Dr Shuxiang Cao

Abstract:

A qutrit represents a three-level quantum system, so that one qutrit can encode more information than a qubit, which corresponds to a two-level quantum system. This work investigates the potential of qutrit circuits in machine learning classification applications. We propose and evaluate different data-encoding schemes for qutrits, and find that the classification accuracy varies significantly depending on the used encoding. We therefore propose a training method for encoding optimization that allows to consistently achieve high classification accuracy, and show that it can also improve the performance within a data re-uploading approach. Our theoretical analysis and numerical simulations indicate that the qutrit classifier can achieve high classification accuracy using fewer components than a comparable qubit system. We showcase the qutrit classification using the encoding optimization method on a superconducting transmon qutrit, demonstrating the practicality of the proposed method on noisy hardware. Our work demonstrates high-precision ternary classification using fewer circuit elements, establishing qutrit quantum circuits as a viable and efficient tool for quantum machine learning applications.

Abstract:

Using quantum systems with more than two levels, or qudits, can scale the computational space of quantum processors more efficiently than using qubits, which may offer an easier physical implementation for larger Hilbert spaces. However, individual qudits may exhibit larger noise, and algorithms designed for qubits require to be recompiled to qudit algorithms for execution. In this work, we implemented a two-qubit emulator using a 4-level superconducting transmon qudit for variational quantum algorithm applications and analyzed its noise model. The major source of error for the variational algorithm was readout misclassification error and amplitude damping. To improve the accuracy of the results, we applied error-mitigation techniques to reduce the effects of the misclassification and qudit decay event. The final predicted energy value is within the range of chemical accuracy.