Zain Hamid Saleem
Current Organizations / Institutes
The organizations/institutes from the scholar's latest article
Previous Organizations / Institutes
The organizations / institutes from the scholar's other articles in the past ten years
Research Subjects
Zain Hamid Saleem has a total of 75 co-authors. Here are the top co-authors by number of shared publications:
- Teague Tomesh
Infleqtion Chicago IL USA
8 shared publications - Martin Suchara
Argonne National Laboratory, Lemont, USA
5 shared publications - Michael Alexandrovich Perlin
JPMorganChase, New York, NY, USA
5 shared publications - Alejandro Satz
University of Pennsylvania
4 shared publications - Anil Shaji
Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Thiruvananthapuram
4 shared publications - Daniel Dilley
Argonne National Laboratory
4 shared publications
Latest Publications
- Open Access
- 2 November 2026
- Published by IOP Publishing in Physica Scripta
Enhanced quantum sensing mediated by a cavity in open systems
We simulate the dynamics of systems with N = 1-20 qubits coupled to a cavity in order to assess their potential for quantum metrology of a parameter in the open systems limit. The qubits and the cavity are both allowed to have losses and the system is studied under various coupling strength regimes. The focus is primarily on the coupling between the qubits using the quantum Fisher information as the measured parameter. Some results on estimating the qubit-cavity detuning parameter are also presented. We investigate the scaling of the uncertainty in the estimate of the qubit-cavity coupling with the number of qubits and for different initial states of the qubits that act as the quantum probe. As initial probe states, we consider Dicke states with varying excitation numbers, the GHZ state, and separable X-polarized states. It is shown that in the strong coupling regime, i.e., when the coupling between the qubits and the cavity is greater than the decay parameters of both the qubits and the cavity, Dicke states with a large excitation number can achieve the Heisenberg limit, with the precision scaling improving as the excitation number increases. A particularly intriguing finding of our study is that in the weak coupling regime, as well as in situations where either the qubit or cavity decay parameters exceed the coupling, the separable X-polarized state is the best in terms of scaling and is even able to achieve the Heisenberg limit in these lossy regimes for the range of N considered.
- 2 November 2026
- Published by IOP Publishing in Physica Scripta
Open AccessEnhanced quantum sensing mediated by a cavity in open systems
We simulate the dynamics of systems with N = 1-20 qubits coupled to a cavity in order to assess their potential for quantum metrology of a parameter in the open systems limit. The qubits and the cavity are both allowed to have losses and the system is studied under various coupling strength regimes. The focus is primarily on the coupling between the qubits using the quantum Fisher information as the measured parameter. Some results on estimating the qubit-cavity detuning parameter are also presented. We investigate the scaling of the uncertainty in the estimate of the qubit-cavity coupling with the number of qubits and for different initial states of the qubits that act as the quantum probe. As initial probe states, we consider Dicke states with varying excitation numbers, the GHZ state, and separable X-polarized states. It is shown that in the strong coupling regime, i.e., when the coupling between the qubits and the cavity is greater than the decay parameters of both the qubits and the cavity, Dicke states with a large excitation number can achieve the Heisenberg limit, with the precision scaling improving as the excitation number increases. A particularly intriguing finding of our study is that in the weak coupling regime, as well as in situations where either the qubit or cavity decay parameters exceed the coupling, the separable X-polarized state is the best in terms of scaling and is even able to achieve the Heisenberg limit in these lossy regimes for the range of N considered.
- Open Access
- 10 July 2026
- Published by American Physical Society (APS) in Physical Review Research
- Vol. 8 (3)
Quantum advantage in distributed sensing with noisy quantum networks
We show that quantum advantage in distributed sensing can be achieved with noisy quantum networks that only distribute noisy entangled states. We derive a closed-form expression of the quantum Fisher information (QFI) for estimating the average of local parameters using Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger-diagonal probe states, a representative distributed sensing scenario. From the QFI, we obtain the necessary condition to achieve quantum advantage over the optimal local sensing strategy, which can also serve as an optimization-free entanglement detection criterion for multipartite states. We further explore the impacts from imperfect local entanglement generation and local measurement constraint, and our results imply that the quantum advantage is more robust against quantum network imperfections than local operation errors. Notably, these implications still hold when we explicitly consider dephasing during the sensing dynamics. Our results significantly advance the understanding of the achievability of quantum advantage in noisy distributed sensing. They also offer practical guidance for real-world implementation of quantum sensor networks.
- 10 July 2026
- Published by American Physical Society (APS) in Physical Review Research
- Vol. 8 (3)
Open AccessQuantum advantage in distributed sensing with noisy quantum networks
We show that quantum advantage in distributed sensing can be achieved with noisy quantum networks that only distribute noisy entangled states. We derive a closed-form expression of the quantum Fisher information (QFI) for estimating the average of local parameters using Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger-diagonal probe states, a representative distributed sensing scenario. From the QFI, we obtain the necessary condition to achieve quantum advantage over the optimal local sensing strategy, which can also serve as an optimization-free entanglement detection criterion for multipartite states. We further explore the impacts from imperfect local entanglement generation and local measurement constraint, and our results imply that the quantum advantage is more robust against quantum network imperfections than local operation errors. Notably, these implications still hold when we explicitly consider dephasing during the sensing dynamics. Our results significantly advance the understanding of the achievability of quantum advantage in noisy distributed sensing. They also offer practical guidance for real-world implementation of quantum sensor networks.
- Open Access
- 29 June 2026
- Published by American Physical Society (APS) in PRX Quantum
- Vol. 7 (3)
Efficient entanglement purification circuit design for dual-species atom arrays
Entanglement purification protocols (EPPs) are essential for generating high-fidelity entangled states in noisy quantum systems, enabling robust quantum networking and computation. Building on the circuit of the foundational recurrence protocol, we generalize two-way EPPs to arbitrary stabilizer codes. Through analytical derivations and noisy-circuit simulations incorporating circuit-level noise, we demonstrate enhanced purification performance, with fidelity improvements and finite distillation rates for distillable input states. We propose efficient circuit designs for EPPs tailored to dual-species Rydberg atom arrays, leveraging species-specific laser control and interspecies Rydberg interactions. Introducing a low-overhead operation set, the dual-species atom convenient operation set, we facilitate straightforward compilation of EPP circuits without the need for ancillary atoms or complex atom rearrangements. Our framework provides practical guidance for near-term implementations on dual-species platforms, advancing toward scalable entanglement distribution in neutral atom systems and paving the way for fault-tolerant quantum technologies.
- 29 June 2026
- Published by American Physical Society (APS) in PRX Quantum
- Vol. 7 (3)
Open AccessEfficient entanglement purification circuit design for dual-species atom arrays
Entanglement purification protocols (EPPs) are essential for generating high-fidelity entangled states in noisy quantum systems, enabling robust quantum networking and computation. Building on the circuit of the foundational recurrence protocol, we generalize two-way EPPs to arbitrary stabilizer codes. Through analytical derivations and noisy-circuit simulations incorporating circuit-level noise, we demonstrate enhanced purification performance, with fidelity improvements and finite distillation rates for distillable input states. We propose efficient circuit designs for EPPs tailored to dual-species Rydberg atom arrays, leveraging species-specific laser control and interspecies Rydberg interactions. Introducing a low-overhead operation set, the dual-species atom convenient operation set, we facilitate straightforward compilation of EPP circuits without the need for ancillary atoms or complex atom rearrangements. Our framework provides practical guidance for near-term implementations on dual-species platforms, advancing toward scalable entanglement distribution in neutral atom systems and paving the way for fault-tolerant quantum technologies.
- Open Access
Simulating Quantum Walk Hamiltonians without Pauli Decomposition
In this work, we present a new algorithm for generating quantum circuits that efficiently implement continuous time quantum walks on arbitrary simple sparse graphs. The algorithm, called matching decomposition, works by decomposing a continuous-time quantum walk Hamiltonian into a collection of exactly implementable Hamiltonians corresponding to matchings in the underlying graph followed by a novel graph compression algorithm that merges edges in the graph. Lastly, we convert the walks to a circuit and Trotterize over these components. The dynamics of the walker on each edge in the matching can be implemented in the circuit model as sequences of CX and CRx gates. We do not use Pauli decomposition when implementing walks along each matching. Furthermore, we compare matching decomposition to a standard Pauli-based simulation pipeline and find that matching decomposition consistently yields substantial resource reductions, requiring up to 43% fewer controlled gates and up to 54% shallower circuits than Pauli decomposition across multiple graph families. Finally, we also present examples and theoretical results for when matching decomposition can exactly simulate a continuous-time quantum walk on a graph.
Open AccessSimulating Quantum Walk Hamiltonians without Pauli Decomposition
In this work, we present a new algorithm for generating quantum circuits that efficiently implement continuous time quantum walks on arbitrary simple sparse graphs. The algorithm, called matching decomposition, works by decomposing a continuous-time quantum walk Hamiltonian into a collection of exactly implementable Hamiltonians corresponding to matchings in the underlying graph followed by a novel graph compression algorithm that merges edges in the graph. Lastly, we convert the walks to a circuit and Trotterize over these components. The dynamics of the walker on each edge in the matching can be implemented in the circuit model as sequences of CX and CRx gates. We do not use Pauli decomposition when implementing walks along each matching. Furthermore, we compare matching decomposition to a standard Pauli-based simulation pipeline and find that matching decomposition consistently yields substantial resource reductions, requiring up to 43% fewer controlled gates and up to 54% shallower circuits than Pauli decomposition across multiple graph families. Finally, we also present examples and theoretical results for when matching decomposition can exactly simulate a continuous-time quantum walk on a graph.
- Open Access
- 14 January 2026
- Published by American Physical Society (APS) in Physical Review D
- Vol. 113 (1)
Searching for axion dark matter with array-scalable single magnon detectors
We introduce an array-scalable, magnon-based detector to search for the spin-dependent interactions of electron-coupled axion dark matter with mass in the 1 − 100 μ eV range. These axions can excite single magnons in magnetic targets, such as yttrium iron garnet (YIG) spheres, which are subsequently sensed by the detector. In our concept, this sensing is implemented by coupling the magnons in the YIG spheres to magnetic-field-resilient single-electron charge-qubits, whose state is then interrogated with a quantum nondemolition measurement. Using standard superconducting fabrication techniques, it is possible to integrate many YIG sphere-qubit sensors, forming a large detector array. We outline the detector design and operation for our concept, and determine its sensitivity to axion dark matter. We find that using available technology can already exceed the sensitivity of previous ferromagnetic haloscopes, and further improvements in performance would search for electron-coupled axion dark matter in unexplored parameter space.
- 14 January 2026
- Published by American Physical Society (APS) in Physical Review D
- Vol. 113 (1)
Open AccessSearching for axion dark matter with array-scalable single magnon detectors
We introduce an array-scalable, magnon-based detector to search for the spin-dependent interactions of electron-coupled axion dark matter with mass in the 1 − 100 μ eV range. These axions can excite single magnons in magnetic targets, such as yttrium iron garnet (YIG) spheres, which are subsequently sensed by the detector. In our concept, this sensing is implemented by coupling the magnons in the YIG spheres to magnetic-field-resilient single-electron charge-qubits, whose state is then interrogated with a quantum nondemolition measurement. Using standard superconducting fabrication techniques, it is possible to integrate many YIG sphere-qubit sensors, forming a large detector array. We outline the detector design and operation for our concept, and determine its sensitivity to axion dark matter. We find that using available technology can already exceed the sensitivity of previous ferromagnetic haloscopes, and further improvements in performance would search for electron-coupled axion dark matter in unexplored parameter space.
- Open Access
- 21 August 2025
- Published by Springer Nature in npj Quantum Information
- Vol. 11 (1) , 1-10
Efficient sparse state preparation via quantum walks
- 21 August 2025
- Published by Springer Nature in npj Quantum Information
- Vol. 11 (1) , 1-10
Open AccessEfficient sparse state preparation via quantum walks
- Open Access
- 4 October 2024
- Published by Verein zur Forderung des Open Access Publizierens in den Quantenwissenschaften in Quantum
- Vol. 8, 1493
Quantum-classical tradeoffs and multi-controlled quantum gate decompositions in variational algorithms
The computational capabilities of near-term quantum computers are limited by the noisy execution of gate operations and a limited number of physical qubits. Hybrid variational algorithms are well-suited to near-term quantum devices because they allow for a wide range of tradeoffs between the amount of quantum and classical resources used to solve a problem. This paper investigates tradeoffs available at both the algorithmic and hardware levels by studying a specific case – applying the Quantum Approximate Optimization Algorithm (QAOA) to instances of the Maximum Independent Set (MIS) problem. We consider three variants of the QAOA which offer different tradeoffs at the algorithmic level in terms of their required number of classical parameters, quantum gates, and iterations of classical optimization needed. Since MIS is a constrained combinatorial optimization problem, the QAOA must respect the problem constraints. This can be accomplished by using many multi-controlled gate operations which must be decomposed into gates executable by the target hardware. We study the tradeoffs available at this hardware level, combining the gate fidelities and decomposition efficiencies of different native gate sets into a single metric called the .- 4 October 2024
- Published by Verein zur Forderung des Open Access Publizierens in den Quantenwissenschaften in Quantum
- Vol. 8, 1493
Open AccessQuantum-classical tradeoffs and multi-controlled quantum gate decompositions in variational algorithms
The computational capabilities of near-term quantum computers are limited by the noisy execution of gate operations and a limited number of physical qubits. Hybrid variational algorithms are well-suited to near-term quantum devices because they allow for a wide range of tradeoffs between the amount of quantum and classical resources used to solve a problem. This paper investigates tradeoffs available at both the algorithmic and hardware levels by studying a specific case – applying the Quantum Approximate Optimization Algorithm (QAOA) to instances of the Maximum Independent Set (MIS) problem. We consider three variants of the QAOA which offer different tradeoffs at the algorithmic level in terms of their required number of classical parameters, quantum gates, and iterations of classical optimization needed. Since MIS is a constrained combinatorial optimization problem, the QAOA must respect the problem constraints. This can be accomplished by using many multi-controlled gate operations which must be decomposed into gates executable by the target hardware. We study the tradeoffs available at this hardware level, combining the gate fidelities and decomposition efficiencies of different native gate sets into a single metric called the . - Open Access
- 17 June 2024
- Published by Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) in ACM Transactions on Quantum Computing
- Vol. 5 (2) , 1-21
Quantum Circuit Cutting for Classical Shadows
Classical shadow tomography is a sample-efficient technique for characterizing quantum systems and predicting many of their properties. Circuit cutting is a technique for dividing large quantum circuits into smaller fragments that can be executed more robustly using fewer quantum resources. We introduce a divide-and-conquer circuit cutting method for estimating the expectation values of observables using classical shadows. We derive a general formula for making predictions using the classical shadows of circuit fragments from arbitrarily cut circuits and provide the sample complexity analysis for the case when observables factorize across fragments. Then, we numerically show that our divide-and-conquer method outperforms traditional uncut shadow tomography when estimating high-weight observables that act non-trivially on many qubits and discuss the mechanisms for this advantage.
- 17 June 2024
- Published by Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) in ACM Transactions on Quantum Computing
- Vol. 5 (2) , 1-21
Open AccessQuantum Circuit Cutting for Classical Shadows
Classical shadow tomography is a sample-efficient technique for characterizing quantum systems and predicting many of their properties. Circuit cutting is a technique for dividing large quantum circuits into smaller fragments that can be executed more robustly using fewer quantum resources. We introduce a divide-and-conquer circuit cutting method for estimating the expectation values of observables using classical shadows. We derive a general formula for making predictions using the classical shadows of circuit fragments from arbitrarily cut circuits and provide the sample complexity analysis for the case when observables factorize across fragments. Then, we numerically show that our divide-and-conquer method outperforms traditional uncut shadow tomography when estimating high-weight observables that act non-trivially on many qubits and discuss the mechanisms for this advantage.
- Open Access
- 9 May 2024
- Published by American Physical Society (APS) in Physical Review A
- Vol. 109 (5) , 052615
Achieving the Heisenberg limit with Dicke states in noisy quantum metrology
Going beyond the standard quantum limit in noisy quantum metrology is an important and challenging task. Here we show how Dicke states can be used to surpass the standard quantum limit and achieve the Heisenberg limit in open quantum systems. The system we study has qubits symmetrically coupled to a resonator, and our objective is to estimate the coupling between the qubits and the resonator. The time-dependent quantum Fisher information with respect to the coupling is studied for this open quantum system where the same decay rates are assumed on all qubits. We show that when the system is initialized to a Dicke state with an optimal excitation number one can go beyond the standard quantum limit and achieve the Heisenberg limit even for finite values of the decays on the qubit and the resonator, particularly when the qubits and resonator are strongly coupled. We compare our results against the highly entangled GHZ state and a completely separable state and show that the GHZ state performs quite poorly, whereas under certain noise conditions the separable state is able to go beyond the standard quantum limit due to subsequent interactions with a resonator.
- 9 May 2024
- Published by American Physical Society (APS) in Physical Review A
- Vol. 109 (5) , 052615
Open AccessAchieving the Heisenberg limit with Dicke states in noisy quantum metrology
Going beyond the standard quantum limit in noisy quantum metrology is an important and challenging task. Here we show how Dicke states can be used to surpass the standard quantum limit and achieve the Heisenberg limit in open quantum systems. The system we study has qubits symmetrically coupled to a resonator, and our objective is to estimate the coupling between the qubits and the resonator. The time-dependent quantum Fisher information with respect to the coupling is studied for this open quantum system where the same decay rates are assumed on all qubits. We show that when the system is initialized to a Dicke state with an optimal excitation number one can go beyond the standard quantum limit and achieve the Heisenberg limit even for finite values of the decays on the qubit and the resonator, particularly when the qubits and resonator are strongly coupled. We compare our results against the highly entangled GHZ state and a completely separable state and show that the GHZ state performs quite poorly, whereas under certain noise conditions the separable state is able to go beyond the standard quantum limit due to subsequent interactions with a resonator.
- Open Access
Scaling Up the Quantum Divide and Conquer Algorithm for Combinatorial Optimization
Quantum optimization as a field has largely been restricted by the constraints of current quantum computing hardware, as limitations on size, performance, and fidelity mean most non-trivial problem instances won't fit on quantum devices. Even proposed solutions such as distributed quantum computing systems may struggle to achieve scale due to the high cost of inter-device communication. To address these concerns, we propose Deferred Constraint Quantum Divide and Conquer Algorithm (DC-QDCA), a method for constructing quantum circuits which greatly reduces inter-device communication costs for some quantum graph optimization algorithms. This is achieved by identifying a set of vertices whose removal partitions the input graph, known as a separator; by manipulating the placement of constraints associated with the vertices in the separator, we can greatly simplify the topology of the optimization circuit, reducing the number of required inter-device operations. Furthermore, we introduce an iterative algorithm which builds on these techniques to find solutions for problems with potentially thousands of variables. Our experimental results using quantum simulators have shown that we can construct tractable circuits nearly three times the size of previous QDCA methods while retaining a similar or greater level of quality.
Open AccessScaling Up the Quantum Divide and Conquer Algorithm for Combinatorial Optimization
Quantum optimization as a field has largely been restricted by the constraints of current quantum computing hardware, as limitations on size, performance, and fidelity mean most non-trivial problem instances won't fit on quantum devices. Even proposed solutions such as distributed quantum computing systems may struggle to achieve scale due to the high cost of inter-device communication. To address these concerns, we propose Deferred Constraint Quantum Divide and Conquer Algorithm (DC-QDCA), a method for constructing quantum circuits which greatly reduces inter-device communication costs for some quantum graph optimization algorithms. This is achieved by identifying a set of vertices whose removal partitions the input graph, known as a separator; by manipulating the placement of constraints associated with the vertices in the separator, we can greatly simplify the topology of the optimization circuit, reducing the number of required inter-device operations. Furthermore, we introduce an iterative algorithm which builds on these techniques to find solutions for problems with potentially thousands of variables. Our experimental results using quantum simulators have shown that we can construct tractable circuits nearly three times the size of previous QDCA methods while retaining a similar or greater level of quality.