Entanglement Distance of Two- and Multi-Qubit Variational States and Its Quantification with Quantum Computing

Abstract

We study the entanglement distance of variational quantum states for two-qubit and multi-qubit systems. These states are constructed using variational quantum circuits with $R_Y$ rotations and entangling $CZ$ gates. For the two-qubit case, we analytically derive recurrence relations for expectation values of Pauli observables. This approach allows us to calculate quantum correlators and evaluate the entanglement distance as a function of the circuit parameters and depth. The analysis was extended to a closed one-dimensional chain of $N$ qubits. An explicit analytical expression for the entanglement is derived for the case of two layers. We conclude that the entanglement of a qubit with the rest of the system depends on the parameters of the gates acting on first- and second-nearest neighbors in the chain topology of the entangling layers. We also quantify the entanglement of the variational quantum states using quantum computing on the AerSimulator. The corresponding quantum protocols are constructed, and the dependence of the entanglement on the parameters of the variational quantum states is studied. The results of the quantum programming are in good agreement with the theoretical predictions.