Role of Riemannian Geometry in Double-Bracket Quantum Imaginary-Time Evolution

Double-bracket quantum imaginary-time evolution (DB-QITE) is a quantum algorithm which coherently implements steps in the Riemannian steepest-descent direction for the energy cost function. DB-QITE is derived from Brockett’s double-bracket flow which exhibits saddle points where gradients vanish. In this work, we perform numerical simulations of DB-QITE and describe signatures of transitioning through the vicinity of such saddle points. We provide an explicit gate count analysis using quantum compilation programmed in Qrisp.