Quantum and classical algorithms for nonlinear unitary dynamics

Quantum 9, 1741 (2025).

https://doi.org/10.22331/q-2025-05-13-1741

Quantum algorithms for Hamiltonian simulation and linear differential equations more generally have provided promising exponential speed-ups over classical computers on a set of problems with high real-world interest. However, extending this to a nonlinear problem has proven challenging, with exponential lower bounds having been demonstrated for the time scaling. We provide a quantum algorithm matching these bounds. Specifically, we find that for a non-linear differential equation of the form $frac{d|urangle}{dt} = A|urangle + B|urangle^{otimes2}$ for evolution of time $T$, error tolerance $epsilon$ and $c$ dependent on the strength of the nonlinearity, the number of queries to the differential operators that approaches the scaling of the quantum lower bound of $e^{o(T|B|)}$ queries in the limit of strong non-linearity. Finally, we introduce a classical algorithm based on the Euler method allowing comparably scaling to the quantum algorithm in a restricted case, as well as a randomized classical algorithm based on path integration that acts as a true analogue to the quantum algorithm in that it scales comparably to the quantum algorithm in cases where sign problems are absent.