Adaptive Tensor Network Sampling for Quantum Optimal Control

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Zeybek, Zeki, Mukherjee, Rick, Schmelcher, Peter
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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author Zeybek, Zeki
Mukherjee, Rick
Schmelcher, Peter
author_facet Zeybek, Zeki
Mukherjee, Rick
Schmelcher, Peter
contents Quantum optimal control (QOC) provides a systematic framework for achieving high-fidelity operations in quantum systems and plays a central role in tasks such as gate synthesis, state transfer, and pulse design. Existing QOC methods broadly fall into two categories: gradient-based and gradient-free algorithms. The associated optimization landscape is often high-dimensional, non-convex, and populated by numerous local minima, making efficient gradient-free search strategies essential. To address this, we introduce a gradient-free matrix product state/tensor train (MPS/TT) sampling heuristic for discrete quantum optimal control. In our approach, the MPS defines a score function over the space of discrete control parameters, which in turn induces a sampling distribution over candidate control sequences. This distribution is iteratively refined through selection of better performing sequences and local tensor updates to bias the search toward high-performing sequences. We evaluate the method on a range of benchmark problems, including single-qubit state transfer, Bell-pair preparation, qutrit gate implementation, and open-system population transfer. Across these tasks, the method exhibits stable convergence behavior and competitive empirical performance relative to established gradient-free baselines. These results suggest that tensor network sampling offers a viable heuristic framework for discrete quantum control.
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id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2604_24467
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Adaptive Tensor Network Sampling for Quantum Optimal Control
Zeybek, Zeki
Mukherjee, Rick
Schmelcher, Peter
Quantum Physics
Computational Physics
Quantum optimal control (QOC) provides a systematic framework for achieving high-fidelity operations in quantum systems and plays a central role in tasks such as gate synthesis, state transfer, and pulse design. Existing QOC methods broadly fall into two categories: gradient-based and gradient-free algorithms. The associated optimization landscape is often high-dimensional, non-convex, and populated by numerous local minima, making efficient gradient-free search strategies essential. To address this, we introduce a gradient-free matrix product state/tensor train (MPS/TT) sampling heuristic for discrete quantum optimal control. In our approach, the MPS defines a score function over the space of discrete control parameters, which in turn induces a sampling distribution over candidate control sequences. This distribution is iteratively refined through selection of better performing sequences and local tensor updates to bias the search toward high-performing sequences. We evaluate the method on a range of benchmark problems, including single-qubit state transfer, Bell-pair preparation, qutrit gate implementation, and open-system population transfer. Across these tasks, the method exhibits stable convergence behavior and competitive empirical performance relative to established gradient-free baselines. These results suggest that tensor network sampling offers a viable heuristic framework for discrete quantum control.
title Adaptive Tensor Network Sampling for Quantum Optimal Control
topic Quantum Physics
Computational Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.24467