Implementing pulse-based VQE (ctrl-VQE) algorithm on NISQ devices.

Unlike the gate-based Variational Quantum Eigensolvers (VQE), ctrl-VQE directly uses control pulse parameters as variational parameters, which can greatly reduce the ground state preparation time [1]. Here we present the minimum time control pulses for ctrl-VQE to prepare target molecular ground states for a given device’s Hamiltonian [2]. We noticed that the leakage outside the computational space can speed up the state preparation. Furthermore, we explore its application on NISQ devices by studying the effects of the experimental imperfections of ctrl-VQE in parametrically-coupled transmon devices [3].