Power of Non-Stoquastic Quantum Annealing Optimization

Abstract

Recent technological breakthroughs have made quantum annealing optimizers consisting of thousands of quantum bits commercially available. Thus far however, no examples, neither experimental nor theoretical, of practical relevance have been found to indicate a superiority of quantum adiabatic optimization over traditional methods. It is now widely believed that one possibly necessary missing ingredient in the quest for quantum superiority by quantum annealing is the use of so-called `non-stoquastic Hamiltonians - quantum operators that cannot, or are not known to, be efficiently simulatable via classical algorithms such as quantum Monte Carlo. In this proposal, we will explore the inherent power of quantum annealing systems driven by non-stoquastic quantum fluctuations to accelerate the runtimes to solution of hard optimization problems of practical relevance, specifically, discrete optimization problems that arise in areas such as flight-traffic control or planning and scheduling. Exploring and then harnessing the power of non-stoquastic quantum fluctuations to solve problems of practical relevance is in many senses the holy grail of quantum annealing optimization and will also be the goal of the current effort.

Document Details

Document Type
DoD Grant Award
Publication Date
Aug 22, 2018
Source ID
FA87501810044

Entities

People

  • Itay Hen

Organizations

  • Office of Naval Research
  • Rome Laboratory
  • United States Air Force

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Distributed Systems and Data Platform Development
  • Operations Research
  • Quantum Dot Semiconductor Device Photonics and Graphene Optoelectronic Materials and THz Physics.

Technology Areas

  • Quantum Computing