Grover's search meets Ising models: a quantum algorithm for finding low-energy states

Abstract: We propose a methodology for implementing Grover's algorithm in the digital quantum simulation of disordered Ising models. The core concept revolves around using the evolution operator for the Ising model as the quantum oracle within Grover's search. This operator induces phase shifts for the eigenstates of the Ising Hamiltonian, with the most pronounced shifts occurring for the lowest and highest energy states. Determining these states for a disordered Ising Hamiltonian using classical methods presents an exponentially complex challenge with respect to the number of spins (or qubits) involved. Within our proposed approach, we determine the optimal evolution time by ensuring a phase flip for the target states. This method yields a quadratic speedup compared to classical computation methods and enables the identification of the lowest and highest energy states (or neighboring states) with a high probability $\lesssim 1$.