On the similarity of bandwidth-tuned quantum kernels and classical kernels

Fuente: arXiv
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Autores principales: Flórez-Ablan, Roberto, Roth, Marco, Schnabel, Jan
Formato: Preprint
Publicado: 2025
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author Flórez-Ablan, Roberto
Roth, Marco
Schnabel, Jan
author_facet Flórez-Ablan, Roberto
Roth, Marco
Schnabel, Jan
contents Quantum kernels (QK) are widely used in quantum machine learning applications; yet, their potential to surpass classical machine learning methods on classical datasets remains uncertain. This limitation can be attributed to the exponential concentration phenomenon, which can impair generalization. A common strategy to alleviate this is bandwidth tuning, which involves rescaling data points in the quantum model to improve generalization. In this work, we numerically demonstrate that optimal bandwidth tuning results in QKs that closely resemble radial basis function (RBF) kernels, leading to a lack of quantum advantage over classical methods. Moreover, we reveal that the size of optimal bandwidth tuning parameters further simplifies QKs, causing them to behave like polynomial kernels, corresponding to a low-order Taylor approximation of a RBF kernel. We thoroughly investigate this for fidelity quantum kernels and projected quantum kernels using various data encoding circuits across several classification datasets. We provide numerical evidence and derive a simple analytical model that elucidates how bandwidth tuning influences key quantities in classification tasks. Overall, our findings shed light on the mechanisms that render QK methods classically tractable.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2503_05602
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle On the similarity of bandwidth-tuned quantum kernels and classical kernels
Flórez-Ablan, Roberto
Roth, Marco
Schnabel, Jan
Quantum Physics
Machine Learning
Quantum kernels (QK) are widely used in quantum machine learning applications; yet, their potential to surpass classical machine learning methods on classical datasets remains uncertain. This limitation can be attributed to the exponential concentration phenomenon, which can impair generalization. A common strategy to alleviate this is bandwidth tuning, which involves rescaling data points in the quantum model to improve generalization. In this work, we numerically demonstrate that optimal bandwidth tuning results in QKs that closely resemble radial basis function (RBF) kernels, leading to a lack of quantum advantage over classical methods. Moreover, we reveal that the size of optimal bandwidth tuning parameters further simplifies QKs, causing them to behave like polynomial kernels, corresponding to a low-order Taylor approximation of a RBF kernel. We thoroughly investigate this for fidelity quantum kernels and projected quantum kernels using various data encoding circuits across several classification datasets. We provide numerical evidence and derive a simple analytical model that elucidates how bandwidth tuning influences key quantities in classification tasks. Overall, our findings shed light on the mechanisms that render QK methods classically tractable.
title On the similarity of bandwidth-tuned quantum kernels and classical kernels
topic Quantum Physics
Machine Learning
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.05602