Spatial, spin, and charge symmetry projections for a Fermi-Hubbard model on a quantum computer

TL;DR

This paper introduces an extended symmetry-adapted variational quantum eigensolver (VQE) for the Fermi-Hubbard model, utilizing symmetry projections and Krylov subspaces to enhance accuracy on quantum computers.

Contribution

It develops a novel symmetry-adapted VQE method with symmetry projections and Krylov subspaces for improved ground state approximation in quantum simulations.

Findings

Symmetry projections improve variational state accuracy.

Krylov subspace expansion enhances results without more parameters.

Spatial, spin, and charge symmetries can be implemented on quantum circuits.

Abstract

We propose an extended version of the symmetry-adapted variational-quantum-eigensolver (VQE) and apply it to a two-component Fermi-Hubbard model on a bipartite lattice. In the extended symmetry-adapted VQE method, the Rayleigh quotient for the Hamiltonian and a parametrized quantum state in a properly chosen subspace is minimized within the subspace and is optimized among the variational parameters implemented on a quantum circuit to obtain variationally the ground state and the ground-state energy. The corresponding energy derivative with respect to a variational parameter is expressed as a Hellmann-Feynman-type formula of a generalized eigenvalue problem in the subspace, which thus allows us to use the parameter-shift rules for its evaluation. The natural-gradient-descent method is also generalized to optimize variational parameters in a quantum-subspace-expansion approach. As a subspace for approximating the ground state of the Hamiltonian, we consider a Krylov subspace generated by the Hamiltonian and a symmetry-projected variational state, and therefore the approximated ground state can restore the Hamiltonian symmetry that is broken in the parametrized variational state prepared on a quantum circuit. We show that spatial symmetry operations for fermions in an occupation basis can be expressed as a product of the nearest-neighbor fermionic swap operations on a quantum circuit. We also describe how the spin and charge symmetry operations, i.e., rotations, can be implemented on a quantum circuit. By numerical simulations, we demonstrate that the spatial, spin, and charge symmetry projections can improve the accuracy of the parametrized variational state, which can be further improved systematically by expanding the Krylov subspace without increasing the number of variational parameters.