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Physical Review A

Random matrix approach to quantum adiabatic evolution algorithms

A. Boulatov, Vadim Smelyanskiy

Published May 6, 2005• 4 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We analyze the power of the quantum adiabatic evolution algorithm (QAA) for solving random computationally hard optimization problems within a theoretical framework based on random matrix theory (RMT). We present two types of driven RMT models. In the first model, the driving Hamiltonian is represented by Brownian motion in the matrix space. We use the Brownian motion model to obtain a description of multiple avoided crossing phenomena. We show that nonadiabatic corrections in the QAA are due to the interaction of the ground state with the ``cloud'' formed by most of the excited states, confirming that in driven RMT models, the Landau-Zener scenario of pairwise level repulsions is not relevant for the description of nonadiabatic corrections. We show that the QAA has a finite probability of success in a certain range of parameters, implying a polynomial complexity of the algorithm. The second model corresponds to the standard QAA with the problem Hamiltonian taken from the RMT Gaussian unitary ensemble (GUE). We show that the level dynamics in this model can be mapped onto the dynamics in the Brownian motion model. For this reason, the driven GUE model can also lead to polynomial complexity of the QAA. The main contribution to the failure probability of the QAA comes from the nonadiabatic corrections to the eigenstates, which only depend on the absolute values of the transition amplitudes. Due to the mapping between the two models, these absolute values are the same in both cases. Our results indicate that this ``phase irrelevance'' is the leading effect that can make both the Markovian- and GUE-type QAAs successful.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.71.052309

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We analyze the power of the quantum adiabatic evolution algorithm (QAA) for solving random computationally hard optimization problems within a theoretical framework based on random matrix theory (RMT). We present two types of driven RMT models. In the first model, the driving Hamiltonian is represented by Brownian motion in the matrix space. We use the Brownian motion model to obtain a description of multiple avoided crossing phenomena. We show that nonadiabatic corrections in the QAA are due to the interaction of the ground state with the cloud'' formed by most of the excited states, confirming that in driven RMT models, the Landau-Zener scenario of pairwise level repulsions is not relevant for the description of nonadiabatic corrections. We show that the QAA has a finite probability of success in a certain range of parameters, implying a polynomial complexity of the algorithm. The second model corresponds to the standard QAA with the problem Hamiltonian taken from the RMT Gaussian unitary ensemble (GUE). We show that the level dynamics in this model can be mapped onto the dynamics in the Brownian motion model. For this reason, the driven GUE model can also lead to polynomial complexity of the QAA. The main contribution to the failure probability of the QAA comes from the nonadiabatic corrections to the eigenstates, which only depend on the absolute values of the transition amplitudes. Due to the mapping between the two models, these absolute values are the same in both cases. Our results indicate that this phase irrelevance'' is the leading effect that can make both the Markovian- and GUE-type QAAs successful.
We present an analysis of the quantum adiabatic algorithm for solving hard instances of 3-SAT (an NP-complete problem) in terms of random matrix theory (RMT). We determine the global regularity of the spectral fluctuations of the instantaneous Hamiltonians encountered during the interpolation between the starting Hamiltonians and the ones whose ground states encode the solutions to the computational problems of interest. At each interpolation point, we quantify the degree of regularity of the average spectral distribution via its Brody parameter, a measure that distinguishes regular (i.e., Poissonian) from chaotic (i.e., Wigner-type) distributions of normalized nearest-neighbor spacings. We find that for hard problem instances---i.e., those having a critical ratio of clauses to variables---the spectral fluctuations typically become irregular across a contiguous region of the interpolation parameter, while the spectrum is regular for easy instances. Within the hard region, RMT may be applied to obtain a mathematical model of the probability of avoided level crossings and concomitant failure rate of the adiabatic algorithm due to nonadiabatic Landau-Zener-type transitions. Our model predicts that if the interpolation is performed at a uniform rate, the average failure rate of the quantum adiabatic algorithm, when averaged over hard problem instances, scales exponentially with increasing problem size.
Adiabatic Quantum Computing relies on the quantum adiabatic theorem, which states that a quantum system evolves along its ground state with time if the governing Hamiltonian varies infinitely slowly. However, practical limitations force computations to be performed within limited times, exposing the system to transitions into excited states, and thereby reducing the success probability. Here we investigate the counterintuitive hypothesis that incorporating stochastic noise, specifically noise driven by fractional Brownian motion, in a non-Markovian setup can enhance the performance of adiabatic quantum computing by improving its success probability at limited evolution times. The study begins by developing the mathematical framework to introduce stochastic noise multiplicatively into the Schrödinger equation, resulting in a stochastic Schrödinger equation. To preserve Itô integrability within the non-Markovian framework, a semimartingale approximation for fractional Brownian motion is employed. We perform numerical simulations to compare the performance of the quantum adiabatic algorithm with and without noise driven by fractional Brownian motion using the NP-complete Exact Cover-3 problem, transformed into the Ising model. Our results exhibit an improvement in success probability in the presence of noise driven by fractional Brownian motion with Hurst parameter $0
We study the quantum adiabatic evolution algorithm with different evolution paths that correspond to different control Hamiltonians $H(\ensuremath{\tau})$ sampled from a random ensemble. The algorithm is applied to a random binary optimization problem where the cost function is symmetric with respect to the permutation of individual bits. We investigate the method proposed by Farhi et al. when different evolution paths preserve the bit symmetry of the control Hamiltonians $H(\ensuremath{\tau})$ and are generated by an ensemble of random $8\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}8$ matrices. In this case, the algorithm dynamics is completely described in terms of the motion of a spin-n/2 system. We show that different evolution paths can be parametrized by a small number of independent parameters that are expansion coefficients of $H(\ensuremath{\tau})$ in a certain universal set of operators. One of these operators is responsible for avoiding the tunnelling for the spin-n/2 system and the corresponding coefficient determines the algorithm complexity for a given problem instance. We show that any problem instance can be solved in polynomial time by applying one of the two universal path modifications (due to the possible reflection symmetry of the problem). We show that a successful evolution path of the algorithm always corresponds to the trajectory of a classical spin n/2n/2n/2 and provide a complete characterization of such paths.
Two recent preprints [B. Altshuler, H. Krovi, and J. Roland, "Quantum adiabatic optimization fails for random instances of NP-complete problems", arXiv:0908.2782 and "Anderson localization casts clouds over adiabatic quantum optimization", arXiv:0912.0746] argue that random 4th order perturbative corrections to the energies of local minima of random instances of NP-complete problem lead to avoided crossings that cause the failure of quantum adiabatic algorithm (due to exponentially small gap) close to the end, for very small transverse field that scales as an inverse power of instance size N. The theoretical portion of this work does not to take into account the exponential degeneracy of the ground and excited states at zero field. A corrected analysis shows that unlike those in the middle of the spectrum, avoided crossings at the edge would require high [O(1)] transverse fields, at which point the perturbation theory may become divergent due to quantum phase transition. This effect manifests itself only in large instances [exp(0.02 N) >> 1], which might be the reason it had not been observed in the authors' numerical work. While we dispute the proposed mechanism of failure of quantum adiabatic algorithm, we cannot draw any conclusions on its ultimate complexity.
We consider the optimal driving of the ground state of a many-body quantum system across a quantum phase transition in finite time. In this context, excitations caused by the breakdown of adiabaticity can be minimized by adjusting the schedule of the control parameter that drives the transition. Drawing inspiration from the Kibble-Zurek mechanism, we characterize the timescale of onset of adiabaticity for several optimal control procedures. Our analysis reveals that schedules relying on local adiabaticity, such as Roland-Cerf's local adiabatic driving and the quantum adiabatic brachistochrone, fail to provide a significant speedup over the adiabatic evolution in the transverse-field Ising and long-range Kitaev models. As an alternative, we introduce a framework, nonadiabatic quantum optimization (NAQO), that, by exploiting the Landau-Zener formula and taking into account the role of higher-excited states, outperforms schedules obtained via both local adiabaticity and state-of-the-art numerical optimization. NAQO is not restricted to exactly solvable models, and we further confirm its superior performance in a disordered nonintegrable model.
We have developed a general technique to study the dynamics of the quantum adiabatic evolution algorithm applied to random combinatorial optimization problems in the asymptotic limit of large problem size nnn. We use as an example the NP-complete Number Partitioning problem and map the algorithm dynamics to that of an auxilary quantum spin glass system with the slowly varying Hamiltonian. We use a Green function method to obtain the adiabatic eigenstates and the minimum excitation gap, gmin=O(n2−n/2)g_{\rm min}={\cal O}(n 2^{-n/2})gmin​=O(n2−n/2), corresponding to the exponential complexity of the algorithm for Number Partitioning. The key element of the analysis is the conditional energy distribution computed for the set of all spin configurations generated from a given (ancestor) configuration by simulteneous fipping of a fixed number of spins. For the problem in question this distribution is shown to depend on the ancestor spin configuration only via a certain parameter related to the energy of the configuration. As the result, the algorithm dynamics can be described in terms of one-dimenssional quantum diffusion in the energy space. This effect provides a general limitation on the power of a quantum adiabatic computation in random optimization problems. Analytical results are in agreement with the numerical simulation of the algorithm.