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Phase KickBack Notes.

Phase kickback refers to the fact that controlled operations can introduce phase shifts on the control qubit depending on the target state. This occurs because controlled gates do not fully distinguish between control and target qubits. Phase kickback is demonstrated through a simple quantum circuit with a CNOT gate, where the control qubit acquires a relative phase shift based on the target qubit's state.

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32 views

Phase KickBack Notes.

Phase kickback refers to the fact that controlled operations can introduce phase shifts on the control qubit depending on the target state. This occurs because controlled gates do not fully distinguish between control and target qubits. Phase kickback is demonstrated through a simple quantum circuit with a CNOT gate, where the control qubit acquires a relative phase shift based on the target qubit's state.

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inumpudi.sushanth
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© © All Rights Reserved
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Phase KickBack

In quantum computing, phase kickback refers to the fact that controlled operations have
effects on their controls, in addition to on their targets, and that these effects correspond to
phasing operations.

This statement highlights a key feature of controlled gates in quantum circuits. While their
primary function is to manipulate the target qubit(s) based on the control qubit's state, they
can also indirectly influence the control qubit itself through phase shifts.

Phase kickback occurs because the basis transformations that distinguish targets from
controls are available as operations. For example, surrounding a controlled NOT gate with
four Hadamard gates produces a compound operation whose effect is equivalent to a
controlled NOT gate, but with the roles of its control qubit and target qubit exchanged. More
abstractly, phase kickback occurs because the eigen decomposition of controlled operations
makes no significant distinction between controls and targets. For example, the controlled Z
gate is a symmetric operation that has the same effect if its target and control are switched,
and a controlled NOT gate can be decomposed into a Hadamard gate on its target, then a
controlled Z gate, then a second Hadamard gate on its target. This decomposition reveals that,
at the core of the apparently-asymmetric controlled-NOT gate, there is a symmetric effect
that does not distinguish between control and target.

Phase kickback is one of the key effects that distinguishes quantum computation from
classical computation. For example, phase kickback is the mechanism behind the Bernstein–
Vazirani algorithm and more generally the quantum phase estimation algorithm. Phase
kickback also provides a justification for why qubits would be disrupted by measurements: a
measurement is an operation that flips a classical bit (the result) with the flip being controlled
by a quantum bit (the qubit being measured). This creates kickback from the bit to the qubit,
randomizing the qubit's phase.

Understanding Phase Kickback with Qiskit:

Let's build a simple circuit demonstrating phase kickback:


Python code:

from qiskit import QuantumCircuit, Aer, execute

# Create a Quantum Circuit with 2 qubits


qc = QuantumCircuit(2)

# Prepare control qubit in superposition


qc.h(0) # Hadamard on qubit 0

# Target qubit in the state |1> (excited state)


qc.x(1) # Apply Pauli-X on qubit 1

# Apply Controlled-NOT gate (CNOT)


qc.cx(0, 1) # Control (qubit 0) on target (qubit 1)

# Simulate the circuit


simulator = Aer.get_backend('qasm_simulator')
job = execute(qc, backend=simulator, shots=1024)
result = job.result()
counts = result.get_counts(qc)

# Print the measurement outcome probabilities


print(counts)

Explanation:

1. We initialize a QuantumCircuit with two qubits (0 and 1).


2. The h(0) gate applies a Hadamard gate to qubit 0, putting it in a superposition state (|
0> + |1>).
3. The x(1) gate applies a Pauli-X gate to qubit 1, initializing it to the excited state |1>.
4. The cx(0, 1) gate implements a CNOT operation. It flips the state of qubit 1 (target)
only if the control qubit (0) is in the |1> state.

Phase Kickback in Action:

 Before CNOT: Qubit 0 is in superposition (|0> + |1>), and qubit 1 is in |1>.


 After CNOT: The CNOT doesn't directly affect qubit 0, as its state is |1>. However,
due to phase kickback, a subtle phase shift occurs on qubit 0 depending on the state of
qubit 1.
o If qubit 1 was initially |0> (no CNOT operation), the control qubit (0) remains
unchanged.
o If qubit 1 was initially |1> (CNOT applied), the control qubit (0) acquires a
phase shift of -π. This effectively transforms the initial superposition into (+|
0> - |1>).

Observing the Effect:

Running the code simulates the circuit and provides measurement probabilities. While you
won't see the actual phase shift, the outcome distribution will be skewed towards the state
with the negative phase (-|1>). This indirectly confirms the phase kickback effect.

Key Points:

 Controlled gates can introduce phase shifts on the control qubit depending on the
target state.
 Phase kickback doesn't directly change the control qubit's state but introduces a global
phase factor.
 This phenomenon plays a crucial role in algorithms like Quantum Phase Estimation,
where we need to extract phase information from a target state.

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