A Time-Symmetric Quantum Algorithm for Direct Eigenstate Determination

TL;DR

This paper introduces a time-symmetric quantum algorithm that directly determines eigenstates and eigenvalues of Hamiltonians, leveraging forward and backward evolution to improve efficiency and avoid common computational issues.

Contribution

The proposed nonvariational, time-symmetric quantum algorithm enables direct eigenstate determination without prior eigenstate computation, improving over existing methods.

Findings

Successfully computes energy spectra of molecular systems.

Identifies topological states in condensed matter models.

Avoids barren plateau problem in quantum optimization.

Abstract

Time symmetry in quantum mechanics, where the current quantum state is determined jointly by both the past and the future, offers a more comprehensive description of physical phenomena. This symmetry facilitates both forward and backward time evolution, providing a computational advantage over methods that rely on a fixed time direction. In this work, we present a nonvariational and \textit{time-symmetric quantum algorithm} for addressing the eigenvalue problem of the Hamiltonian, leveraging the coherence between forward and backward time evolution. Our approach enables the simultaneous determination of both the ground state and the highest excited state, as well as the direct identification of arbitrary eigenstates of the Hamiltonian. Unlike existing methods, our algorithm eliminates the need for prior computation of lower eigenstates, allowing for the direct extraction of any eigenstate and energy bandwidth while avoiding error accumulation. Its non-variational nature ensures convergence to target states without encountering the barren plateau problem. We demonstrate the feasibility of implementing the non-unitary evolution using both the linear combination of unitaries and quantum Monte Carlo methods. Our algorithm is applied to compute the energy bandwidth and spectrum of various molecular systems, as well as to identify topological states in condensed matter systems, including the Kane-Mele model and the Su-Schrieffer-Heeger model. We anticipate that this algorithm will provide an efficient solution for eigenvalue problems, particularly in distinguishing quantum phases and calculating energy bands.