Categories: Algorithms, Quantum information.

Bernstein-Vazirani algorithm

In quantum information, the Bernstein-Vazirani algorithm proves the supremacy of quantum computers over classical deterministic or probabilistic computers. It is extremely similar to the Deutsch-Jozsa algorithm, and even uses the same circuit.

It solves a very artificial problem: we are given a “black box” function f(x)f(x) that takes an NN-bit xx and returns a single bit, which we are promised is the lowest bit of the bitwise dot product of xx with an unknown NN-bit string ss:

f(x)=sx(mod2)=(s1x1+s2x2+...+sNxN)(mod2)\begin{aligned} f(x) = s \cdot x \:\:(\bmod \: 2) = (s_1 x_1 + s_2 x_2 + \:...\: + s_N x_N) \:\:(\bmod \: 2) \end{aligned}

The goal is to find ss. To solve this problem, a classical computer would need to call f(x)f(x) exactly NN times with x=2nx = 2^n for n{0,...,N ⁣ ⁣1}n \in \{ 0, ..., N \!-\! 1\}. However, the Bernstein-Vazirani algorithm allows a quantum computer to do it with only a single query. It uses the following circuit:

Bernstein-Vazirani circuit

Where UfU_f is a phase oracle, whose action is defined as follows, where x=x1xN\Ket{x} = \Ket{x_1} \cdots \Ket{x_N}:

xUf(1)f(x)x=(1)sxx\begin{aligned} \Ket{x} \quad \to \boxed{U_f} \to \quad (-1)^{f(x)} \Ket{x} = (-1)^{s \cdot x} \Ket{x} \end{aligned}

That is, it introduces a phase flip based on the value of f(x)f(x). For an example implementation of such an oracle, see the Deutsch-Jozsa algorithm: its circuit is identical to this one, but describes UfU_f in a different (but equivalent) way.

Starting from the state 0N\Ket{0}^{\otimes N}, applying the Hadamard gate HH to all qubits yields:

0NHN+N=12Nx=02N1x\begin{aligned} \Ket{0}^{\otimes N} \quad \to \boxed{H^{\otimes N}} \to \quad \Ket{+}^{\otimes N} = \frac{1}{\sqrt{2^N}} \sum_{x = 0}^{2^N - 1} \Ket{x} \end{aligned}

This is an equal superposition of all candidates x\Ket{x}, which we feed to the oracle:

12Nx=02N1xUf12Nx=02N1(1)sxx\begin{aligned} \frac{1}{\sqrt{2^N}} \sum_{x = 0}^{2^N - 1} \Ket{x} \quad \to \boxed{U_f} \to \quad \frac{1}{\sqrt{2^N}} \sum_{x = 0}^{2^N - 1} (-1)^{s \cdot x} \Ket{x} \end{aligned}

Then, using the definition of the Hadamard transform and the fact that it is its own inverse, one final set of HH-gates leads us to:

12Nx=02N1(1)sxxHNs=s1sN\begin{aligned} \frac{1}{\sqrt{2^N}} \sum_{x = 0}^{2^N - 1} (-1)^{s \cdot x} \Ket{x} \quad \to \boxed{H^{\otimes N}} \to \quad \Ket{s} = \Ket{s_1} \cdots \Ket{s_N} \end{aligned}

Which, upon measurement, gives us the desired binary representation of ss. For comparison, the Deutsch-Jozsa algorithm only cares whether s=0s = 0 or s0s \neq 0, whereas this algorithm is interested in the exact value of ss.

References

  1. J.S. Neergaard-Nielsen, Quantum information: lectures notes, 2021, unpublished.
  2. S. Aaronson, Introduction to quantum information science: lecture notes, 2018, unpublished.