Matrix Product Evolution: A Method for Simulating Quantum Circuits Using Tensor Networks
Classical simulation of quantum circuits is an essential tool in quantum information science, but its applicability is constrained by the exponential growth of the Hilbert space and the entanglement structure of quantum states. In this work, we introduce Matrix Product Evolution (MPE), a tensor-train representation of quantum circuits constructed along the circuit depth rather than along the qubit index. Within this formulation, the simulation of a quantum circuit is modeled as the contraction of multiple MPE tensors. We develop an efficient contraction strategy based on a zip-up procedure to carry out this contraction in practice. We investigate the numerical behavior of this MPE-based contraction framework through simulations of random quantum circuits and the time evolution of a quantum many-body state. Our results characterize the growth of temporal bond dimensions, clarify how post-selection modifies the contraction cost and approximation accuracy, and identify regimes in which depth-oriented tensor-network contractions provide a useful complement to standard MPS-based simulation approaches.