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Main Authors: Garcia, Roy J., Bhole, Gaurav, Bu, Kaifeng, Chen, Liyuan, Arthanari, Haribabu, Jaffe, Arthur
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
Subjects:
Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2408.01663
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author Garcia, Roy J.
Bhole, Gaurav
Bu, Kaifeng
Chen, Liyuan
Arthanari, Haribabu
Jaffe, Arthur
author_facet Garcia, Roy J.
Bhole, Gaurav
Bu, Kaifeng
Chen, Liyuan
Arthanari, Haribabu
Jaffe, Arthur
contents Quantum computers promise to solve computational problems significantly faster than classical computers. These 'speed-ups' are achieved by utilizing a resource known as magic. Measuring the amount of magic used by a device allows us to quantify its potential computational power. Without this property, quantum computers are no faster than classical computers. Whether magic can be accurately measured on large-scale quantum computers has remained an open problem. To address this question, we introduce Pauli instability as a measure of magic and experimentally measure it on the IBM Eagle quantum processor. We prove that measuring large (i.e., extensive) quantities of magic is intractable. Our results suggest that one may only measure magic when a quantum computer does not provide a speed-up. We support our conclusions with both theoretical and experimental evidence. Our work illustrates the capabilities and limitations of quantum technology in measuring one of the most important resources in quantum computation.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2408_01663
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle On the Hardness of Measuring Magic
Garcia, Roy J.
Bhole, Gaurav
Bu, Kaifeng
Chen, Liyuan
Arthanari, Haribabu
Jaffe, Arthur
Quantum Physics
Quantum computers promise to solve computational problems significantly faster than classical computers. These 'speed-ups' are achieved by utilizing a resource known as magic. Measuring the amount of magic used by a device allows us to quantify its potential computational power. Without this property, quantum computers are no faster than classical computers. Whether magic can be accurately measured on large-scale quantum computers has remained an open problem. To address this question, we introduce Pauli instability as a measure of magic and experimentally measure it on the IBM Eagle quantum processor. We prove that measuring large (i.e., extensive) quantities of magic is intractable. Our results suggest that one may only measure magic when a quantum computer does not provide a speed-up. We support our conclusions with both theoretical and experimental evidence. Our work illustrates the capabilities and limitations of quantum technology in measuring one of the most important resources in quantum computation.
title On the Hardness of Measuring Magic
topic Quantum Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2408.01663