Solving Combinatorial Optimization Problems on Quantum Computers

Abstract

Introduction. Quantum computers provide several times faster solutions to several NP-hard combinatorial optimization problems in comparison with computing clusters. The trend of doubling the number of qubits of quantum computers every year suggests the existence of an analog of Moore's law for quantum computers, which means that soon they will also be able to get a significant acceleration of solving many applied large-scale problems. The purpose of the article is to review methods for creating algorithms of quantum computer mathematics for combinatorial optimization problems and to analyze the influence of the qubit-to-qubit coupling and connections strength on the performance of quantum data processing. Results. The article offers approaches to the classification of algorithms for solving these problems from the perspective of quantum computer mathematics. It is shown that the number and strength of connections between qubits affect the dimensionality of problems solved by algorithms of quantum computer mathematics. It is proposed to consider two approaches to calculating combinatorial optimization problems on quantum computers: universal, using quantum gates, and specialized, based on a parameterization of physical processes. Examples of constructing a half-adder for two qubits of an IBM quantum processor and an example of solving the problem of finding the maximum independent set for the IBM and D-wave quantum computers are given. Conclusions. Today, quantum computers are available online through cloud services for research and commercial use. At present, quantum processors do not have enough qubits to replace semiconductor computers in universal computing. The search for a solution to a combinatorial optimization problem is performed by achieving the minimum energy of the system of coupled qubits, on which the task is mapped, and the data are the initial conditions. Approaches to solving combinatorial optimization problems on quantum computers are considered and the results of solving the problem of finding the maximum independent set on the IBM and D-wave quantum computers are given. Keywords: quantum computer, quantum computer mathematics, qubit, maximal independent set for a graph.