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Who can compete with quantum computers? Lecture notes on quantum inspired tensor networks computational techniques
by Xavier Waintal, Chen-How Huang, Christoph W. Groth
Submission summary
| Authors (as registered SciPost users): | Xavier Waintal |
| Submission information | |
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| Preprint Link: | https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.03035v1 (pdf) |
| Date submitted: | Jan. 13, 2026, 9:26 a.m. |
| Submitted by: | Xavier Waintal |
| Submitted to: | SciPost Physics Lecture Notes |
| Ontological classification | |
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| Academic field: | Physics |
| Specialties: |
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| Approaches: | Theoretical, Computational |
The author(s) disclose that the following generative AI tools have been used in the preparation of this submission:
The text has been proofed with the help of an LLM to find typos and grammar errors. All change proposals made by the LLM have been carefully reviewed by the authors.
Abstract
This is a set of lectures on tensor networks with a strong emphasis on the core algorithms involving Matrix Product States (MPS) and Matrix Product Operators (MPO). Compared to other presentations, particular care has been given to disentangle aspects of tensor networks from the quantum many-body problem: MPO/MPS algorithms are presented as a way to deal with linear algebra on extremely (exponentially) large matrices and vectors, regardless of any particular application. The lectures include well-known algorithms to find eigenvectors of MPOs (the celebrated DMRG), solve linear problems, and recent learning algorithms that allow one to map a known function into an MPS (the Tensor Cross Interpolation, or TCI, algorithm). The lectures end with a discussion of how to represent functions and perform calculus with tensor networks using the "quantics" representation. They include the detailed analytical construction of important MPOs such as those for differentiation, indefinite integration, convolution, and the quantum Fourier transform. Three concrete applications are discussed in detail: the simulation of a quantum computer (either exactly or with compression), the simulation of a quantum annealer, and techniques to solve partial differential equations (e.g. Poisson, diffusion, or Gross-Pitaevskii) within the "quantics" representation. The lectures have been designed to be accessible to a first-year PhD student and include detailed proofs of all statements.