Reinforcement learning of quantum circuit architectures for molecular potential energy curves

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Krumtünger, Maureen, Wilms, Alissa, Faehrmann, Paul K., Eisert, Jens, Kottmann, Jakob, Erdman, Paolo Andrea, Khatri, Sumeet
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Krumtünger, Maureen
Wilms, Alissa
Faehrmann, Paul K.
Eisert, Jens
Kottmann, Jakob
Erdman, Paolo Andrea
Khatri, Sumeet
author_facet Krumtünger, Maureen
Wilms, Alissa
Faehrmann, Paul K.
Eisert, Jens
Kottmann, Jakob
Erdman, Paolo Andrea
Khatri, Sumeet
contents Quantum chemistry and optimization are two of the most prominent applications of quantum computers. Variational quantum algorithms have been proposed for solving problems in these domains. However, the design of the quantum circuit ansatz remains a challenge. Of particular interest is developing a method to generate circuits for any given instance of a problem, not merely a circuit tailored to a specific instance of the problem. To this end, we present a reinforcement learning (RL) approach to learning a problem-dependent quantum circuit mapping, which outputs a circuit for the ground state of a Hamiltonian from a given family of parameterized Hamiltonians. For quantum chemistry, our RL framework takes as input a molecule and a discrete set of bond distances, and it outputs a bond-distance-dependent quantum circuit for arbitrary bond distances along the potential energy curve. The inherently non-greedy approach of our RL method contrasts with existing greedy approaches to adaptive, problem-tailored circuit constructions. We demonstrate its effectiveness for the four-qubit and six-qubit lithium hydride molecules, as well as an eight-qubit H$_4$ chain. Our learned circuits are interpretable in a physically meaningful manner, thus paving the way for applying RL to the development of novel quantum circuits for the ground states of large-scale molecular systems.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2511_16559
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Reinforcement learning of quantum circuit architectures for molecular potential energy curves
Krumtünger, Maureen
Wilms, Alissa
Faehrmann, Paul K.
Eisert, Jens
Kottmann, Jakob
Erdman, Paolo Andrea
Khatri, Sumeet
Quantum Physics
Quantum chemistry and optimization are two of the most prominent applications of quantum computers. Variational quantum algorithms have been proposed for solving problems in these domains. However, the design of the quantum circuit ansatz remains a challenge. Of particular interest is developing a method to generate circuits for any given instance of a problem, not merely a circuit tailored to a specific instance of the problem. To this end, we present a reinforcement learning (RL) approach to learning a problem-dependent quantum circuit mapping, which outputs a circuit for the ground state of a Hamiltonian from a given family of parameterized Hamiltonians. For quantum chemistry, our RL framework takes as input a molecule and a discrete set of bond distances, and it outputs a bond-distance-dependent quantum circuit for arbitrary bond distances along the potential energy curve. The inherently non-greedy approach of our RL method contrasts with existing greedy approaches to adaptive, problem-tailored circuit constructions. We demonstrate its effectiveness for the four-qubit and six-qubit lithium hydride molecules, as well as an eight-qubit H$_4$ chain. Our learned circuits are interpretable in a physically meaningful manner, thus paving the way for applying RL to the development of novel quantum circuits for the ground states of large-scale molecular systems.
title Reinforcement learning of quantum circuit architectures for molecular potential energy curves
topic Quantum Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.16559