Amplitude-based implementation of the unit step function on a quantum computer

Modeling nonlinear activation functions on quantum computers is vital for quantum neurons employed in fully quantum neural networks, however, remains a challenging task. We introduce an amplitude-based implementation for approximating nonlinearity in the form of the unit step function on a quantum computer. Our approach expands upon repeat-until-success protocols, suggesting a modification that requires a single measurement only. We describe two distinct circuit types which receive their input either directly from a classical computer or as a quantum state when embedded in a more advanced quantum algorithm. All quantum circuits are theoretically evaluated using numerical simulation and executed on Noisy Intermediate-Scale Quantum hardware. We demonstrate that reliable data with high precision can be obtained from our quantum circuits involving up to eight qubits and up to 25 CX-gate applications, enabled by state-of-the-art hardware-optimization techniques and measurement error mitigation.