Case studies in quantum adiabatic optimization
David Gosset · 2011
Quantum adiabatic optimization is a quantum algorithm for solving classical optimization problems (E. Farhi, J. Goldstone, S. Gutmann, and M. Sipser. Quantum computation by adiabatic evolution, 2000. arXiv:quant-ph/0001106). The solution to an optimization prob-lem is encoded in the ground state of a "problem Hamiltonian " Hp which acts on the Hilbert space of n spin 1/2 particles and is diagonal in the Pauli z basis. To produce this ground state, one first initializes the quantum system in the ground state of a different Hamiltonian and then adiabatically changes the Hamiltonian into Hp. Farhi et al suggest the interpolating Hamiltonian i where the parameter s is slowly changed as a function of time between 0 and 1. The running time of this algorithm is related to the minimum spectral gap of H(s) for s E (0, 11. We study such transverse field spin Hamiltonians using both analytic and numerical techniques. Our approach is example-based, that is, we study some specific choices for the problem Hamiltonian Hp which illustrate the breadth of phenomena which can occur. We