Machine learning development for quantum computing and neutrino physics
Abstract
This thesis investigates the application of machine-learning methods in the context of quantum computing and neutrino physics, with particular emphasis on the construction of effective representations for complex, high-dimensional data. The first part of the work is devoted to Quantum Extreme Learning Machines (QELMs), a hybrid quantum--classical framework in which classical data are encoded into quantum states and processed through fixed quantum dynamics, while learning is performed by a classical readout layer. Within this framework, we analyze the role of encoding strategies, feature-reduction methods, Hamiltonian structure, and measurement, with particular focus on the relationship between quantum dynamics, expressivity, entanglement, and classical simulability. The second part of the thesis concerns the application of deep learning to the analysis of images produced by water Cherenkov detectors in neutrino physics. Convolutional architectures, including residual networks, are developed for the classification of complex events in realistic simulated datasets, showing that such models can effectively extract relevant information from detector data. Taken together, these results highlight the potential of machine learning, in both its classical and quantum forms, as a powerful framework for the analysis of complex data in fundamental physics, while also outlining relevant challenges and directions for future research.