Fault-tolerant quantum algorithms

TL;DR

This thesis explores fault-tolerant quantum algorithms, covering key topics like Grover's algorithm, quantum walks, Fourier transform applications, quantum linear algebra, Hamiltonian simulation, and quantum error correction codes.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of fault-tolerant quantum algorithms, including new insights into quantum linear solvers and error correction techniques.

Findings

Grover's algorithm is optimal and extendable.

Quantum linear algebra can be polynomially restricted by dequantization.

Surface and color codes are crucial for quantum error correction.

Abstract

The framework of this thesis is fault-tolerant quantum algorithms. Grover's algorithm and quantum walks are described in Chapter 2. We start by highlighting the central role that rotations play in quantum algorithms, explaining Grover's, why it is optimal, and how it may be extended. Key subroutines explained in this area are amplitude amplification and quantum walks, which will constitute useful parts of other algorithms. In the third chapter, in contrast, we turn to the exponential advantages promised by the Fourier transform in the context of the hidden subgroup problem. However, since this application is restricted to cryptography, we later explore its use in quantum linear algebra problems. Here we explain the development of the original quantum linear solver algorithm, its improvements, and finally the dequantization techniques that would often restrict the quantum advantage to polynomial. Chapter 4 is concerned with quantum simulation. We will review classical quantum chemistry techniques, and then focus on Hamiltonian simulation and ground state preparation as the key problems to be solved. Hamiltonian simulation, in particular, will enable the use of quantum phase estimation which computes the eigenvalues or energies of a given quantum state. Given the tradition of our group with error correction, we could not end this thesis without dedicating a final chapter to this topic. Here we explain the most important quantum error correction codes, the surface and color codes, and one extension of the latter, gauge color codes. They will show the complexity of implementing non-Clifford quantum gates, therefore validating their consideration as the bottleneck metric.