Recursive Path-Summing Simulation of Quantum Computation

Abstract: Classical simulation of quantum computation has often been viewed as the method to determine where the horizon of quantum supremacy is located---that is, where quantum computation can no longer be simulated by classical methods. As of now, the 50 qubit threshold for quantum supremacy has been determined largely by the state vector simulation method's exponential space demands placing an upper bound on simulation memory capabilities. To investigate this claim, we present and test an implementation of a known path integral simulation algorithm running in linear space; the method is based on recursively traversing the underlying computation tree for quantum algorithms and summing over possible amplitudes. We find that the implementation is able to simulate the hidden subgroup method (HSP) standard method---a notable class of circuits including Shor's algorithm amongst others---in a reasonable amount of time using extremely low memory, as well as other circuits with similar parameters. The performance results of this algorithm suggest that it can serve as a feasible alternative to state vector simulation and that with respect to the HSP standard method, quantum supremacy may be more accurately measured using the recursive path-summing method on large numbers of qubits, compared to the state vector method.