Efficient quantum state preparation through seniority driven operator selection

Abstract: Quantum algorithms require accurate representations of electronic states on a quantum device, yet the approximation of electronic wave functions for strongly correlated systems remains a profound theoretical challenge, with existing methods struggling to balance the competing demands of chemical accuracy and gate efficiency. Moreover, a critical limitation of the most of the state-of-the-art methods developed to date lies in their substantial reliance on extensive pre-circuit measurements, which introduce significant overheads and contribute to inefficiencies in practical implementation. To address these interconnected challenges and establish a harmonious synergy between them, we propose an algorithmic framework that focuses on efficiently capturing the molecular strong correlation through an ordered set of computationally less demanding rank-one and seniority-zero excitations, yielding a parameterized ansatz with shallow gate depth. Furthermore, to achieve minimal pre-circuit measurement overhead, we implement a selective pruning of excitations through a hybrid approach that combines intuition-based selection with shallow-depth, rank-one excitations driven uni-parameter circuit optimization strategy. With the incorporation of qubit-based excitations via particle-preserving exchange circuits, we demonstrate a further reduction in quantum complexities, enhancing the overall resource efficiency of the approach. With a range of challenging applications on strongly correlated systems, we demonstrate that our dynamic ansatz not only significantly enhances computational efficiency but also delivers exceptional accuracy, robustness, and resilience to the noisy environments inherent in near-term quantum hardware.