### Computational Hardness¶

A "decision problem" can be modelled as :

#### $f: \{0,1\}^n \mapsto \{0,1\}$

A resource independent way of quantifying the hardness of a problem is to analyse how the size of a circuit scales with the input size $n$. The above problem scales exponentially ($2^n$) with input size $n$.

We say that a decision problem is in $P$ if the algorithm (or circuit family) can be described as a polynomial function of input size $n$. As a matter of fact, most of the functions described by the above mapping are not in $P$. For such functions, the only way to determine $f(x)$ is to search a table for the solution out of exponentially many possible entries. This table can be considered as the digital equivalent of a haystack, and the solution to the problem is a needle which we are interested in finding. Hence finding a solution to an NP-complete [a] problem can be seen as a search problem represented by the following Boolen satisfiability [b].

#### $\boxed{f(x_1, x_2, x_3, ..., x_n) = (x_1 \lor x_2' \lor x_3) \land (x_2 \lor x_5' \lor x_6) \land ... }$

The satisfiability problem is to find a configuration $x_1, x_2, x_3, ..., x_n$ such that $f(x_1, x_2, x_3, ..., x_n) = 1$. It is clear that the problem requires us to look up a haystack of $2^n$ entires and find a needle. In fact there are thousands of NP-complete problems which are computationally equivalent to satisfiability. The problems in P are the ones which have enough structure in them to be computationally easy to solve.

[a] NP stands for "nondeterministic polynomial time". If a decision problem is in NP, it may not be possible to determine the solution in polynomial time, but easy to verify the correctness of the solution once we find it. For example, the prime factorization problem is in NP. A problem is NP-Complete if any problem in NP is polynomially redicible to it. Example, CIRCUIT-SAT. It can also be shown that CIRCUIT-SAT problem is reducible to Hamiltonian Path problem making the latter NP-Complete.

[b] The Boolean satisfiability is a part of Cook's Theorem (1971), which states that every problem in NP is polynomially (in input/circuit family) reducible to CIRCUIT-SAT.

In [10]:
# Setup the matplotlib graphics library and configure it to show
# figures inline in the notebook
%matplotlib inline
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

# Import Numpy arrays
import numpy as np

# Setup Ipython to load local images
from IPython.display import Image

import pprint


### Quantum Fourier Transform¶

Quantum Fourier Transform (QFT) or Fourier Sampling is the quantum analogue of the Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) [10]. Most Quantum Algorithms derive their exponential speed by virtue of QFT. QFT lets us define a state in a new computational basis. From a Physics point of view, the relationship between the two bases is analogous to that between the momentum and position bases of a particle. The mathematical representation of DFT is:

$\boxed{y_k = \frac{1}{\sqrt{N}} \sum\limits_{j=0}^{N-1} x_j e^\frac{2 \pi ijk}{N}}$
Let us consider an initial state vector:
$\left| \psi \right\rangle = \sum\limits_{j=0}^{N-1} a_j \left| j \right\rangle = \left( \begin{array}{ccc} a_0 \\ a_1 \\ a_2 \\ \vdots \\ a_N-1 \end{array} \right)$

The Quantum Fourier Transform is applied on the above state as:

$F\left| \psi \right\rangle = \sum\limits_{j=0}^{N-1} b_k \left| j \right\rangle$
where $b_k = \frac{1}{\sqrt{N}} \sum\limits_{j=0}^{N-1} e^\frac{2 \pi ijk}{N}$

It is clear that Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) is performed on the amplitudes of the quantum state, through a linear transformation. The $F$ operator can be written in outer product notation as:

$\boxed{F = \frac{1}{\sqrt{N}} \sum\limits_{j,k =0}^{N-1} e^\frac{2 \pi ijk}{N} \left| k \right\rangle \langle j|}$

The $F$ operator in matrix form is as follows:

$QFT_N = \frac{1}{\sqrt{N}} \left( \begin{array}{ccc} 1 & 1 & 1 & 1 & \cdots & 1 \\ 1 & \omega & \omega^2 & \omega^3 & \cdots & \omega^{N-1} \\ 1 & \omega^2 & \omega^4 & \omega^6 & \cdots & \omega^{2(N-1)} \\ 1 & \vdots & \vdots & \vdots & \ddots & \vdots\\ 1 & \omega^{N-1} & \omega^{2(N-1)} & \omega^{3(N-1)} & \cdots & \omega^{(N-1)^2} \\ \end{array} \right)$
where $\omega = e^\frac{i 2 \pi}{N} = cos \frac{2N}{\pi} + \iota sin \frac{2N}{\pi}$

In general we see that the matrix for Quantum Fourier Transform has the form:

$QFT_N (i,j) = \omega^{ij}$

Two-Qubit QFT in matrix form:

#### $F = \frac{1}{2} \left( \begin{array}{ccc} 1 & 1 & 1 & 1 \\ 1 & \omega & \omega^2 & \omega^3 \\ 1 & \omega^2 & \omega^4 & \omega^6 \\ 1 & \omega^3 & \omega^6 & \omega^9 \end{array} \right)$ $= \frac{1}{2} \left( \begin{array}{ccc} 1 & 1 & 1 & 1 \\ 1 & i & -1 & -i \\ 1 & -1 & 1 & -i \\ 1 & -i & -1 & i \end{array} \right)$

Note that the QFT matrix is a unitary operator since $F F^\dagger = F^\dagger F = I$

#### Complexity:¶

$QFT_N = \frac{1}{\sqrt{N}} \left( \begin{array}{ccc} 1 & 1 & 1 & 1 & \cdots & 1 \\ 1 & \omega & \omega^2 & \omega^3 & \cdots & \omega^{N-1} \\ 1 & \omega^2 & \omega^4 & \omega^6 & \cdots & \omega^{2(N-1)} \\ 1 & \vdots & \vdots & \vdots & \ddots & \vdots\\ 1 & \omega^{N-1} & \omega^{2(N-1)} & \omega^{3(N-1)} & \cdots & \omega^{(N-1)^2} \\ \end{array} \right)$ $\left( \begin{array}{ccc} \alpha_0 \\ \alpha_1 \\ \alpha_2 \\ \vdots \\ \alpha_N-1 \end{array} \right)$ $= \left( \begin{array}{ccc} \beta_0 \\ \beta_1 \\ \beta_2 \\ \vdots \\ \beta_N-1 \end{array} \right)$

To calculate $\beta_0$ time required = O(N)

To calculate $\beta_1$ time required = O(N)
$\vdots$
To calculate $\beta_{N-1}$ time required = O(N)

Hence an ordinary algorithm (or a human) would take O($N^2$) steps to compute the Fourier Transform of a state.

The Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) algorithm (or [Cooley-Tuckey algorithm]) is a classical algorithm which can compute the DFT of a vector in O($N \log {N}$) steps.

The Quantum Fourier Transform (QFT) takes O($n^2$) steps at maximum.

#### $\implies n = \log{N}$

Hence the computational complexity of performing a QFT is:

#### $O(\log^2{N})$

or $O(2\log{N}) = O(\log{N})$

Note that this is an exponential speedup as compared to the classical FFT [9] or FFTW [11] algorithms.

#### Product Representation of Quantum Fourier Transform:¶

$\left| j \right\rangle \rightarrow \frac{1}{\sqrt N} \sum\limits_{k=0}^{k=N-1} e^{\frac{\iota 2 \pi kj}{N}}\left| k \right\rangle$

$\Rightarrow \left| j_1 \cdots j_n \right\rangle \rightarrow \frac{1}{2^{n/2}} \sum\limits_{k=0}^{k=2^{n/2}-1} e^{\frac{\iota 2 \pi j}{2^{n/2}}}\left| k_1 \cdots k_n \right\rangle$

We know, any binary fraction can be written as $\sum\limits_{l=1}^{n} k_l 2^{-l}$

$\Rightarrow \left| j_1 \cdots j_n \right\rangle \rightarrow \frac{1}{2^{n/2}} \sum\limits_{k=0}^{k=2^{n/2}-1} e^{\iota 2 \pi j \sum\limits_{l=1}^{n} k_l 2^{-l}} \left| k_1 \cdots k_n \right\rangle$

$= \frac{1}{2^{n/2}} \sum\limits_{k=0}^{k=2^{n/2}-1} \bigotimes_{l=1}^{n} e^{\iota 2 \pi j k_l 2^{-l}} \left| k_l \right\rangle \hspace{10 mm} (\because \left| k_1 \cdots k_n \right\rangle = \left| k_1 \right\rangle \bigotimes \left| k_2 \right\rangle \bigotimes \cdots \bigotimes \left| k_n \right\rangle)$

We can break the $2^n$ terms in the summation and replace it by $n$ summations over an $n$-bit binary string.

$\Rightarrow \left| j_1 \cdots j_n \right\rangle \rightarrow \frac{1}{2^{n/2}} \sum\limits_{k_1=0}^{1} \cdots \sum\limits_{k_n=0}^{1} \bigotimes_{l=1}^{n} e^{\iota 2 \pi j k_l 2^{-l}} \left| k_l \right\rangle$

$n$ summation terms can be grouped to one by tensoring it $n$ times.

$\Rightarrow \left| j_1 \cdots j_n \right\rangle \rightarrow \frac{1}{2^{n/2}} \bigotimes_{l=1}^{n} \Bigg[ \sum\limits_{k_l=0}^{1} e^{\iota 2 \pi j k_l 2^{-l}} \left| k_l \right\rangle \Bigg]$

$\Rightarrow \left| j_1 \cdots j_n \right\rangle \rightarrow \frac{1}{2^{n/2}} \bigotimes_{l=1}^{n} \Bigg[ \left| 0 \right\rangle + e^{\iota 2 \pi j 2^{-l}} \left| 1 \right\rangle \Bigg]$

We can represent $j2^{-l}$ as a binary fraction. Thus the resulting equation is:

$\boxed{\left| j \right\rangle \rightarrow \frac{1}{2^{n/2}} \Big[ (\left| 0 \right\rangle + e^{\iota 2 \pi 0.j_n} \left| 1 \right\rangle) \bigotimes (\left| 0 \right\rangle + e^{\iota 2 \pi 0.j_{n-1}j_n} \left| 1 \right\rangle) \cdots \bigotimes (\left| 0 \right\rangle + e^{\iota 2 \pi 0.j_1 j_2 \cdots j_n} \left| 1 \right\rangle) \Big]}$

### Grover's algorithm: Overview¶

Problem Definition:
In mathematical terms, the problem of unstructured search can be defined by the following quantum oracle.

We are given a database with $N$ records labelled as $0, 1, 2, \cdots, N-1$. We assume $N=2^n$ for the simple reason of storing each index in $n$ bits. Rather than dealing with list itself, we focus on the index of the list. The oracle is thus the following binary function with an $n$-bit binary string input.

$f:\{0,1\}^n \rightarrow \{0,1\}$

$f(x) = \begin{cases} 1 & \text{for$x = x^*$} \\ 0 & \text{otherwise} \end{cases}$

The above oracle $f$ is a blackbox function, which can be queried as many times as required. Each query to the oracle has a computational overhead. The goal is to find the target label $x^*$ with as the minimum number of queries to the oracle.

Example:
There are many problems which can be rephrased as a search problem. One practical example is the random brute force attack on a Data Encryption Standard (DES) encrypted ciphertext. Assume that the key is a 56-bit number.

P (plaintext) = "BlowUpHRI"
C (ciphertext) = "9423180a9fcaa78db8b4d7a3b8f9a9b67e075dc5" (say)
$K^*$ is the 56-bit key used in the DES encryption.

To crack the above ciphertext, we have to perform a brute force with each of the $N = 2^{56}$ keys until we find $K^*$ such that:

$\boxed{DES(C, K^*) = P}$

The oracle for the above problem would be:

$f(K) = \begin{cases} 1 & \text{for$K = K^*$} \\ 0 & \text{otherwise} \end{cases}$

Classical algorithms:
$O(N)$ expcected time with linear search.
$O(\frac{N}{2})$ expected time with random brute force.
$O(\log{N})$ with binary search for databases with structure (sorted).

Quantum algorithm:
Claim is that quantum algorithm for unstructured search will take time $O(\sqrt{N})$. To search a desired element in an unstructured database, a quantum mechanical algorithm will take at least $\Omega(\sqrt{N})$ steps [5]. Hence the number of steps required by Grover's algorithm is within a constant factor of the fastest possible quantum mechanical algorithm.

Worst case:
There is only $x$ such that $f(x) = 1$

### Grover's Algorithm: Steps¶

Phase Inversion:
The initial state of the system is a uniform superposition of all states. The phase inversion step inverts the sign of the amplitude of the needle ($x^*$).

$\boxed{\sum\limits_{x} \alpha_x \left| x \right\rangle \xrightarrow{U_{phase}} \sum\limits_{x \neq x^*} \alpha_x \left| x \right\rangle - \alpha_{x^{*}} \left| x \right\rangle}$

The oracle function $f$ can be implemented as an ouput register of a unitary transformation $U_{phase}$ as:

$\sum\limits_{x} \alpha_x \left| x \right\rangle \left| 0 \right\rangle \rightarrow \sum\limits_{x} \alpha_x \left| x \right\rangle \left| 0 \oplus f(x) \right\rangle = \sum\limits_{x} \alpha_x \left| x \right\rangle \left| f(x) \right\rangle$

We can use a small trick to implement phase inversion in the uniform superposition by using the state $\left| - \right\rangle$ as the answer bit.

$\sum\limits_{x} \alpha_x \left| x \right\rangle \left| - \right\rangle \rightarrow \sum\limits_{x} \alpha_x \left| x \right\rangle \left| 0 \oplus f(x) \right\rangle = \sum\limits_{x} \alpha_x \left| x \right\rangle \left| f(x) \right\rangle$

$\Rightarrow \sum\limits_{x} \alpha_x \left| x \right\rangle \Big( \frac {\left| 0 \right\rangle - \left| 1 \right\rangle}{\sqrt 2} \Big) \xrightarrow{U_{phase}} \sum\limits_{x} \frac{\alpha_x}{\sqrt 2} \Big( \left| x \right\rangle \left| 0 \oplus f(x) \right\rangle - \left| x \right\rangle \left| 1 \oplus f(x) \right\rangle \Big)$

$\Rightarrow \sum\limits_{x} \alpha_x \left| x \right\rangle \Big( \frac {\left| 0 \right\rangle - \left| 1 \right\rangle}{\sqrt 2} \Big) \xrightarrow{U_{phase}} \sum\limits_{x} \frac{\alpha_x}{\sqrt 2} \Big( \left| x \right\rangle \left| f(x) \right\rangle - \left| x \right\rangle \left| \overline{f(x)} \right\rangle \Big)$

$\Rightarrow \sum\limits_{x} \alpha_x \left| x \right\rangle \Big( \frac {\left| 0 \right\rangle - \left| 1 \right\rangle}{\sqrt 2} \Big) \xrightarrow{U_{phase}} \sum\limits_{x} \alpha_x \left| x \right\rangle (-1)^{f(x)} \Big( \frac {\left| 0 \right\rangle - \left| 1 \right\rangle}{\sqrt 2} \Big)$

It is evident that the oracle qubit $\left| - \right\rangle$ is always unchanged and hence can be ommitted from the above equation.

$\Rightarrow \boxed{\sum\limits_{x} \alpha_x \left| x \right\rangle \xrightarrow{U_{phase}} \sum\limits_{x} \alpha_x \left| x \right\rangle (-1)^{f(x)}}$

The above operation can be represented by a unitary operator as:
$\boxed{I_t = I - 2|t\rangle\langle t|}$

Though phase inversion logically separates the search element from the rest of the haystack, it doesn't help in increasing the probability of the outcome corresponding to the "needle" when a measurement is performed. To solve this problem, we do a reflection about mean.

Before defining an operator to perform the above transformation, let us consider an operator $S$ which does a reflection about $|0^n \rangle$. The unitary transformation describing this reflection can be represented as:

$\boxed{S=2|0^n \rangle \langle 0^n| - I}$

$S|x \rangle = (2|0^n \rangle \langle 0^n| - I) |x \rangle$

Assuming a single qubit system, we can construct the $S$ operator as:

$\Rightarrow S|x \rangle = \Bigg( 2 \left[ \begin{array}{ccc} 1 \\ 0 \end{array} \right] \left[ \begin{array}{ccc} 1 & 0 \\ \end{array} \right] - \left[ \begin{array}{ccc} 1 & 0 \\ 0 & 1 \\ \end{array} \right] \Bigg) |x \rangle$

$\Rightarrow S|x \rangle = \Bigg( 2 \left[ \begin{array}{ccc} 1 & 0\\ 0 & 0 \end{array} \right]- \left[ \begin{array}{ccc} 1 & 0 \\ 0 & 1 \\ \end{array} \right] \Bigg) |x \rangle$

$\Rightarrow S|x \rangle = \left[ \begin{array}{ccc} 1 & 0\\ 0 & -1 \end{array} \right]|x \rangle$

$\Rightarrow \boxed{S|x \rangle = \sigma_z|x \rangle}$

Another fancy way of writing the unitary operator $|S \rangle$ for reflection about $|0^n \rangle$ is:

$\boxed{|x \rangle \rightarrow -(-1)^{\delta_{x,0}} |x \rangle}$

where, $\delta_{x,0}$ is the Kronecker Delta function for orthonormality condition.

$|0 \rangle \rightarrow -(-1)^{\delta_{0,0}} |0 \rangle = |0 \rangle$

$|1 \rangle \rightarrow -(-1)^{\delta_{1,0}} |0 \rangle = -|1 \rangle$

If the initial superposition is of the form $\sum\limits_{x} \alpha_x | x \rangle$, the mean of the superposition is given by:

$\boxed{\mu = \frac{\sum\limits_{x}^{N-1} \alpha_x}{N}}$

In general, the reflection about mean $\mu$ can be carried out by first mapping $|\psi \rangle$ to $|0^n \rangle$ by applying $H^{\otimes n}$ or the Quantum Fourier Transform (QFT), then applying the $S$ operator defined above, and then mapping $|0^n \rangle$ back to $|\psi \rangle$ by applying $H^{\otimes n}$ or the Quantum Fourier Transform (QFT) again.

$\Rightarrow \boxed{D = H^{\otimes n} S H^{\otimes n}}$

Details on the Diffusion operator is given in the next section.

### Grover's Algorithm: Implementation¶

Algorithm:

1. Start the state in $| \psi \rangle \sum\limits_{x} \frac{1}{\sqrt N} | x \rangle$.
2. Invert the phase of the search element by applying the oracle $f$.
3. Apply the Quantum Fourier Transform ($H^{\otimes n}$).
4. Apply conditional phase shift about $| 0^n \rangle$.
5. Apply inverse Quantum Fourier Transform ($H^{\otimes n}$).
6. Repeat steps 2 to 5 for $O(\sqrt N)$ steps.

The steps 3-5 can be combined into a single unitary transformation $I_s$ such that the net Grover's operator becomes $G=I_s I_t$:

$D = H^{\otimes n} \big[ 2|0^n \rangle \langle 0^n| - I \big] H^{\otimes n}$

$\Rightarrow \boxed{I_s: D = 2|\psi \rangle \langle \psi| - I}$

The above operator is also known as *Diffusion operator*, which can be represented in matrix form as:

$D = H^{\otimes n} \Bigg(2 \left[ \begin{array}{ccc} 1 & 0 & 0 & \cdots & 0\\ 0 & 0 & 0 & \cdots & 0\\ 0 & 0 & 0 & \cdots & 0\\ \vdots & \vdots & \vdots & \ddots & \vdots \\ 0 & 0 & 0 & \cdots & 0\\ \end{array} \right] - I \Bigg)| H^{\otimes n}$

$D = H^{\otimes n} \Bigg( \left[ \begin{array}{ccc} 2 & 0 & 0 & \cdots & 0\\ 0 & 0 & 0 & \cdots & 0\\ 0 & 0 & 0 & \cdots & 0\\ \vdots & \vdots & \vdots & \ddots & \vdots \\ 0 & 0 & 0 & \cdots & 0\\ \end{array} \right] - I \Bigg) H^{\otimes n}$

$D = H^{\otimes n} \left[ \begin{array}{ccc} 2 & 0 & 0 & \cdots & 0\\ 0 & 0 & 0 & \cdots & 0\\ 0 & 0 & 0 & \cdots & 0\\ \vdots & \vdots & \vdots & \ddots & \vdots \\ 0 & 0 & 0 & \cdots & 0\\ \end{array} \right] H^{\otimes n} - H^{\otimes n}IH^{\otimes n}$

$D = \frac{1}{\sqrt{N}} \left( \begin{array}{ccc} 1 & 1 & 1 & 1 & \cdots & 1 \\ 1 & \omega & \omega^2 & \omega^3 & \cdots & \omega^{N-1} \\ 1 & \omega^2 & \omega^4 & \omega^6 & \cdots & \omega^{2(N-1)} \\ 1 & \vdots & \vdots & \vdots & \ddots & \vdots\\ 1 & \omega^{N-1} & \omega^{2(N-1)} & \omega^{3(N-1)} & \cdots & \omega^{(N-1)^2} \\ \end{array} \right) \left[ \begin{array}{ccc} 2 & 0 & 0 & \cdots & 0\\ 0 & 0 & 0 & \cdots & 0\\ 0 & 0 & 0 & \cdots & 0\\ \vdots & \vdots & \vdots & \ddots & \vdots \\ 0 & 0 & 0 & \cdots & 0\\ \end{array} \right] H^{\otimes n} - I$

$D = \left[ \begin{array}{ccc} \frac{2}{\sqrt N} & 0 & 0 & \cdots & 0\\ \frac{2}{\sqrt N} & 0 & 0 & \cdots & 0\\ \vdots & \vdots & \vdots & \ddots & \vdots \\ \frac{2}{\sqrt N} & 0 & 0 & \cdots & 0\\ \end{array} \right] H^{\otimes n} - I$

$D = \left[ \begin{array}{ccc} \frac{2}{\sqrt N} & 0 & 0 & \cdots & 0\\ \frac{2}{\sqrt N} & 0 & 0 & \cdots & 0\\ \vdots & \vdots & \vdots & \ddots & \vdots \\ \frac{2}{\sqrt N} & 0 & 0 & \cdots & 0\\ \end{array} \right] \frac{1}{\sqrt{N}} \left( \begin{array}{ccc} 1 & 1 & 1 & 1 & \cdots & 1 \\ 1 & \omega & \omega^2 & \omega^3 & \cdots & \omega^{N-1} \\ 1 & \omega^2 & \omega^4 & \omega^6 & \cdots & \omega^{2(N-1)} \\ 1 & \vdots & \vdots & \vdots & \ddots & \vdots\\ 1 & \omega^{N-1} & \omega^{2(N-1)} & \omega^{3(N-1)} & \cdots & \omega^{(N-1)^2} \\ \end{array} \right)- I$

$D = \left[ \begin{array}{ccc} \frac{2}{N} & \frac{2}{N} & \frac{2}{N} & \cdots & \frac{2}{N}\\ \frac{2}{N} & \frac{2}{N} & \frac{2}{N} & \cdots & \frac{2}{N}\\ \vdots & \vdots & \vdots & \ddots & \vdots \\ \frac{2}{N} & \frac{2}{N} & \frac{2}{N} & \cdots & \frac{2}{N}\\ \end{array} \right] - I$

$I_s: D = \left[ \begin{array}{ccc} \big( \frac{2}{N}-1 \big) & \frac{2}{N} & \frac{2}{N} & \cdots & \frac{2}{N}\\ \frac{2}{N} & \big( \frac{2}{N}-1 \big) & \frac{2}{N} & \cdots & \frac{2}{N}\\ \vdots & \vdots & \vdots & \ddots & \vdots \\ \frac{2}{N} & \frac{2}{N} & \frac{2}{N} & \cdots & \big( \frac{2}{N}-1 \big) \\ \end{array} \right]$

The above operator $D$ is a unitary transformation and hence can act on a Ket vector to give another Ket vector.

D $\left( \begin{array}{ccc} \alpha_0 \\ \alpha_1 \\ \alpha_2 \\ \vdots \\ \alpha_N-1 \end{array} \right)$ $= \left( \begin{array}{ccc} \beta_0 \\ \beta_1 \\ \beta_2 \\ \vdots \\ \beta_N-1 \end{array} \right)$

It is easy to check that $\beta_i = \frac{-2}{N} \sum\limits_{j} \alpha_j + \alpha_i = -2\mu + \alpha_i$. Thus the Diffusion operator $D$ can flip the amplitiudes of the superposition about the mean $\mu$.

$\alpha_x \xrightarrow{U_{mean}} 2\mu - \alpha_x = \mu + (\mu - \alpha_x)$

$\Rightarrow \boxed{\sum\limits_{x} \alpha_x | x \rangle \xrightarrow{U_{mean}} \sum\limits_{x} (2\mu - \alpha_x) | x \rangle}$
Alternative algorithm (using Diffusion operator):

1. Start the state in $| \psi \rangle \sum\limits_{x} \frac{1}{\sqrt N} | x \rangle$.
2. Invert the phase of the search element by applying the oracle $f$.
3. Invert about mean using the Diffusion operator $D$.
4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 for $O(\sqrt N)$ steps.
In [11]:
# Helper functions implemented in Python
def U_phase(psi, e):
"""
Unitary transformation to invert the phase of the search element

Parameters                | Returns
--------------------------|----------------------------------
psi : ndarray             | psi : ndarray
Quantum state       |       State after phase inversion
e   : int                 |
Search element      |
"""
if psi.shape[0] >= e:
psi[e] *= -1
return psi

def QFT(psi, N):
"""
Quantum Fourier Transform operator in N dimensions

Parameters                | Returns
--------------------------|---------------------------
psi : ndarray             | QFT : ndarray
Quantum state       |       QFT unitary operator
N   : int                 |
Number of dimensions|

Internals
---------
Makes use of the DFT method of NumPy. QFT is a unitary operator
so the QFT matrix is its own inverse.
"""
return np.fft.fftn(psi)/N**0.5

def Diffusion(N):
"""
Diffusion operator D for Grover's iterations

Parameters                | Returns
--------------------------|------------------
N   : int                 | D   : ndarray
Number of dimensions|       Unitary operator D
"""
return np.ones((N, N)) * 2/N - np.identity(N)

def __iter(N):
"""
Number of iterations to run the Grover's operators

Parameters                | Returns
--------------------------|------------------
k  : int                  | N  :  int
Number of dimensions |       Number of Grover iterations
"""
return int(np.floor(np.pi * (N**0.5) /4))


### Grover's Algorithm: Examples¶

In [12]:
N=4
x=2

psi = np.ones((N, 1))/N**0.5
psi = U_phase(psi, x)
psi = QFT(psi, N) # QFT on state psi

si = np.zeros((N, 1))
si[0][0] = 1 # The |0> state
si_dag = np.conjugate(si.T) # The <0| state
S = 2 * np.kron(si, si_dag) - np.identity(N) # S = (2|0><0|-I)

psi = np.dot(S, psi) # Conditional phase shift operation
psi = QFT(psi, N) # Inverse QFT on state psi

psi

Out[12]:
array([[ 0.+0.j],
[ 0.+0.j],
[ 1.+0.j],
[ 0.+0.j]])
In [13]:
N = 256
x = 55
D = Diffusion(N)
k = __iter(N) # Estimate least number of iterations required
probability_amplitude_list = [1/(N**0.5)]
psi = np.ones((N, 1))/N**0.5

for c in xrange(k):
if c==k-1:
fig = plt.figure(figsize=(5, 5))
plt.bar(np.arange(N), psi.T[0])
ax1.set_title("Superposition in iteration: %s"%(c+1))

psi = U_phase(psi, x) # Conditional phase shift
ax2.set_title("Conditional phase shift")
plt.bar(np.arange(N), psi.T[0])

psi = np.dot(D, psi) # Reflection about mean
plt.bar(np.arange(N), psi.T[0])

fig.text(0.5, 0.01, 'Database entries', ha='center', va='center')
fig.text(0.01, 0.5, 'Probability amplitude', ha='center', va='center', rotation='vertical')
fig.tight_layout()
probability_amplitude_list.append(psi[x][0])

else:
psi = U_phase(psi, x) # Conditional phase shift
psi = np.dot(D, psi) # Reflection about mean
probability_amplitude_list.append(psi[x][0])

In [14]:
Image("plots.png")

Out[14]:
In [15]:
probability_list = [i ** 2 for i in probability_amplitude_list]
fig = plt.figure(figsize=(10, 10))
ax1.set_xlabel("Iterations")
ax1.set_ylabel("Probability amplitude")
plt.plot(np.arange(k+1), probability_amplitude_list)
ax2.set_xlabel("Iterations")
ax2.set_ylabel("Probability")
plt.plot(np.arange(k+1), probability_list)
print '''Probability amplitudes
----------------------'''
pprint.pprint(probability_amplitude_list)

print '''Probabilities
----------------------'''
pprint.pprint(probability_list)

Probability amplitudes
----------------------
[0.0625,
0.1865234375,
0.3076324462890625,
0.4239346981048584,
0.53361297026276588,
0.63495353976031765,
0.72637296019911446,
0.8064428031348001,
0.87391197727150449,
0.9277262767633413,
0.96704485318074529,
0.99125335376719736,
0.99997352070104339]
Probabilities
----------------------
[0.00390625,
0.034790992736816406,
0.094637722009792924,
0.17972062825725743,
0.28474280203265145,
0.40316599765415728,
0.52761767730842435,
0.65034999472791399,
0.76372214401859062,
0.86067604459717173,
0.93517574806336923,
0.98258321135471649,
0.99994704210324004]


### Grover's Algorithm: Geometric interpretation¶

Let us consider a database of $N$ items having $M$ solutions. Thus, the initial superposition can be written as:

$|\psi \rangle = \sum\limits_{x} \alpha_x |x\rangle = a|\alpha \rangle + b|\beta \rangle$
where, $|\alpha \rangle = \frac{1}{\sqrt{N-M}} \sum\limits_{\{x|f(x)\neq1\}} |x\rangle$ and $|\beta \rangle = \frac{1}{\sqrt{M}} \sum\limits_{\{x|f(x)=1\}} |x\rangle$.

Thus $|\alpha \rangle$ is a superposition of the states which do not satisfy the oracle, and $|\beta \rangle$ is a superposition of states which satisfy the oracle. The state $|\psi \rangle$ can be re-written in terms of $|\alpha \rangle$ and $|\beta \rangle$ in normalized form as:

$\boxed{|\psi \rangle = \sqrt{\frac{N-M}{N}} |\alpha \rangle + \sqrt{\frac{M}{N}} |\beta \rangle}$

So the initial state is in a space spanned by $|\alpha \rangle$ and $|\beta \rangle$. Since $a^2 + b^2=1$, we can express the amplitudes of $|\psi \rangle$ as sinosoids.

$\boxed{|\psi \rangle = \cos{\frac{\theta}{2}} |\alpha \rangle + \sin{\frac{\theta}{2}} |\beta \rangle}$

Phase inversion:
The phase inversion operation on a state vector can be thought of as a rotation of the state by an angle -$\theta$ clockwise ( or $\theta$ anticlockwise).

$a|\alpha \rangle + b|\beta \rangle \xrightarrow{oracle} a|\alpha \rangle - b|\beta \rangle$

$\Rightarrow |\psi \rangle \xrightarrow{oracle} \cos{\frac{\theta}{2}} |\alpha \rangle - \sin{\frac{\theta}{2}} |\beta \rangle$

$\boxed{\Rightarrow |\psi \rangle \xrightarrow{oracle} \cos{\frac{-\theta}{2}} |\alpha \rangle + \sin{\frac{-\theta}{2}} |\beta \rangle}$

The Grover operator $G$ reflects the $O|\psi\rangle$ state about the mean $|\psi\rangle$. This operation also includes the unitary transformation which performs phase inversion of the search element.

$\Rightarrow G|\psi\rangle = \cos{\frac{3\theta}{2}} |\alpha \rangle + \sin{\frac{3\theta}{2}} |\beta \rangle$
In general, for $k$ iterations,

$\boxed{G^k|\psi\rangle = \cos{\frac{(2k+1)\theta}{2}} |\alpha \rangle + \sin{\frac{(2k+1)\theta}{2}} |\beta \rangle}$

Grover operator $G = 2|\psi\rangle\langle\psi|-I$ performs reflection in the plane defined by $|\alpha\rangle$ and $|\beta\rangle$ about the vector $|\psi\rangle$. So the $G^k|\psi\rangle$ remains in the space spanned by $|\alpha\rangle$ and $|\beta\rangle$ for all $k$. Repeated rotation of the state vector using the Grover operator brings it close to $|\beta\rangle$. A subsequent measurement in the computational basis produces one of the outcomes in the superposition $|\beta\rangle$ with high probability, thus finding a solution in the search stack.

### Grover's Algorithm: Complexity¶

Let the rotation brought about by the Grover operator be repeated for $k$ number of times. We are interested in finding the minimum value of this number $k$. The effect of Grover's operator $G$ on the initial state is given below.

$\boxed{G^k|\psi\rangle = \cos{\frac{(2k+1)\theta}{2}} |\alpha \rangle + \sin{\frac{(2k+1)\theta}{2}} |\beta \rangle}$

Ideally we want to get as close as possible to $|\beta\rangle$, with the smallest possible value of $k$. This means that we want the value of $\sin{\frac{(2k+1)\theta}{2}}$ to be as close as possible to $1$. It follows that the ideal value of $k$ would satisfy the following condition:

$(2k+1)\frac{\theta}{2} = \frac{\pi}{2}$

$(2k+1)\phi = \frac{\pi}{2}$

$\Rightarrow \boxed{k = \frac{\pi}{4\phi} - \frac{1}{2}}$

Since it is logical for $k$ to be an integer, we can round it to the nearest integer using the floor function.

$k = round(\frac{\pi}{4\phi} - \frac{1}{2}) = \big\lfloor \frac{\pi}{4\phi} \big\rfloor$

In worst case scenario there is only one $x$ which satisfies the oracle defined earlier, i.e., $M=1$.

$\sin{\phi} = \langle \beta | \psi \rangle = \sqrt{\frac{M}{N}} = \sqrt{\frac{1}{N}}$

$\Rightarrow \phi = \sqrt{\frac{1}{N}} \hspace{10 mm} (\because \sin{\theta} \approx \theta$ for small $\theta$ i.e., for large $N)$

$\Rightarrow \boxed{k = \bigg\lfloor \frac{\pi \sqrt{N} }{4} \bigg\rfloor}$

Thus we need $O(\sqrt N)$ Grover iterations for the algorithm to complete. The algorithm succeeds with probability $O(1)$.

### References¶

#### Papers¶

[1] Lov K. Grover, "A fast quantum mechanical algorithm for database search", Proceedings of the 28th Annual ACM Symposium on Theory of Computing (STOC), pp. 212, 1996 [arXiv.org:quant-ph/9605043]

[2] Lov K. Grover, "Quantum Mechanics helps in searching for a needle in a haystack", Physical Review Letters, Volume 79, Number 2, pp. 325-328, 1997 [arXiv.org:quant-ph/9706033]

[3] Samuel J. Lomonaco Jr., "Grover's Quantum Search Algorithm", Proceedings of Symposia in Applied Mathematics,

[4] Lov K. Grover, "Quantum computer can search arbitrarily large databases by a single query", Physical Review Letters, pp 4709-4712, 1997.

[5] C. Bennett, E. Bernstein, G. Brassard, and U. Vazirani, "Strengths and Weaknesses of Quantum Computing", SIAM Journal of Computing, 26, 1510, 1997 [arXiv.org:quant-ph/9701001]

#### Books¶

[6] M. A. Neilsen and I. L. Chuang, "Quantum Computation and Quantum Information", Cambridge University Press, 2000.

#### Course notes¶

[7] Dieter van Melkebeek, "Quantum Search", CS880: Quantum Information Processing, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Fall 2010

[8] Umesh Vazirani, "Quantum Search + Quantum Zeno effect", CS191: Quantum Information, University of California-Berkeley, Spring 2012

[9] "Cooley Tuckey FFT Algorithm" [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooley-Tukey_FFT_algorithm]

[10] "Discrete Fourier Transform" [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discrete_Fourier_transform]

[11] "Fastest Fourier Transform in the West" [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FFTW]

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