Toward Practical Quantum Phase Estimation: A Modular, Scalable, and Adaptive Approach

Abstract

Quantum Phase Estimation (QPE) is a cornerstone algorithm in quantum computing, with applications ranging from integer factorization to quantum chemistry simulations. However, the resource demands of standard QPE, which require a large number of coherent qubits and deep circuits, pose significant challenges for current Noisy Intermediate Scale Quantum (NISQ) devices. In this work, we introduce the Adaptive Windowed Quantum Phase Estimation (AWQPE) algorithm, a novel method designed to address the limitations of standard QPE. AWQPE utilizes small, independent blocks of (Formula presented.) control qubits to estimate multiple phase bits simultaneously within a “window,” thereby significantly reducing the number of coherent qubits required to achieve a desired precision. These independent blocks are amenable to parallelization and, when combined with a robust least-significant-bit (LSB) to most-significant-bit (MSB) ambiguity resolution mechanism, enhance the algorithm's accuracy while mitigating the risk of error propagation. Our numerical simulations demonstrate AWQPE's accuracy and improved robustness relative to standard QPE under representative noise models, showcasing a favorable balance between resource efficiency and computational speed. This makes AWQPE particularly well-suited for near-term quantum platforms. © 2026 Wiley-VCH GmbH.