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Journal of Systems Engineering and Electronics

Quantum-inspired ant algorithm for knapsack problems

Wang Hong-gang, Ma Liang, Huizhen Zhang, LI Gao-ya

Published Jan 18, 2012• 6 citations
OpenAlex

Abstract

The knapsack problem is a well-known combinatorial optimization problem which has been proved to be NP-hard. This paper proposes a new algorithm called quantum-inspired ant algorithm (QAA) to solve the knapsack problem. QAA takes the advantage of the principles in quantum computing, such as qubit, quantum gate, and quantum superposition of states, to get more probabilistic-based status with small colonies. By updating the pheromone in the ant algorithm and rotating the quantum gate, the algorithm can finally reach the optimal solution. The detailed steps to use QAA are presented, and by solving series of test cases of classical knapsack problems, the effectiveness and generality of the new algorithm are validated.

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The knapsack problem is a well-known combinatorial optimization problem which has been proved to be NP-hard. This paper proposes a new algorithm called quantum-inspired ant algorithm (QAA) to solve the knapsack problem. QAA takes the advantage of the principles in quantum computing, such as qubit, quantum gate, and quantum superposition of states, to get more probabilistic-based status with small colonies. By updating the pheromone in the ant algorithm and rotating the quantum gate, the algorithm can finally reach the optimal solution. The detailed steps to use QAA are presented, and by solving series of test cases of classical knapsack problems, the effectiveness and generality of the new algorithm are validated.
0-1 knapsack problem is a typical NP-hard problem in combinatorial optimization.A quantum-inspired ant colony algorithm for solving the 0-1 knapsack problem is proposed which is based on the combination of ant colony optimization and quantum computing.In the algorithm,the pheromone is expressed by quantum bits,and quantum rotation gates are used to update the ant pheromone.Series of test instances validate the effectiveness of the algorithm.The proposed algorithm can reduce the searching time and has better performance in reaching the global optimum.
This paper proposes a novel evolutionary algorithm inspired by quantum computing, called a quantum-inspired evolutionary algorithm (QEA), which is based on the concept and principles of quantum computing, such as a quantum bit and superposition of states. Like other evolutionary algorithms, QEA is also characterized by the representation of the individual, evaluation function, and population dynamics. However, instead of binary, numeric, or symbolic representation, QEA uses a Q-bit, defined as the smallest unit of information, for the probabilistic representation and a Q-bit individual as a string of Q-bits. A Q-gate is introduced as a variation operator to drive the individuals toward better solutions. To demonstrate its effectiveness and applicability, experiments were carried out on the knapsack problem, which is a well-known combinatorial optimization problem. The results show that QEA performs well, even with a small population, without premature convergence as compared to the conventional genetic algorithm.
We propose a new hybrid quantum algorithm based on the classical Ant Colony Optimization algorithm to solve NP-hard problems, in particular optimization problems. First, we discuss some previously proposed Quantum Ant Colony Optimization algorithms, and based on them, we develop an improved algorithm that can be truly implemented on near-term quantum computers. Our iterative algorithm codes only the information about the pheromones and the exploration parameter in the quantum state, while subrogating the calculation of the numerical result to a classical computer. A new guided exploration strategy is used in order to take advantage of the quantum computation power and generate new possible solutions as a superposition of states. This approach is specially useful to solve constrained optimization problems, where we can implement efficiently the exploration of new paths using Fredkin gates without having to check the correspondence of a path to a solution before the measurement of the state. As an example of a NP-hard problem, we choose to solve the Quadratic Assignment Problem. The benchmarks made by simulating the noiseless quantum circuit and the experiments made on IBM quantum computers show the validity of the algorithm.
Abstract We propose a new hybrid quantum algorithm based on the classical Ant Colony Optimization algorithm to produce approximate solutions for NP-hard problems, in particular optimization problems. First, we discuss some previously proposed Quantum Ant Colony Optimization algorithms, and based on them, we develop an improved algorithm that can be truly implemented on near-term quantum computers. Our iterative algorithm codifies only the information about the pheromones and the exploration parameter in the quantum state, while subrogating the calculation of the numerical result to a classical computer. A new guided exploration strategy is used in order to take advantage of the quantum computation power and generate new possible solutions as a superposition of states. This approach is specially useful to solve constrained optimization problems, where we can implement efficiently the exploration of new paths without having to check the correspondence of a path to a solution before the measurement of the state. As an example of a NP-hard problem, we choose to solve the Quadratic Assignment Problem. The benchmarks made by simulating the noiseless quantum circuit and the experiments made on IBM quantum computers show the validity of the algorithm.
Quantum-inspired ant algorithm is a novel optimization method for solving real problems by using both the quantum information rules and the characteristics of ant colony optimization.This paper solves the classical TSP by quantum-inspired ant algorithm through series of typical instances.The computational results show the effectiveness and robustness of the algorithm in numerical simulation.It can find the satisfactory solutions with small size population and tiny relative error,even for medium or larger problem instances.
Aiming at the shortcoming of ant colony optimization of being only suitable for discrete problems and holding a slow convergence speed, a novel algorithm for continuous optimization problems is presented. In this algorithm, each ant carries a group of qubits which represents the position of its own. First, the destination to which ant want to move is selected according to the select probability based on pheromone information and heuristic information. Then, the ant's own qubits are updated by quantum rotation gates so as to move. Some ants' qubits are mutated by quantum non-gate so as to increase the diversity of positions. Finally, both information of the pheromone and the heuristic are updated according to the new position of each ant. In this algorithm, both probability amplitudes of a qubit are regarded as position information, a double searching efficiency is acquired for ant colony which hold the fixed number of ants. The availability of the proposed algorithm is illustrated by simulation examples of function extremum optimization.