English

Efficient Learning Algorithms for Noisy Quantum State and Process Tomography

Quantum Physics 2026-03-03 v1

Abstract

Efficiently characterizing large quantum states and processes is a central yet notoriously challenging task in quantum information science, as conventional tomography methods typically require resources that grow exponentially with system size. Here, we introduce a provably efficient and structure-agnostic learning framework for noisy nn-qubit quantum circuits under generic noise with arbitrary noise strength. We first develop a sample-efficient learning algorithm for unital noisy quantum states. Building on this result, we extend the framework to quantum process tomography, obtaining a unified protocol applicable to both unital and non-unital channels. The resulting approach is input-agnostic and does not rely on assumptions about specific input distributions. Our theoretical analysis shows that both state and process learning require only polynomially many samples and polynomial classical post-processing in the number of qubits, while achieving near-unit success probability over ensembles generated by local random circuits. Numerical simulations of two-dimensional Hamiltonian dynamics further demonstrate the accuracy and robustness of the approach, including for structured circuits beyond the random-circuit setting assumed in the theoretical analysis. These results provide a scalable and practically relevant route toward characterizing large-scale noisy quantum devices, addressing a key bottleneck in the development of quantum technologies.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2603.01521,
  title  = {Efficient Learning Algorithms for Noisy Quantum State and Process Tomography},
  author = {Chenyang Li and Shengxin Zhuang and Yukun Zhang and Jingbo B. Wang and Xiao Yuan and Yusen Wu and Chuan Wang},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2603.01521},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

10+21 pages,6 figures

R2 v1 2026-07-01T10:58:37.961Z