Generalized Quantum Singular Value Transformation

Abstract: The quantum singular value transformation has revolutionised quantum algorithms. By applying a polynomial to an arbitrary matrix, it provides a unifying picture of quantum algorithms. However, polynomials are restricted to definite parity and real coefficients, and finding the circuit (the phase factors) has proven difficult in practice. Recent work has removed these restrictions and enabled faster computation of phase factors, yet only for unitary matrices. Here we propose two generalisations. The generalised quantum singular value transformation allows complex polynomials for arbitrary matrices. For Hermitian matrices, we propose the generalised quantum eigenvalue transformation that even allows polynomials of indefinite parity. While we find that the polynomial might have to be downscaled compared to the quantum singular value transformation, the higher expressivity of polynomials and faster computation of phase factors can sometimes result in advantages. The results are achieved with various block encoding (or projected unitary encoding) techniques, including qubitisation, Hermitianisation, and multiplication. We show how to multiply block-encoded matrices with only one extra qubit, and introduce measure-early multiplication to further avoid the extra qubit and decrease average circuit length.