Tunable Quantum Neural Networks for Boolean Functions

Abstract

In this paper we propose a new approach to quantum neural networks. Our multi-layer architecture avoids the use of measurements that usually emulate the non-linear activation functions which are characteristic of the classical neural networks. Despite this, our proposed architecture is still able to learn any Boolean function. This ability arises from the correspondence that exists between a Boolean function and a particular quantum circuit made out of multi-controlled NOT gates. This correspondence is built via a polynomial representation of the function called the algebraic normal form. We use this construction to introduce the idea of a generic quantum circuit whose gates can be tuned to learn any Boolean functions. In order to perform the learning task, we have devised an algorithm that leverages the absence of measurements. When presented with a superposition of all the binary inputs of length $n$, the network can learn the target function in at most $n+1$ updates.