Towards a benchmark for quantum computers based on an iterated post-selective protocol

Abstract: Applying post selection in each step of an iterated protocol leads to sensitive quantum dynamics that may be utilized to test and benchmark current quantum computers. An example of this type of protocols was originally proposed for the task of matching an unknown quantum state to a reference state. We propose to employ the quantum state matching protocol for the purpose of testing and benchmarking quantum computers. In particular, we implement this scheme on freely available IBM superconducting quantum computers. By comparing measured values with the theoretical conditional probability of the single, final post-selected qubit, which is easy to calculate classically, we define a benchmark metric. Additionally, the standard deviation of the experimental results from their average serves as a secondary benchmark metric, characterizing fluctuations in the given device. A peculiar feature of the considered protocol is that there is a phase parameter of the initially prepared state, on which the resulting conditional probability should not depend. A careful analysis of the measured values indicates that its dependence on the initial phase can reveal useful information about coherent gate errors of the quantum device.