rigetti / rigetti/pyquil

WavefunctionSimulator.expectation() returns numbers whose type is complex

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Python
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Description

ie 0.5+0j

These numbers should always be real. This also afflicts QVMConnection.pauli_expectation (deprecated)

Contributor guide

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First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start by locating WavefunctionSimulator.expectation() and the deprecated QVMConnection.pauli_expectation mentioned in the issue. Check how each constructs its return value, then verify that expectation results are real-valued rather than complex, including the 0.5+0j case.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
python
Domain
quantum-computing
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
2/5
Estimated time
1-3 hours
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
48/100

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