Quantum-inspired methods for finite-element discretizations of the high-dimensional Poisson equation

Abstract

In recent years, quantum linear system algorithms have been applied to partial differential equations (PDEs), particularly in high-dimensional settings, demonstrating an exponential speedup in dimension. Concurrently, randomized and quantum-inspired classical linear solvers have emerged, showing computational complexity comparable to their quantum counterparts in many application areas. In this paper, we investigate the applicability of these quantum-inspired classical algorithms to PDEs. We provide both upper and lower bounds on their computational complexity, proving that these methods cannot achieve exponential speedup in dimension for discretizations of high-dimensional Poisson problems. Our theoretical findings definitively demonstrate that quantum-inspired classical algorithms are not competitive with quantum algorithms for solving PDEs, confirming that quantum methods retain a significant advantage for high-dimensional problems.