Résumé
Multiple linear regression assumes an imperative role in supervised machine learning. In 2009, Harrow et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 103, 150502 (2009)] showed that their Harrow Hassidim Lloyd (HHL) algorithm can be used to sample the solution of a linear system Ax = b exponentially faster than any existing classical algorithm. The entire field of quantum machine learning gained considerable traction after the discovery of this celebrated algorithm. However, effective practical applications and experimental implementations of HHL are still sparse in the literature. Here, the authors demonstrate a potential practical utility of HHL, in the context of regression analysis, using the remarkable fact that there exists a natural reduction of any multiple linear regression problem to an equivalent linear systems problem. They put forward a 7-qubit quantum circuit design, motivated from an earlier work by Cao et al. [Mol. Phys. 110, 1675 (2012)], to solve a three-variable regression problem, using only elementary quantum gates. They also implement the group leaders optimisation algorithm (GLOA) [Mol. Phys. 109 (5), 761 (2011)] and elaborate on the advantages of using such stochastic algorithms in creating low-cost circuit approximations for the Hamiltonian simulation. Further, they discuss their Qiskit simulation and explore certain generalisations to the circuit design.