Quantum homotopy analysis method with quantum-compatible linearization for nonlinear partial differential equations

Nonlinear partial differential equations (PDEs) are crucial for modeling complex fluid dynamics and are foundational to many computational fluid dynamics (CFD) applications. However, solving these nonlinear PDEs is challenging due to the vast computational resources they demand, highlighting the pressing need for more efficient computational methods. Quantum computing offers a promising but technically challenging approach to solving nonlinear PDEs. Recently, Liao [arXiv: 2406.15821] proposed a framework that leverages quantum computing to accelerate the solution of nonlinear PDEs based on the homotopy analysis method (HAM), a semi-analytical technique that transforms nonlinear PDEs into a series of linear PDEs. However, the no-cloning theorem in quantum computing poses a major limitation, where directly applying quantum simulation to each HAM step results in exponential complexity growth with the HAM truncation order. This study introduces a “quantum-compatible linearization” approach that maps the whole HAM process into a system of linear PDEs, allowing for a one-time solution using established quantum PDE solvers. Our method preserves the exponential speedup of quantum linear PDE solvers while ensuring that computational complexity increases only polynomially with the HAM truncation order. We demonstrate the efficacy of our approach by applying it to the Burgers’ equation and the Korteweg-de Vries (KdV) equation. Our approach provides a novel pathway for transforming nonlinear PDEs into linear PDEs, with potential applications to fluid dynamics. This work thus lays the foundation for developing quantum algorithms capable of solving the Navier-Stokes equations, ultimately offering a promising route to accelerate their solutions using quantum computing.