary matrices. Several ensembles are known to be 2-designs, including the uniform distribution over the Clifford group, but no family of ensembles was previously known to form a 3-design. We prove that the Clifford group is a 3-design, showing that it is a better approximation to Haar-random unitaries than previously expected. Our proof strategy works for any distribution of unitaries satisfying a property we call Pauli 2-mixing and proceeds without the use of heavy mathematical machiner…
The Clifford group is the quotient of the normalizer of the Weyl-Heisenberg group in dimension $d$ by its centre. We prove that when $d$ is not prime the Clifford group is not a group unitary $2$-design. Furthermore, we prove that the multipartite Clifford group is not a group unitary 2-design except for the known cases wherein the local Hilbert space dimensions are a constant prime number. We also clarify the structure of projective group unitary $2$-designs. We show that the adjoint action induced by a group unitary $2$-design decomposes into exactly two irreducible components; moreover, a g…
We study the computational power of unitary Clifford circuits with solely magic state inputs (CM circuits), supplemented by classical efficient computation. We show that CM circuits are hard to classically simulate up to multiplicative error (assuming PH non-collapse), and also up to additive error under plausible average-case hardness conjectures. Unlike other such known classes, a broad variety of possible conjectures apply. Along the way we give an extension of the Gottesman-Knill theorem that applies to universal computation, showing that for Clifford circuits with joint stabiliser and non…
We study the relation between local unitary (LU) equivalence and local Clifford (LC) equivalence of stabilizer states. We introduce a large subclass of stabilizer states, such that every two LU equivalent states in this class are necessarily LC equivalent. Together with earlier results, this shows that LC, LU and SLOCC equivalence are the same notions for this class of stabilizer states. Moreover, recognizing whether two given stabilizer states in the present subclass are locally equivalent only requires a polynomial number of operations in the number of qubits.
A unitary t-design is a set of unitaries that is "evenly distributed" in the sense that the average of any t-th order polynomial over the design equals the average over the entire unitary group. In various fields -- e.g. quantum information theory -- one frequently encounters constructions that rely on matrices drawn uniformly at random from the unitary group. Often, it suffices to sample these matrices from a unitary t-design, for sufficiently high t. This results in more explicit, derandomized constructions. The most prominent unitary t-design considered in quantum information is the multi-q…
Graph states are quantum states that can be described by a stabilizer formalism and play an important role in quantum information processing. We consider the action of local unitary operations on graph states and hypergraph states. We focus on non-Clifford operations and find for certain transformations a graphical description in terms of weighted hypergraphs. This leads to the indentification of hypergraph states that are locally equivalent to graph states. Moreover, we present a systematic way to construct pairs of graph states which are equivalent under local unitary operations, but not equ…
We generalize an efficient exact synthesis algorithm for single-qubit unitaries over the Clifford+T gate set which was presented by Kliuchnikov, Maslov and Mosca. Their algorithm takes as input an exactly synthesizable single-qubit unitary--one which can be expressed without error as a product of Clifford and T gates--and outputs a sequence of gates which implements it. The algorithm is optimal in the sense that the length of the sequence, measured by the number of T gates, is smallest possible. In this paper, for each positive even integer $n$ we consider the "Clifford-cyclotomic" gate set co…
Institute for Quantum Computing（量子计算研究所）；University of Waterloo（滑铁卢大学）；Institut de Mathématiques d’Orsay（奥赛数学研究所）；Université Paris-Saclay（巴黎萨克雷大学）；David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science（大卫R.切里顿计算机科学学院）；Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics（理论物理 perimeter 研究所）；Dept. of Combinatorics and Optimization（组合优化系）；QuScript Inc.（QuScript 公司）
Given oracle access to an unknown unitary C from the Clifford group and its conjugate, we give an exact algorithm for identifying C with O(n) queries, which we prove is optimal. We then extend this to all levels of the Gottesman-Chuang hierarchy (also known as the C_k hierarchy). Further, for unitaries not in the hierarchy itself but known to be close to an element of the hierarchy, we give a method of finding this close element. We also present a Clifford testing algorithm that decides whether a given black-box unitary is close to a Clifford or far from every Clifford.
While implementing a quantum algorithm it is crucial to reduce the quantum resources, in order to obtain the desired computational advantage. For most fault-tolerant quantum error-correcting codes the cost of implementing the non-Clifford gate is the highest among all the gates in a universal fault-tolerant gate set. In this paper we design provable algorithm to determine T-count of any $n$-qubit ($n\geq 1$) unitary $W$ of size $2^n\times 2^n$, over the Clifford+T gate set. The space and time complexity of our algorithm are $O\left(2^{2n}\right)$ and $O\left(2^{2n\mathcal{T}_ε(W)+4n}\right)$ r…
We developed a general framework for synthesizing target gates by using a finite set of basic gates, which is a crucial step in quantum compilation. When approximating a gate in SU($n$), a naive brute-force search requires a computational complexity of $O(1/\varepsilon^{(n^2 - 1)})$ to achieve an approximation with error $\varepsilon$. In contrast, by using our method, the complexity can be reduced to $O(-n^2 \log\varepsilon/\varepsilon^{((n^2 - 1)/2)})$. This method requires almost no assumptions and can be applied to a variety of gate sets, including Clifford+$T$ and Clifford+$V$. Further, w…
The term Clifford group was introduced in 1998 by D. Gottesmann in his investigation of quantum error-correcting codes. The simplest Clifford group in multiqubit quantum computation is generated by a restricted set of unitary Clifford gates - the Hadamard, $π/4$-phase and controlled-X gates. Because of this restriction the Clifford model of quantum computation can be efficiently simulated on a classical computer (the Gottesmann-Knill theorem). However, this fact does not diminish the importance of the Clifford model, since it may serve as a suitable starting point for a full-fledged quantum co…
Quantum key distribution (QKD) promises provably secure cryptography, even to attacks from an all-powerful adversary. However, with quantum computing development lagging behind QKD, the assumption that there exists an adversary equipped with a universal fault-tolerant quantum computer is unrealistic for at least the near future. Here, we explore the effect of restricting the eavesdropper's computational capabilities on the security of QKD, and find that improved secret key rates are possible. Specifically, we show that for a large class of discrete variable protocols higher key rates are possi…
We consider a version of the extended Clifford Group which is defined in terms of a finite Galois field in odd prime power dimension. We show that Neuhauser's result, that with the appropriate choice of phases the standard (or metaplectic) representation of the discrete symplectic group is faithful also holds for the anti-unitary operators of the extended group. We also improve on Neuhauser's result by giving explicit formulae for the (anti-)unitary corresponding to an arbitrary (anti-)symplectic matrix. We then go on to find the eigenvalues and the order of an arbitrary (anti-)symplectic matr…
The ZX-calculus is a graphical calculus for reasoning about pure state qubit quantum mechanics. It is complete for pure qubit stabilizer quantum mechanics, meaning any equality involving only stabilizer operations that can be derived using matrices can also be derived pictorially. Stabilizer operations include the unitary Clifford group, as well as preparation of qubits in the state |0>, and measurements in the computational basis. For general pure state qubit quantum mechanics, the ZX-calculus is incomplete: there exist equalities involving non-stabilizer unitary operations on single qubits w…
The equivalence of stabilizer states under local transformations is of fundamental interest in understanding properties and uses of entanglement. Two stabilizer states are equivalent under the usual stochastic local operations and classical communication criterion if and only if they are equivalent under local unitary (LU) operations. More surprisingly, under certain conditions, two LU equivalent stabilizer states are also equivalent under local Clifford (LC) operations, as was shown by Van den Nest et al. [Phys. Rev. \textbf{A71}, 062323]. Here, we broaden the class of stabilizer states for w…
For a number of useful quantum circuits, qudit constructions have been found which reduce resource requirements compared to the best known or best possible qubit construction. However, many of the necessary qutrit gates in these constructions have never been explicitly and efficiently constructed in a fault-tolerant manner. We show how to exactly and unitarily construct any qutrit multiple-controlled Clifford+T unitary using just Clifford+T gates and without using ancillae. The T-count to do so is polynomial in the number of controls $k$, scaling as $O(k^{3.585})$. With our results we can cons…
Kliuchnikov, Maslov, and Mosca proved in 2012 that a $2\times 2$ unitary matrix $V$ can be exactly represented by a single-qubit Clifford+$T$ circuit if and only if the entries of $V$ belong to the ring $\mathbb{Z}[1/\sqrt{2},i]$. Later that year, Giles and Selinger showed that the same restriction applies to matrices that can be exactly represented by a multi-qubit Clifford+$T$ circuit. These number-theoretic characterizations shed new light upon the structure of Clifford+$T$ circuits and led to remarkable developments in the field of quantum compiling. In the present paper, we provide number…
Spreading of Magic Resource under Unitary Clifford Dynamics
King’s College London（伦敦国王学院）；University of Cambridge（剑桥大学）；Trinity College Dublin（都柏林三一学院）；Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems（马克斯·普朗克复杂系统物理研究所）
Randomized benchmarking is a widely used experimental technique to characterize the average error of quantum operations. Benchmarking procedures that scale to enable characterization of $n$-qubit circuits rely on efficient procedures for manipulating those circuits and, as such, have been limited to subgroups of the Clifford group. However, universal quantum computers require additional, non-Clifford gates to approximate arbitrary unitary transformations. We define a scalable randomized benchmarking procedure over $n$-qubit unitary matrices that correspond to protected non-Clifford gates for a…
Unitary $t$-designs are a ubiquitous tool in many research areas, including randomized benchmarking, quantum process tomography, and scrambling. Despite the intensive efforts of many researchers, little is known about unitary $t$-designs with $t\geq3$ in the literature. We show that the multiqubit Clifford group in any even prime-power dimension is not only a unitary 2-design, but also a 3-design. Moreover, it is a minimal 3-design except for dimension~4. As an immediate consequence, any orbit of pure states of the multiqubit Clifford group forms a complex projective 3-design; in particular, t…
We prove that a unitary matrix has an exact representation over the Clifford+T gate set with local ancillas if and only if its entries are in the ring Z[1/sqrt(2),i]. Moreover, we show that one ancilla always suffices. These facts were conjectured by Kliuchnikov, Maslov, and Mosca. We obtain an algorithm for synthesizing a exact Clifford+T circuit from any such n-qubit operator. We also characterize the Clifford+T operators that can be represented without ancillas.
We describe a new method for approximating an arbitrary $n$ qubit unitary with precision $\varepsilon$ using a Clifford and T circuit with $O(4^{n}n(\log(1/\varepsilon)+n))$ gates. The method is based on rounding off a unitary to a unitary over the ring $\mathbb{Z}[i,1/\sqrt{2}]$ and employing exact synthesis. We also show that any $n$ qubit unitary over the ring $\mathbb{Z}[i,1/\sqrt{2}]$ with entries of the form $(a+b\sqrt{2}+ic+id\sqrt{2})/2^{k}$ can be exactly synthesized using $O(4^{n}nk)$ Clifford and T gates using two ancillary qubits. This new exact synthesis algorithm is an improvemen…
Clifford algebras are used for definition of spinors. Because of using spin-1/2 systems as an adequate model of quantum bit, a relation of the algebras with quantum information science has physical reasons. But there are simple mathematical properties of the algebras those also justifies such applications. First, any complex Clifford algebra with 2n generators, Cl(2n,C), has representation as algebra of all 2^n x 2^n complex matrices and so includes unitary matrix of any quantum n-gate. An arbitrary element of whole algebra corresponds to general form of linear complex transformation. The last…
We describe the structure of the extended Clifford Group (defined to be the group consisting of all operators, unitary and anti-unitary, which normalize the generalized Pauli group (or Weyl-Heisenberg group as it is often called)). We also obtain a number of results concerning the structure of the Clifford Group proper (i.e. the group consisting just of the unitary operators which normalize the generalized Pauli group). We then investigate the action of the extended Clifford group operators on symmetric informationally complete POVMs (or SIC-POVMs) covariant relative to the action of the gener…
Recently, there has been an emergence of useful applications for noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) devices notably, though not exclusively, in the fields of quantum machine learning and variational quantum algorithms. In such applications, circuits of various depths and composed of different sets of gates are run on NISQ devices. Therefore, it is crucial to find practical ways to capture the general performance of circuits on these devices. Motivated by this pressing need, we modified the standard Clifford randomized benchmarking (RB) and interleaved RB schemes targeting them to hardware…
We consider the problem of $\textit{subgroup testing}$ for a quantum circuit $C$: given access to $C$, determine whether it implements a unitary that is $a$-close or $b$-far from a subgroup $\mathcal{G}$ of the unitary group. It encompasses the problem of exact testing, property testing and tolerant testing. In this work, we study these problems with the group $\mathcal{G}$ as the trivial subgroup (i.e. identity testing) or the Pauli or Clifford group and their $q$-ary extension, and a $\textit{promise}$ version of these problems where $C$ is promised to be in some subgroup of the unitaries th…
We describe how any two-party quantum computation, specified by a unitary which simultaneously acts on the registers of both parties, can be privately implemented against a quantum version of classical semi-honest adversaries that we call specious. Our construction requires two ideal functionalities to garantee privacy: a private SWAP between registers held by the two parties and a classical private AND-box equivalent to oblivious transfer. If the unitary to be evaluated is in the Clifford group then only one call to SWAP is required for privacy. On the other hand, any unitary not in the Cliff…
We describe a new method for the decomposition of an arbitrary $n$ qubit operator with entries in $\mathbb{Z}[i,\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}]$, i.e., of the form $(a+b\sqrt{2}+i(c+d\sqrt{2}))/{\sqrt{2}^{k}}$, into Clifford+$T$ operators where $n\le 2$. This method achieves a bound of $O(k)$ gates using at most one ancilla using decomposition into $1$- and $2$-level matrices which was first proposed by Giles and Selinger.
In order to realize fault-tolerant quantum computation, tight evaluation of error threshold under practical noise models is essential. While non-Clifford noise is ubiquitous in experiments, the error threshold under non-Clifford noise cannot be efficiently treated with known approaches. We construct an efficient scheme for estimating the error threshold of one-dimensional quantum repetition code under non-Clifford noise. To this end, we employ non-unitary free-fermionic formalism for efficient simulation of the one-dimensional repetition code under coherent noise. This allows us to evaluate th…
In this paper, we show the equivalence of the set of unitaries computable by the circuits over the Clifford and T library and the set of unitaries over the ring $\mathbb{Z}[\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}},i]$, in the single-qubit case. We report an efficient synthesis algorithm, with an exact optimality guarantee on the number of Hadamard and T gates used. We conjecture that the equivalence of the sets of unitaries implementable by circuits over the Clifford and T library and unitaries over the ring $\mathbb{Z}[\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}},i]$ holds in the $n$-qubit case.
