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Main Authors: Shoji, Satoru, Ito, Kosuke, Shimizu, Yukihiro, Fujii, Keisuke
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
Subjects:
Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.06013
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author Shoji, Satoru
Ito, Kosuke
Shimizu, Yukihiro
Fujii, Keisuke
author_facet Shoji, Satoru
Ito, Kosuke
Shimizu, Yukihiro
Fujii, Keisuke
contents Implementing time-evolution operators in shallow quantum circuits is important for quantum simulations. The standard method of Trotterization requires a large number of gates to achieve practical accuracy. Variational Quantum Simulation (VQS) is an algorithm that calculates the time evolution of a quantum state and can be executed with shallower circuits than Trotterization. However, the operator obtained by VQS evolves only a fixed initial state and is not the time evolution operator itself. In this paper, we propose Variational Quantum Operator Simulation (VQOS), a method to realize time evolution operators in shallow quantum circuits. This method is based on the variational principle for operators and does not require the implementation of the desired Trotter decomposition of the time evolution operator. We performed numerical simulations of the VQOS algorithm and successfully implemented the time evolution operator for closed systems in a quantum circuit that is up to 5 times shallower than the Trotterization. By providing a more practical way to implement time evolution operators, VQOS increases the applicability of near-term quantum computers.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2603_06013
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Variational Quantum Operator Simulation
Shoji, Satoru
Ito, Kosuke
Shimizu, Yukihiro
Fujii, Keisuke
Quantum Physics
Implementing time-evolution operators in shallow quantum circuits is important for quantum simulations. The standard method of Trotterization requires a large number of gates to achieve practical accuracy. Variational Quantum Simulation (VQS) is an algorithm that calculates the time evolution of a quantum state and can be executed with shallower circuits than Trotterization. However, the operator obtained by VQS evolves only a fixed initial state and is not the time evolution operator itself. In this paper, we propose Variational Quantum Operator Simulation (VQOS), a method to realize time evolution operators in shallow quantum circuits. This method is based on the variational principle for operators and does not require the implementation of the desired Trotter decomposition of the time evolution operator. We performed numerical simulations of the VQOS algorithm and successfully implemented the time evolution operator for closed systems in a quantum circuit that is up to 5 times shallower than the Trotterization. By providing a more practical way to implement time evolution operators, VQOS increases the applicability of near-term quantum computers.
title Variational Quantum Operator Simulation
topic Quantum Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.06013