mlsanityData to 7 Oct 2026

Symbolic Analysis of Grover Search Algorithm via Chain-of-Thought Reasoning and Quantum-Native Tokenization

arXiv 2505.04880 ↗First posted 8 May 2025quant-ph cs.AI cs.LGcited by 2

On the map: LLM reasoning → Reinforcement learning for reasoning

Abstract (arXiv)

Understanding the high-level conceptual structure of quantum algorithms from their low-level circuit representations is a critical task for verification, debugging, and education. While traditional numerical simulators can calculate output probabilities, they do not explicitly surface the underlying algorithmic logic, such as the function of an oracle or embedded symmetries. In this work, we shift the focus from numerical simulation to symbolic analysis, investigating whether Large Language Models (LLMs) can automatically interpret quantum circuits and articulate their logic in a human-readable format. We introduce GroverGPT+, a model that leverages Chain-of-Thought reasoning and quantum-native tokenization to analyze Grover's search algorithm. We use Grover's algorithm as a controlled testbed, as its well-defined analytical properties allow for rigorous verification of the model's reasoning process. Our primary finding is that GroverGPT+ successfully identifies the oracle and its marked states directly from circuit representations. The model's key output is not a final probability, but a structured, interpretable reasoning trace that mirrors human expert analysis, effectively translating procedural circuit steps into conceptual insights. Furthermore, we establish a structured benchmark for this symbolic analysis task and explore its empirical extrapolation describing the model's performance as the number of qubits increases. These findings position LLMs as powerful tools for automated quantum algorithm analysis and verification. More fundamentally, this work offers a first step towards using such models as scientific probes, suggesting that an algorithm's ``learnability" by a classical model can provide a new, complementary perspective on its conceptual complexity, a topic of core interest to quantum information science.

Key facts. Cited by 2 papers in the map (data through 7 Oct 2026). Placed in Reinforcement learning for reasoning, one of 17 directions in LLM reasoning. Builds on 38 of its 62 references that are in the map. First posted on arXiv 8 May 2025.

Builds on

38 of 62 references.

Closest ancestors · 1

Same direction, newest first

  1. 2025DeepSeek-R1: Incentivizing Reasoning Capability in LLMs via Reinforcement Learning22 Jan

Other references · 37

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25 more
  1. 2019Parameter-Efficient Transfer Learning for NLPcited by 4,195
  2. 2021Prefix-Tuning: Optimizing Continuous Prompts for Generationcited by 3,878
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  18. 2024QCircuitBench: A Large-Scale Dataset for Benchmarking Quantum Algorithm Designcited by 14
  19. 2025Compositional Generalization from Learned Skills via CoT Training: A Theoretical and Structural Analysis for Reasoningcited by 10
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Citing papers per year: 2026: 2.

2 papers.

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  1. 2026Aligning Quantum Operators with Large Language Models
  2. 2025SAQR-QC: A Logic for Scalable but Approximate Quantitative Reasoning about Quantum Circuits ↗
  3. 2026SCALAR: A Neurosymbolic Framework for Automated Conjecture and Reasoning in Quantum Circuit Analysis
  4. 2026Proving olympiad geometry theorems on a superconducting quantum processor
  5. 2025Quantum Circuit Reasoning Models: A Variational Framework for Differentiable Logical Inference
  6. 2026Position: Quantum Program Generation Must Prioritize Validity Over Probabilistic Scaling
  7. 2025Agent-Q: Fine-Tuning Large Language Models for Quantum Circuit Generation and Optimization
  8. 2026Qiskit QuantumKatas: Adapting Microsoft's Quantum Computing exercises for LLM evaluation