Adaptive Variational Quantum Dynamics Simulations

TL;DR

This paper introduces an adaptive variational quantum dynamics simulation method that dynamically constructs wavefunction ansätze to accurately simulate quantum systems with fewer quantum gates, enhancing efficiency on near-term quantum devices.

Contribution

The paper presents a novel adaptive approach to variational quantum dynamics that maintains simulation accuracy while significantly reducing circuit depth and gate count.

Findings

Successfully applied to spin chain and Ising model.

Achieves high fidelity in both finite-rate and sudden quenches.

Reduces CNOT gates by up to two orders of magnitude.

Abstract

We propose a general-purpose, self-adaptive approach to construct variational wavefunction ans\"atze for highly accurate quantum dynamics simulations based on McLachlan's variational principle. The key idea is to dynamically expand the variational ansatz along the time-evolution path such that the ``McLachlan distance'', which is a measure of the simulation accuracy, remains below a set threshold. We apply this adaptive variational quantum dynamics simulation (AVQDS) approach to the integrable Lieb-Schultz-Mattis spin chain and the nonintegrable mixed-field Ising model, where it captures both finite-rate and sudden post-quench dynamics with high fidelity. The AVQDS quantum circuits that prepare the time-evolved state are much shallower than those obtained from first-order Trotterization and contain up to two orders of magnitude fewer CNOT gate operations. We envision that a wide range of dynamical simulations of quantum many-body systems on near-term quantum computing devices will be made possible through the AVQDS framework.