The Bitter Truth About Quantum Algorithms in the NISQ Era

Abstract

Implementing a quantum algorithm on a NISQ device has several challenges that arise from the fact that such devices are noisy and have limited quantum resources. Thus, various factors contributing to the depth and width as well as to the noise of an implementation of an algorithm must be understood in order to assess whether an implementation will execute successfully on a given NISQ device. In this contribution, we discuss these factors and their impact on algorithm implementations. Especially, we will cover state preparation, oracle expansion, connectivity, circuit rewriting, and readout: these factors are very often ignored when presenting an algorithm but they are crucial when implementing such an algorithm on near-term quantum computers. Our contribution will help developers in charge of realizing algorithms on such machines in (i) achieving an executable implementation, and (ii) assessing the success of their implementation on a given machine.